Article summary: You need information when searching for marriage records. However, if you don’t know all the information, an online search for vital records can help.


When searching for marriage records, you need to have some key information, especially if you are going to be using the offices that house county vital records. Some of this you may know, but if you are looking for an old record, you may not know the information. What are the key pieces of information you need when searching for marriage records?

• The person’s name. This should be obvious, but unfortunately, many people who are dishonest use aliases. Another reason why the name would be different on a marriage certificate is if the woman had been married before. She may have been going by her married name or a maiden name you do not know.
  
  
• The age of the bride and groom. There are many people with similar names across the United States (for example, John Smith and Jane Jones are often common names). If you know their approximate age at the time the wedding took place, you can narrow down your search for the marriage records in county vital records.
  
  
• The date of the marriage. If a person has been married multiple times, you may need to nail down the actual date of the record you need. If not you may spend a lot of time searching through marriage records.

The one piece of information you need that presents the biggest challenge is the location of the marriage. Marriage records are filed in the county where the marriage took place. If you have no clue as to where the marriage occurred, you could spend hours guessing which state, which county and which courthouse the record would be located. You could ask friends or relatives for guidance but if you want to be discreet about your search that is not a good idea.

Searching an online public records database is a discreet way to find marriage records from all over the country. While it helps if you have at least the state to list in the search engine, you can conduct a general search. This search will produce county vital records that may lead you to the information you need. All you need to do is key in what you know into the database from your computer to receive options that match the information. A public records database will contain information from all 50 states and in some cases other areas were weddings are popular. You don’t have to travel or call courthouse after courthouse looking for marriage records. You can do these searches from your office or home and no one will know.

You don’t have to take out a small loan to search an online public records database. Most of these searches cost from $5 to less than $100 depending on how much information you need. When you add in the costs of gas and your time, these searches are a bargain if you are looking for marriage records.