- 1 min read
- Posted on 10.12.05
You see them all the time in the corridors of City Hall: two by two by nervous. These are the nearly 49,000 happy/resigned/starter/retread couples who come Downtown each year to pick up marriage licenses.
It costs $48 in cash or money order to buy a City marriage license. That’s about $40 cheaper than in San Francisco, not including the airfare. A license issued in the City of St. Louis is good for ceremonies anywhere else in the state. You’ll need a drivers license, a state ID, or a passport to prove your identity and age and, of course, a co-conspirator.
The people-who-notice-such-things say that June, the traditional Month for Brides, has been replaced in St. Louis by September. Applications for licenses don’t have a most popular day, but Friday is — by far the most popular day to pick them up. It probably has something to do with weekly To Do lists.
The license fee is not refundable if you decide — as do a dozen or so couples a month — not to use the license. Still, it’s a keepsake, albeit an illegal one.
