Making It Legal

Making it legal

How to get your marriage license in Maine

So you’ve decided that you’re going to get married in the Kennebunks. On top of your venue and vendors, you’ll need a couple more things: A license and an officiant. Town Clerks Merton Brown of Kennebunk and Tracey O’Roak of Kennebunkport offered these tips for getting your license and getting it right:

1. Licenses are $40 and they’re good for 90 days. 
2. Give yourself 4-6 weeks for the process.
3. Both parties must present IDs.
4. If you were married before, you must show court annulment papers, a death certificate or a divorce decree.
5. If you live locally, you must get your permit in the town where you live. If you live out of state, you can get a license in any municipality.
6. Some towns, like Kennebunkport, prefer you call and make an appointment. Others, like Kennebunk, take walk-in appointments.
7. Couples need two witnesses for the ceremony
8. You can get married on a public beach in Maine, but you must take into account tides, parking and other things. Remember: You can’t stop the public from coming to your wedding on a public beach.
9. Weddings can be performed by licensed officiants, clergy members, attorneys or anyone who has been licensed online.

Brown said he’s performed weddings at a number of different venues, including a gazebo in a town park, in and on the water, a hot air balloon, on the top of a mountain at Sunday River (and at just about all of Maine’s ski resorts), on a football field and in a ‘54 Chevy.

And he’s worked with cats, dogs, horses and llamas as part of the ceremony. 

Brown has been marrying couples for nearly 50 years, but he said one still stands out in his memory. It was two gentlemen who decided to get married right after Maine legalized gay marriages.

“They were both 80 and had been together since they were 40,” he said. “They thought it was just a paperwork thing, then it hit them. I ended up being there for three and a half hours.

I’ll never, ever forget it.”