For whatever reason I can't find the answer to this on the Internet. (and don't know where to stick this in the forum either) If I get married when I'm older, I want to be married privately---just me and my husband to be. No minister, justice of the peace etc., just me and my husband. Can you do that? Does one of you need to have some power from the government?
Well, to be legally married you'll need to make a visit to the county courthouse so I suppose you technically can? So long as the marriage is officiated by a clerk, you'll be good to go.
If you and your partner lives like you are married, saying that you are married, and so on, you are basically married by all means except the law. You probably should get it officiated by the government for legal benefits and recognition though.
I did some Googling into whether you can officiate your own wedding. There seems to be a lot of suggestion that it's illegal to administer one's own oath so probably not, but you can check to see if you live in a place that allows it.
Well, I don't know of any country where you can get married without a celebrant of some kind. In most countries the person who conducts your marriage will need to be licensed by the state or government.
Actually I think you can, if one of you becomes an "ordained minister" you'll have the official authority to do so, you can acquire this authority at the Universal Life Church, where people like Hunter S. Thompson and L. Ron Hubbard got their "ordinations." It's twenty dollars to become ordained.
Honestly the whole thing where you're supposed to have an ordained minister is utter bullshit. Keep your religion out of my marriage.
