weddingA $60 license from the County Clerk, no waiting period, and 60 days to use it. Here is every step, what a courthouse wedding costs, and how a $19,000 Arkansas wedding compares.
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The average Arkansas wedding costs about 317 times the license. Bars use a log scale so the small fees stay visible.
License fee from Arkansas official sources, see our Arkansas requirements page. State and US averages: The Knot 2026 Real Weddings Study.
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From the County Clerk counter to a recorded marriage, in the order you do it.
Both of you must be at least 18 (17 with parental consent, 16 only with a court order). You do not need to live in Arkansas. No blood test.
Bring valid photo ID. If either of you was married before, have the date the last marriage ended. Your county may ask for more, so check its list before you go.
IllustrativeApply together at the County Clerk and pay the license fee ($60).
Waiting period: None for applicants 18 or older; 5 business days for underage applicants (17, with parental consent).
IllustrativeThe Governor; any former Arkansas Supreme Court justice; judges of courts of record (including qualifying former judges); justices of the peace (including qualifying former justices of the peace); any regularly ordained minister or priest of a religious sect or denomination; qualifying former or current mayors; any official appointed for that purpose by the county quorum court; and qualifying elected or former district/municipal court judges. Witnesses: None. The license is valid for 60 days.
The signed license goes back to the issuing office to be recorded. Order certified copies for name changes, insurance and benefits.
Need the document list and county fees? See Arkansas marriage license requirements or the national how to get a marriage license guide.
Fine print: None for applicants 18 or older; 5 business days for underage applicants (17, with parental consent)
Apply no more than 60 days before.
| Rule | Arkansas (2026) |
|---|---|
| Where to apply | County Clerk |
| License fee | $60 |
| Waiting period | None for applicants 18 or older; 5 business days for underage applicants (17, with parental consent) |
| License valid for | 60 days |
| Minimum age | 18 (17 with parental consent, 16 only with a court order) |
| Witnesses | None |
| Officiant | The Governor; any former Arkansas Supreme Court justice; judges of courts of record (including qualifying former judges); justices of the peace (including qualifying former justices of the peace); any regularly ordained minister or priest of a religious sect or denomination; qualifying former or current mayors; any official appointed for that purpose by the county quorum court; and qualifying elected or former district/municipal court judges. Officiants must register their credentials with the county clerk before performing a ceremony. Notaries public cannot officiate in Arkansas. |
| Common-law marriage | Not recognized |
County Clerk
$60
None for applicants 18 or older; 5 business days for underage applicants (17, with parental consent)
60 days
18 (17 with parental consent, 16 only with a court order)
None
The Governor; any former Arkansas Supreme Court justice; judges of courts of record (including qualifying former judges); justices of the peace (including qualifying former justices of the peace); any regularly ordained minister or priest of a religious sect or denomination; qualifying former or current mayors; any official appointed for that purpose by the county quorum court; and qualifying elected or former district/municipal court judges. Officiants must register their credentials with the county clerk before performing a ceremony. Notaries public cannot officiate in Arkansas.
Not recognized
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In Pulaski County (Little Rock) the clerk's office handles the paperwork but does not marry couples, so you bring the officiant. Here is how that works, checked against the official page, and how it compares with a full wedding.
Source: Pulaski County Clerk, Marriage License, checked October 2026. Other counties set their own rules and fees.
Courthouse column from the county source above. Wedding cost from The Knot 2026 Real Weddings Study; venue and officiant lead times from Zola, 2026 wedding planning checklist. See courthouse wedding costs explained.
A short news report on couples choosing courthouse ceremonies as wedding costs rise. Worth two minutes before you weigh a civil ceremony against a $19,000 Arkansas wedding.
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$60
is the license fee to marry in Arkansas. The average wedding there runs $19,000.
Illustrative image, not a specific Arkansas venue.Arkansas comes in $15,200 under the US average. Rank 1 is the most expensive state.
State averages are the same figures as our wedding cost calculator. US average $34,200, per The Knot 2026 Real Weddings Study.
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The license is the easy part. It only fits a short window before the day, while venues and photographers book many months out. Here is the national advice next to the Arkansas license window.
Average engagement for couples who married in 2024
The Knot 2025 Real Weddings Study (via The Plumb Club)Of couples began planning about 12 months ahead
The Knot 2025 Real Weddings Study (via The Plumb Club)Bars show the advice range from Zola, 2026 wedding planning checklist (updated May 2026), dots the single figure from WeddingWire, vendor booking timeline (2018). These are planning advice, not survey data, and Zola gives two figures for some vendors (venue 11 months in its timeline, 12 to 18 in its FAQ). The license bar comes from Arkansas rules.
Apply no more than 60 days before. There is no waiting period, so you can marry the day it is issued.
Arkansas license rules
IllustrativeClerk offices close on holidays and some only take appointments. Dodge County, Wisconsin, for one, tells couples to apply two to three weeks before the wedding.
Dodge County, Wisconsin, County Clerk
IllustrativeZola puts the venue 12 to 18 months out, photographers and caterers 9 to 12, and save the dates 6 to 8. The license comes last, inside the Arkansas window above. Zola's 2026 report also found a few couples now book a venue before they are even engaged (7%, up from 6%).
Zola First Look Report 2026
Illustrative photos: courthouse steps, regional settings and the guest shots couples collect afterwards.
of couples in The Knot 2025 Real Weddings Study married in October, the most popular month in the US. Your own state's peak can sit elsewhere, so check the strip.
The Knot Worldwide, 2025 Real Weddings Study releaseSpring and fall carry the Arkansas wedding calendar. Redbud and dogwood bloom make spring ceremonies popular, and Ozark fall color arrives later in the autumn, with peak timing that shifts every year and with elevation, so treat peak leaves as a bonus rather than the reason for a date. Summer heat and humidity push many couples indoors or into evening ceremonies from late June through August. Winter weddings are less common, but covered chapels like Thorncrown and Anthony Chapel keep the ceremony comfortable in any season while still giving guests a wooded view.
Best month to get married
Barns, ranches and open country set the look for many weddings here.
Illustrative image, not a specific Arkansas venue.
IllustrativeBentonville and Fayetteville offer trendy arts districts, crystal bridges, and Ozark Mountain backdrops.
IllustrativeHistoric bathhouse row, lakefront venues, and resort-style properties surrounded by national forest.
IllustrativeThe capital city features riverfront venues, botanical gardens, and restored historic buildings.
The fee is $60 at the county clerk's office. Both applicants must apply in person together with a government-issued photo ID, and Pulaski County does not accept a power of attorney. There is no waiting period for applicants 18 or older, no blood test and no residency requirement. Pulaski County issues licenses Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., so plan the courthouse stop before a weekend ceremony, and return the license to the issuing clerk within 60 days of issuance.
Arkansas law (Ark. Code 9-11-213) authorizes any regularly ordained minister or priest of a religious sect or denomination, along with judges, justices of the peace and certain other officials. The practical step people miss is paperwork: the Pulaski County Clerk states that ministers performing marriages in Arkansas must have their credentials recorded with a county clerk's office in Arkansas before the ceremony. If your officiant was ordained online or lives in another state, have them contact the county clerk well before the wedding to record their credentials and confirm what documents the clerk will accept.
Four towns cover most destination plans. Eureka Springs has Thorncrown Chapel and a Victorian downtown for the rest of the weekend. Hot Springs pairs Hot Springs National Park and Bathhouse Row with Anthony Chapel at Garvan Woodland Gardens. Bentonville centers on the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, and Little Rock offers historic hotel ballrooms like The Capital Hotel. Pick the town that fits your guest list first, then look for lodging nearby, since chapel ceremonies at Thorncrown and Anthony Chapel run in set time slots and receptions often happen at a separate venue.
Arkansas does not allow a common-law marriage to be formed within the state, so couples who live together in Arkansas are not married without a license and a ceremony. Under Ark. Code 9-11-107, Arkansas does recognize a marriage that was valid where it was entered, which can include a valid common-law marriage formed in a state that allows one. Couples in that situation who plan a formal Arkansas ceremony should ask an attorney whether a new license changes anything for them.
IllustrativeArkansas keeps the license process simple for adults: a $60 fee at any county clerk's office, no waiting period for applicants 18 or older, no residency requirement and no witnesses. Both applicants must appear together with a government-issued photo ID. Officiants authorized under Ark. Code 9-11-213 include regularly ordained ministers or priests of any religious sect or denomination, judges of courts of record, justices of the peace, the Governor, qualifying current or former mayors and officials appointed by the county quorum court; notaries public are not on the list. Ministers must record their credentials with an Arkansas county clerk before performing a ceremony. Arkansas raised the minimum age with parental consent from 16 to 17 via HB1708, signed into law on April 18, 2019. A 17-year-old needs both parents present with a notarized affidavit of consent, and the license cannot be picked up until a 5-business-day waiting period has passed, even though adult applicants have none. After the ceremony, the license goes back to the issuing clerk for recording within 60 days of issuance.
Arkansas recorded 7.8 marriages per 1,000 residents in 2023, about half its 2000 rate of 15.4. The CDC counts marriages by the state where they take place, so couples who travel to Arkansas to marry are included in that figure.
Source: CDC/NCHS, National Vital Statistics System: Marriage rates by State, 1990, 1995, and 2000-2023
Arkansas weddings often spread across more than one place: a ceremony at Thorncrown or Anthony Chapel booked in a set time slot, a reception at a separate venue, and a weekend of guests exploring Eureka Springs, Hot Springs or Bentonville. The photos end up split across guests' phones and group chats. A Pix Wedding QR guest album gives everyone one place to put them: guests scan the code on a table card or program, upload photos and videos from their phone browser with no app to install, and can keep adding shots from the rehearsal dinner through the Sunday send-off.
Courthouse or full reception, guests scan one QR code and add photos and videos from the phone browser. No app and no account, and nothing gets lost in group chats.
Scan to join the album
No app, no account
UPLOADING
THE ALBUM
June 21, 2026
647 photos · 95 guests
Every document, fee and county rule in one place.
Where the $19,000 average goes, line by line.
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Short answers on cost, license, waiting period, courthouse and witnesses in Arkansas.
The legal minimum is the marriage license: $60 in Arkansas. The Pulaski County (Little Rock) office does not perform ceremonies, so any officiant you book is a separate cost. The average Arkansas wedding runs about $19,000 per The Knot 2026 Real Weddings Study, against a US average of $34,200. That ranks Arkansas #45 of 50 states by average cost.
1. Check you can marry. 2. Gather your documents. 3. Apply at the County Clerk. 4. No waiting period. 5. Hold the ceremony. 6. Return the license, order copies. The full step list is above.
A Arkansas marriage license costs $60. You apply at the County Clerk.
No. None for applicants 18 or older; 5 business days for underage applicants (17, with parental consent). The license is valid for 60 days.
Not at the clerk's counter in Pulaski County (Little Rock). The county clerk issues licenses but does not perform ceremonies. The clerk links a list of Justices of the Peace who officiate for a fee, or you can use a minister who has recorded credentials with a county clerk. Return the license within 60 days. Other counties in Arkansas may differ, so call the office where you plan to marry.
No witnesses are required by Arkansas law. The Governor; any former Arkansas Supreme Court justice; judges of courts of record (including qualifying former judges); justices of the peace (including qualifying former justices of the peace); any regularly ordained minister or priest of a religious sect or denomination; qualifying former or current mayors; any official appointed for that purpose by the county quorum court; and qualifying elected or former district/municipal court judges.
