The bride's maiden name is particularly important for tracing her genealogy. The ages of the groom and bride can also be important when you're trying to match names to other records of individuals with those names. Together with the location of the marriage license filing, this information can provide a great starting point for developing an ancestry.

So whether you're just interested in finding a long lost relative or finding out what your ancestors were doing centuries ago, locating marriage records is a vital step in the process.

Where Marriage Records Are Kept

If the marriage was local, then your local county courthouse is often the best place to start your search. If they have the marriage record, you'll be able to get a copy for a small filing and processing fee. If you don't know what county or even state hosted the marriage license, you're going to need to do some research before you even bother with courthouses. If you already know both names on the marriage license, it is a relatively simple process one way or another, but if you don't know both names, particularly the bride's maiden name, you may have some difficulty. You can speed the process up significantly, however, by being able to provide a narrow time span of when the marriage took place.

Since the vast majority of the time this is the type of information you're seeking, and thus you currently lack this information, you'll typically have to do research before you look for the marriage records.

Getting More Information

With big pushes for government agencies around the globe to post their public records online, much of the information you need for your genealogy research projects can now be found online. Even if you cannot pull up the marriage record itself using an extensive online search, you may be able to find enough information to guide you in the direction you need to go to locate the marriage records.

It is often surprising where genealogists find the information they need to locate marriage records. Obituary searches often provide a lot of useful information about important life and family events, including marriages. Churches may also keep records of marriages performed in their buildings. Keep your mind open to potential sources of information as you search for any clues that may lead you to other information you can use to locate the marriage records.

Websites with Marriage Records

There are now some websites that contain marriage records databases available for research. You should give these a try in the interest of saving time. Just keep in mind that the information may be faulty and need verification from official sources. Make sure you know what you're dealing with before paying any money to these sites.