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What about a civil ceremony? Wedding can be simple or elaborate, religious or not Return to articles index | The marriage license A magistrate may legally perform a marriage ceremony. You can be married by a New Hanover County Magistrate for a fee of $10.00. If you choose to be married at the New Hanover County Jail, off Blue Clay Road, there is a magistrate on duty 7 days a week, 24 hours a day. No appointment is necessary. There is also a Civil Magistrate available at the New Hanover County Courthouse. You may call his office at 341-4465 to schedule an appointment. Some Magistrates, but not all, will perform a ceremony at a location other than the Jail or the Courthouse. A ceremony performed by a civil magistrate, willing to go to the location of your choice, may be as formal or informal as you wish, whether it be in a public park, your home, the Magistrate's home, a hot air balloon, riverboat or at the courthouse. The ceremony can include the reading of poetry, Biblical passages, prayers and music as you may wish. Just be sure to plan it out with the magistrate ahead of time. There are some who have several sample ceremonies from which you can choose. Also, there are a number of books available at bookstores on creating your own ceremony. If you don't know of someone who performs marriage ceremonies, you can obtain the names and phone numbers of magistrates simply by phoning any courthouse or government center and asking the marriage license clerk. You'll most likely find everyone to be congenial and helpful. In North Carolina, responsibility for marriage licenses is assigned to the Register of Deeds in each county. The license offices in the Cape Fear region can be reached at:
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