How to get legally ordained to Marry a couple in NYC?

Universal Life Church will ordain you in 24 hours. You can then perform marriages in all 50 states. They also have useful information about marriage laws (i.e. what you have to do to legally marry someone) in each state.

Ordination page

http://www.themonastery.org/?destination=ordinatio...

Marriage Laws

http://www.themonastery.org/?destination=ulcLibrar...

We had a good friend marry us. He was ordained through Universal Life Church. It's a free online ordination, and as long as there is an active parish of this church in your state, it is legal. You can always call your clerks office to double check, but I know it was legal for our Michigan wedding, and one of the best memories of our day :)

www.universallifechurch.com

You can register with any online church (many are there just for that reason) and either not pay anything or pay somewhere around $20. Because of freedom of religion, any religion can appoint clergy that can then legally sign marriage licenses. However, for NYC specifically, you DO have to register first! Do a Google search for NYC marriage laws and see what I mean.

CA allows anyone (family, friend, whoever) to become ordained for a day by simply filling out paperwork from the marriage license office. They don't need to become ordained online first, and even if they were, they would still have to fill out the same paperwork involved.

Do a search online for sites that you can get ordained through...tons of them.

You can do it over the internet now. That is how we got our "preacher" ordained.

Here is the NY statute pertaining to solemnizing marriages:

§ 11. By whom a marriage must be solemnized. No marriage shall be

valid unless solemnized by either:

1. A clergyman or minister of any religion, or by the senior leader,

or any of the other leaders, of The Society for Ethical Culture in the

city of New York, having its principal office in the borough of

Manhattan, or by the leader of The Brooklyn Society for Ethical Culture,

having its principal office in the borough of Brooklyn of the city of

New York, or of the Westchester Ethical Society, having its principal

office in Westchester county, or of the Ethical Culture Society of Long

Island, having its principal office in Nassau county, or of the

Riverdale-Yonkers Ethical Society having its principal office in Bronx

county, or by the leader of any other Ethical Culture Society affiliated

with the American Ethical Union.

2. A mayor of a village, a county executive of a county, or a mayor,

recorder, city magistrate, police justice or police magistrate of a

city, a former mayor or the city clerk of a city of the first class of

over one million inhabitants or any of his or her deputies or not more

than four regular clerks, designated by him or her for such purpose as

provided in section eleven-a of this chapter, except that in cities

which contain more than one hundred thousand and less than one million

inhabitants, a marriage shall be solemnized by the mayor, or police

justice, and by no other officer of such city, except as provided in

subdivisions one and three of this section.

3. A judge of the federal circuit court of appeals for the second

circuit, a judge of a federal district court for the northern, southern,

eastern or western district of New York, a judge of the United States

court of international trade, a federal administrative law judge

presiding in this state, a justice or judge of a court of the unified

court system, a housing judge of the civil court of the city of New

York, a retired justice or judge of the unified court system or a

retired housing judge of the civil court of the city of New York

certified pursuant to paragraph (k) of subdivision two of section two

hundred twelve of the judiciary law, the clerk of the appellate division

of the supreme court in each judicial department or a county clerk of a

county wholly within cities having a population of one million or more;

or,

4. A written contract of marriage signed by both parties and at least

two witnesses, all of whom shall subscribe the same within this state,

stating the place of residence of each of the parties and witnesses and

the date and place of marriage, and acknowledged before a judge of a

court of record of this state by the parties and witnesses in the manner

required for the acknowledgment of a conveyance of real estate to

entitle the same to be recorded.

5. Notwithstanding any other provision of this article, where either

or both of the parties is under the age of eighteen years a marriage

shall be solemnized only by those authorized in subdivision one of this

section or by (1) the mayor of a city or village, or county executive of

a county, or by (2) a judge of the federal circuit court of appeals for

the second circuit, a judge of a federal district court for the

northern, southern, eastern or western district of New York, a judge of

the United States court of international trade, or a justice or a judge

of a court of the unified court system, or by (3) a housing judge of the

civil court of the city of New York, or by (4) a former mayor or the

clerk of a city of the first class of over one million inhabitants or

any of his or her deputies designated by him or her for such purposes as

provided in section eleven-a of this chapter.

6. Notwithstanding any other provisions of this article to the

contrary no marriage shall be solemnized by a public officer specified

in this section, other than a judge of a federal district court for the

northern, southern, eastern or western district of New York, a judge of

the United States court of international trade, a federal administrative

law judge presiding in this state, a judge or justice of the unified

court system of this State, a housing judge of the civil court of the

city of New York, or a retired judge or justice of the unified court

system or a retired housing judge of the civil court certified pursuant

to paragraph (k) of subdivision two of section two hundred twelve of the

judiciary law, outside the territorial jurisdiction in which he or she

was elected or appointed. Such a public officer, however, elected or

appointed within