How to Find Out the Date Someone Got Married

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Marriage dates are public record. In some cases, they are published in the local paper and online in the month after they take place. If you are searching for a marriage date that is not recent, there is no national index of marriage certificates or licenses, so you must request this information at the state or county level. You can find out the date someone got married by trying internet and county clerk searches.

Marriage licenses are public records. If you know the state and county where the marriage took place, access the marriage license through the county clerk to find out the date the couple was married.

Using an Online Agency

• Before employing any agency to find out information, be sure you do some research on the company.
• Look for one that has positive feedback and a good reputation.

• Remember that results are not guaranteed, even if you pay. Using a free trial will give you an idea of the service you can expect.
• Some of these databases will not go right up to the present day.
• Make sure you know they cover the approximate year you think the wedding occurred in before proceeding.

• In the UK, a subscription could cost you £15 a year, or 3 months for £5.
• With deals like these, there will often be a limit to the number of searches you can perform. [1] X Research source

• If possible, research the records that the database has before paying. Some sites will show you which years are available to be researched in that state.

Use a search engine. In some cases you may be able to bypass all of this just by typing someone’s name into a search engine. There may well be record of the wedding online that may include the place and date of the ceremony. This may only work with people who have a strong presence on social media, but it is certainly worth a try.

Searching County Court and Church Marriage Records

Check your state's marriage certificate index or repository. The records of marriages are held by your County, and the way the information is kept and made available can vary from place to place. If your state and county has online marriage indexes, you can search through this online database to find information on the marriage. Not all states have these indexes, but if they do, it may allow you to find the person's wedding day without going to an office.

• You need to go with as much information as you have about the marriage in question.
• This should include at least the names of the couple and the place of the marriage.
• If you know approximately when they were married, this could help narrow the search.

• You may be able to conduct the search online, through your county clerk website.
• You may or may not need to submit a credit card number to conduct the search online.

• Church records are generally kept in churches and their archives, at historical and genealogical societies, and in libraries.
• If the church doesn’t hold the archives, the headquarters of the denomination may do. [2] X Research source

Looking in Newspapers and Local Announcements

• Some obituaries also contain information on the person’s marriage. [3] X Research source
• If possible, you should start by finding where the marriage that you are interested in took place.
• This will allow you to identify any newspapers that may have published the date.

• You can find further information on online newspaper archives on a state-by-state basis here: http://www.neh.gov/us-newspaper-program.

• You can find archive copies of newspapers in good public libraries, and access should be free of charge in most cases.

Community Q&A

You can ask the couple directly, or consult the wedding invitation. If all else fails, you can ask a relative that is also invited to the wedding.

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Consult your state's public records office for further information—these dates should be on file somewhere at the state level.

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I am looking for the date of the marriage in 1956 of Josephine Laurence and James Revell. What can I do?

Try asking relatives for marriage cards or check local records to find more information about the marriage date.

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Thank you for your feedback.
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1. ↑http://bmdindex.co.uk/
2. ↑https://familysearch.org/wiki/en/United_States_Church_Records
3. ↑https://familysearch.org/wiki/en/United_States_Marriage_Records#Places_to_look_for_Marriage_Records

About This Article

This article was co-authored by wikiHow Staff. Our trained team of editors and researchers validate articles for accuracy and comprehensiveness. wikiHow's Content Management Team carefully monitors the work from our editorial staff to ensure that each article is backed by trusted research and meets our high quality standards. This article has been viewed 260,908 times.

There are several ways to find out the date someone got married. Search online to see if your state and county has online marriage indexes where you can find out the date of a marriage. If you can’t find the information that way, ask at the local county records office where the couple got married. You may have to pay a fee to perform the search. Alternatively, you can search an online marriage record agency. These generally charge a fee, but you might be able to get a free trial to search for a marriage. If you’re looking for the date of marriage before the 20th century, look for church records at the church or headquarters of the denomination. For more tips, including how to search for wedding announcements in newspapers, read on!

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