Learn Where a Virginia Marriage Certificate Is Filed

Are you searching for a Virginia marriage record to get a copy of a marriage certificate? Virginia, with its history and its location, is rich soil indeed to search for genealogical data.

Basic Data Found In Virginia Marriage Certificates

Every VA marriage, including church marriages, must be registered under law. At the very least, a marriage record such as a certificate will provide full names of the bride and groom, the date of marriage, and county where the marriage took place.

Beyond that minimum, many Virginia marriage records will also often include information such as the premarital addresses of the bride and groom, information on previous marriages if any, names and birthplaces of the bride and groom's parents (often including the mothers’ maiden names), and names of witnesses and the person officiating at the ceremony. Sometimes the names of witnesses will also be included in a marriage license or certificate.

Besides advancing the practical aim of a search, such as to obtain a copy of a marriage certificate, a marriage record in a state as historic as Virginia could be useful to a dozen different types of investigations.

What to Expect from Virginia Marriage Records

In Virginia, marriage bonds and licensing has been in place since the 1600s but implementation was not systematic, so the records are fragmentary. What is available can be found among the county levels of records, and may often find its way into published documents and books.

Such records were likely more often made and kept in the state’s many parishes and local communities. More recent academic and demographic researchers have begun to investigate such sources to fill gaps in the official records, with uneven success.

In Virginia, the conscientious registration of births, deaths and marriages began on a county level in 1853 and continued until 1896. There was a major gap in the Civil War years though. Virginia housed the Confederate capital. The highest number of major battles in the War was fought within its borders. Besides these routine wartime disruptions, the state itself split in two, with 44 counties forming the state of West Virginia and joining the Union forces.

Many counties therefore abandoned registration of vital statistics including marriage records during the Civil War, or recorded only a small percentage of the events that took place. Except in some cities, records were not kept from 1896 until statewide registration of these statistics began on June 14th 1912.

How and Where to Access Them

The early records of 1853-96 have been put on microfilm, and are available at The Library of Virginia. You can access them there.

For marriage certificates from 1936 to the present time, you will need to visit or write to the Virginia Department of Health, Office of Vital Records, James Madison Building, P.O. Box 1000, Richmond, VA 23208. Or you may call 804-786-6228 or 804-786-6201.

Birth and death records may also help trace family lines and marriages. You may contact the same office for birth and death records from 1913 to the present.

For all earlier vital records, including marriages, you will need to contact the respective county offices.

As in most states, you can get them by submitting an application form, with a check or money order for a specified sum that is payable to the relevant government department. You have to follow certain steps when you are placing this request.

Make Sure Your Application’s Correct

The very first step is to write the correct request leter. Remember that you must be concise. Never mention complicated family details and never make more than two requests at any time.

Provide all relevant information that you feel might be useful. If a person goes by more than one name, provide all of them. If there are alternate spellings, you need to mention them too. Remember to write the names and addresses in block letters.

The marriage date should be right! If you are unsure, provide a time span that you want searched. Keep it narrow because the wider it is, the more money you will have to pay up as fees. Pay nothing in advance unless you know the exact amount. Instead send a blank check that is signed with "Not to exceed $X.00," or the most likely figure, written in red ink under the check’s "$___" line.

It is probably best that you write two letters. The first should state your requirements, list all information and request the cost. The second letter should carry your check.

You must always enclose a stamped and self-addressed envelope.

People who work in the office are often very busy because the office is short-staffed. So be a bit patient if it takes a while for the information to reach you.

Basic Data to Include:

•    Date of request
•    Husband’s full name (last name in caps)
•    Wife’s full maiden name (last name in caps)
•    Date of marriage
•    Place of marriage
•    Relationship to you/the applicant
•    Why the record is needed
•    Your name & address
•    Your driver's license number & state (some counties require it)
•    Your signature

Online Is Quicker and Easier!

You can now request your marriage in Virginia record online as well. The main advantage is that when you use the Internet, you can save a lot of time and hassles. So, go ahead and place that request for your marriage certificate now.