Tennessee Marriage Records

Tennessee marriage records include all records that document the event of a marriage. Banns are announcements of an upcoming marriage that appear in newspapers and other local or national publications. Marriage licenses are usually issued by a corresponding Tennessee county clerk’s office and serve as a sort of permission to hold a wedding ceremony. It holds all of the official marriage documentation that will go on a marriage certificate, which is an official document marking the date, time, and information of a certain marriage ceremony. The Tennessee Department of Health and Vital Records is typically the place where people go to obtain an official copy of a Tennessee Marriage Certificate.

Marriage records in Tennessee serve as a practical and historical account of the event as well as an identifying public record. It lets important government and private agencies know that a marriage has taken place and that two people are now living as “one” in the world. This is important in Tennessee because for official name changes, the marriage certificate is often the golden key of that change. It will allow someone to change their name on their social security record, their business accounts, and their personal accounts. Banks especially want to see official marriage certificates when conducting major business with couples.

Reasons For Obtaining Tennessee Marriage Records

Tennessee marriage records have important purposes both in private life and for genealogical work. Anyone who’s ever tried to construct an accurate family tree knows the importance of marriage records. They contain information such as the name of the bride and groom, the county of the marriage, and the year of the marriage. Some locations in Tennessee will have more in-depth marriage records, such as those that list the occupation of both spouses.

You might need these records for historical purposes while doing family research or you might need them for practical purposes, such as when you want to purchase a house together with a partner. Showing proof of the marriage allows banks to comfortably put the house in both names, as it is the property of a legal marital union.

How to Find Marriage Records

Finding marriage records online used to be more difficult than it is today. These days, Tennessee is one of the most helpful states in showing you how to locate marriage records in the state. This official page belongs to the Tennessee Secretary of State and correctly points out that there is an exhaustive list of marriages that occurred before the year 1861, a perfect list for those seeking out records for genealogy or historical research. They also have a helpful Ask a Question page which lets you send in a specific name of a bride and groom and inquire about their marriage.

Third party websites are also ideal in locating marriage records. Since they’re public records, they’re extremely easy to locate on these great sites, such as searchquarry.com or VitalChek. Both of these third party sites have a wealth of information that will lead you straight to the marriage records in Tennessee that you might be looking for.

Searching For Tennessee Marriage Records

Make sure that you have as much information as possible about the marriage record you seek. At a minimum, you’ll need a name of the bride and/or groom to kick off your first set of results. And what great results they are! You can instantly view thousands upon thousands of marriage documents right at your fingertips on some government pages and all third party marriage record websites.

Everything begins with a single search. If you need to find Tennessee marriage records today, your first search is mere seconds away. The results will lead you straight to the records you seek.