Everything You Need To Know About Getting Married in Tennessee
So you’ve found your person and are ready to tie the knot. First, congratulations! There are few greater joys in life than finding your other half.
Getting married is a major life milestone, and every wedding and marriage is as unique as the couple themselves. As individual as your nuptials may be, there are some core details that every legal marriage has to have. Having officiated over 1000 marriages, Zelda knows the ins and outs of planning and the must-dos every wedding has to have.
Below, we’ll touch on everything you need to know to make your big day a special one.
Marriage Basics
Why Get Married?
Marriage is about more than just love. Getting legally married gives you and your partner special protections and privileges. These include tax benefits, social security and survivorship benefits, employment benefits like family leave and health insurance, the right to visit your spouse in the hospital, the right to plan their funeral, and more. All that to say, getting married in the eyes of the government can have a positive impact on you and your partner beyond just the warm fuzzy feeling that comes from promising to spend the rest of your lives together.
How to Get Married
Making your union legal isn’t complicated, but it does take a little bit of planning. In the state of Tennessee, you’ll need to get a marriage license from the county clerk, have it officiated, and then return the completed license to the clerk to receive a marriage certificate. Your marriage isn’t official until you’ve completed all these steps and received your certificate of marriage. We’ve written a handy guide with everything you need to know about to get legally married in the state of Tennessee that you can read on our How to Get Married page.
What Is an Officiant?
To make your marriage official, you need to have your license officiated, and that means you’ll need an officiant. An officiant is a person who leads a wedding ceremony. They are also responsible for solemnizing a wedding (i.e.: making it official in the eyes of the state). In Tennessee, only religious leaders and chaplains, current and former government officials, current and former judges, and public notaries can solemnize a marriage. Zelda Sheldon is an officiant minister ordained in person by American Marriage Ministries and is legally recognized to perform marriage officiant duties in the state of Tennessee and in many states across the USA.
Wedding Planning
Planning your wedding can be fun and romantic, but it can also be stressful and overwhelming. Luckily, the internet (including this website) is full of resources to help make planning a little less daunting.
Weddings Aren’t One-Size-Fits-All
Your wedding can be as big or small as you want. Whether you have a private, no-frills signing ceremony or a 500-person event with an intricate ceremony, you’ll still be married when the day is done.
Zelda has officiated weddings as casual as curbside certificate signings and as formal as black tie events with hundreds of guests. She’s married couples in ballrooms, backyards, bars, beautiful gardens, on boats; on cliff tops and rooftop decks, outdoors in parks, beside rivers, lakes and waterfalls, and inside mansions and inside jail houses.
One notable wedding took place mid-performance in a downtown Nashville honky tonk. The fiddle player stopped mid show to call his sweetheart up to the stage before getting down on one knee and asking her to marry him on the spot. The bar erupted in applause and Zelda performed a Short & Sweet Vow and Ring Exchange ceremony to the delight of both the crowd and the couple.
Another memorable ceremony was a zombie wedding held on World Zombie Day. The ecstatic blood-stained bride and groom led hundreds of zombies in an unforgettable wedding march across the John Seigenthaler Pedestrian Bridge and through downtown Nashville.
If you want to learn more about all the sizes and styles of weddings Zelda officiates, check out our Services and Prices page.
Seasonal Considerations
Bringing seasonal elements into your wedding can help guide your planning. Seasonal themes and colors can help you create a cohesive experience. Using in-season flowers and food can also save your budget; out-of-season florals and ingredients can come with a steep up-charge. Of course, your wedding can look however you want, and there’s no reason not to have a Halloween-themed wedding in July if that’s what moves you.
Regardless of which aesthetic you choose, there are season-specific considerations to keep in mind. Weather will impact your day regardless of what your wedding colors are, and venues and vendors charge more or book up quickly during certain months. We have a series of articles on planning considerations for every season that you can explore.
Planning Your Ceremony
While the aesthetics of a wedding are fun, it’s the ceremony that matters. As far as the state of Tennessee is concerned, the only section your ceremony must contain is that part where you both say "I do.” Other than that, you’re free to create a ceremony that most reflects you, your partner, and the love you share. We have an article on secular and religious wedding rituals from around the world where you can find inspiration for your own celebration. Your officiant can also help you design your marriage ceremony.
Zelda has had the honor of performing all kinds of ceremonies and rituals from many cultures including beautiful handfasting ceremonies dating as far back as 7000 BC in Celtic traditions and where the proverbial ‘tying the knot’ originated. Prince William and Kate chose to include a handfasting ceremony in their royal wedding in Westminster Abbey on Friday morning April 29, 2011. Couples can tie the knot with ribbons, cords, sashes, and tartans of their choice.
Other wedding rituals Zelda has performed include sand mixing for blended families, ring warming, glass breaking for Jewish weddings, and vow renewals for married couples who want to re-commit their devotion to each other.
Learn from Other’s Experiences
Experience is the best teacher, but if you’re getting married for the first time, you’re unlikely to have much hands-on experience planning a wedding. Luckily, plenty of other folks have gotten married before you. In addition to your friends and family, there are thousands of people sharing their experiences on the internet. Websites like The Knot and Wedding Wire have hundreds, if not thousands, of articles and how-to lists to help you get through your big day. These lists are great, but sometimes anecdotes can be the most helpful. You can check out our article from our friend Melanie about the things she wished she’d known before planning her wedding.
Getting Married In Nashville
Nashville is an amazing place to tie the knot. From the glamor of country music to the beauty of our nearby nature and unique landmarks like the Parthenon or the John Seigenthaler Pedestrian Bridge over the Cumberland River Downtown, there’s something for everyone. While Zelda has married people throughout Middle Tennessee, Music City is home for us. If you want a truly Nashville wedding, we’re here to help.
Where To Get Married
There are so many amazing locations to get married in Nashville. In addition to many traditional venues, there are beautiful sites around the city where you can elope for free. We have a whole list of some of Zelda’s favorite free locations in our article, 16 Scenic Locations In Nashville Where You Can Elope - For Free!
Having a Destination Wedding or Elopement in Nashville
As a popular tourist destination, Nashville is a great place for a destination wedding. The city has thousands of hotel and vacation rentals to choose from, an active nightlife scene, and plenty of food and activities to appeal to almost any taste. Even if you plan to elope with just your partner, getting married in Tennessee does require a little bit of planning. You can check out our article Planning Your Nashville Destination Wedding or Elopement to learn the basics of organizing an out-of-town elopement.
Ready to tie the knot? Get in touch!
No matter how big or small your wedding is, whether you come from near or far, the most important thing is that you’re sharing your life with someone you love. If you’re ready to make your partnership official, get in touch and schedule your ceremony today. With over 1000 weddings under our belts, we’re here to help, from how to get your marriage license to saying “I do.”