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Dan Jones, Wedding Officiant

Embracing Ceremony Blog

How to Get Married in New Mexico

Are you pondering marriage? Maybe you’re just daydreaming and hoping the question will be popped very soon? It is fun (and helpful too) to think ahead. If you’ve ever thought about getting married in New Mexico, read on!

Once you have the ring on your finger you’ll be getting lots of input from friends and family on where and how to get married. So let your imagination run a bit wild now. Formulate a sense of what you’d like in a wedding celebration. Traditional or unique? Large or intimate? Do you have a budget or do you want to blow a budget?

Getting married in New Mexico is a great way to go! The southwest is steeped in history and tradition and offers myriad opportunities for a very memorable wedding. As a northern New Mexico wedding officiant I can speak to the reasons for you to consider Taos or one of the surrounding mountain towns such as Angel Fire as a lovely place to tie the knot.

A gorgeous wedding photo made even better by the incomparable northern New Mexico light.
The incomparable light of northern New Mexico makes for stunning wedding photographs.

New Mexico marriage laws make it super easy to take care of the legal aspects of getting married in New Mexico. If you’re getting married in New Mexico you need a New Mexico marriage license. You and your partner need to go together to any county clerk office in the state (makes no difference where in New Mexico you’re getting married) with photo ID, social security card and $25 cash or check. You can do this at any point before your wedding day, or even the day of your wedding if the office is open. It’s a good idea to check what days and hours the clerk will be in the office. You can get contact information for New Mexico County Clerk’s Offices here.

Bring the license they provide to your ceremony. We’ll complete it and I or you can return it to be filed and once that is done you will get it back. That’s the document with which you can commence the name change process if you’re going that route. Once you obtain the license it does not expire – you can get it the day of your ceremony or a year ahead. Once the ceremony is complete though the license has to be filed back with the county of origin within 60 days.

That’s basically what’s required to get married in New Mexico. If it’ll just be the two of you you’ll need to find someone to do the job (that’s me!) that can provide a meaningful ceremony that speaks to your beliefs. As a Taos wedding officiant I’ve got a lot of experience and am ready to work with you. Check out my Officiating Page for a few more specifics.

A wedding couple at Ghost Ranch in northern New Mexico
Ghost Ranch provides an unrivaled backdrop for you, your guests and your photographs.

Of course if you’re planning on having some guests for your wedding ceremony there is a little more planning you’ll want to undertake. But before you get to the fun details such as flowers and photographer you should decide where you’d like to get married in New Mexico. There are so many choices from posh resorts to historic chapels and an infinite number of choices in quintessentially dramatic northern New Mexico scenic splendor.

I love helping couples consider the possibilities for their New Mexico destination wedding. Give me a call at 720-849-5967 so we can chat about it. I also have a free New Mexico Wedding Planning Guide available by entering your email address at the bottom of my Home Page.

Another resource would be to read over some of my other blogs on northern New Mexico wedding destinations:

I look forward to hearing from you so we can get your questions answered!

Want more information on this topic? Email Dan at Dan@EmbracingCeremony.com

Need more information on planning a wedding in northern New Mexico? Request our informative listing that includes options for other services such as wedding cakes, accommodations and fine dining.