Marriage Ceremonies

Clerk of the Peace Norman A. Jones, Jr. (Jay) joyfully announces that the Memorable Marriage ceremonies will be available all seven days of the week, as long as the Clerk of the Peace or assigned staff is available. This flexible arrangement will enable you to schedule your Memorable Marriage ceremony at your convenience. If you have a particular date and time in mind, please call as soon as possible to make sure that we are available.  If we are available, the marriage bureau staff will email you instructions on how to complete the payment process to lock in your date and time for the ceremony on our schedule.  We are able to schedule your ceremony six (6) months in advance.

Our Office will officiate Memorable Marriage ceremonies anywhere in Sussex County, Delaware. The sites may include, but are not limited to, our Marriage Bureau Ceremony Room (photos of our wedding venue), which seats a maximum of 12 people, historical Delaware sites, fire houses, scenic beaches, parks and common areas, clubs, and private homes. If you are posting your wedding pictures on social media, we would love to see them. Please use #wedinsussex and post them publicly so that we can find them!

The engaged couple, with their family and friends, should arrive at least THIRTY MINUTES prior to the scheduled time for the Memorable Marriage ceremony in our Marriage Bureau Ceremony Room. Two people attending your ceremony will be your official witnesses. Your witnesses should be over the age of 18, present at least 30 minutes prior to the ceremony time and, pursuant to Delaware law, they must present proper photo identification. These witnesses are required to complete and sign legibly your certificate of marriage before the wedding ceremony will begin. If you do not have witnesses, we will provide witnesses for you.

For an out of office Memorable Marriage ceremony, we will arrive TWENTY MINUTES prior to your ceremony so that we can get the witnesses signatures on the certificates of marriage so that we are ready to begin your ceremony on time!

If you should desire to include any special expressions, statements or messages in your Memorable Marriage ceremony, we will try to accommodate your requests. Please contact Alisa Mawson, Chief Deputy, Marriage Bureau at (302) 853-1717. Should you wish to renew your marriage vows, these guidelines will also pertain to our Memorable Marriage renewal ceremonies.

We feel that you deserve the best Memorable Marriage ceremony and so does everyone else, so we must begin on time for the ceremony! To reserve a date and time for a Memorable Marriage ceremony or to get additional information about scheduling a Memorable Marriage ceremony, please call us at (302) 853-1717 during the office hours 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, or contact us via email at marriagebureau@sussexcountyde.gov