marriage- civil ceremony

[MineralMan]

3. Marriage is a civil contract.

Both parties sign a document, and it is witnessed by others. That's the essential aspect of it. That contract gets recorded by some local authority and becomes a matter of public record. No religion needs to be involved.

Personally, I think a couple should be able to go to the County Clerk's office or to whatever place issues marriage licences, take a couple of friends with them, pay whatever fee is required to record the contract, and sign the forms. That should be the end of that. Or, as an alternative, they should be able to take the form to a notary public for witnessing, and then return it to the Clerk for recording.

If people want to have some religious ceremony, that's fine, but the contract is a civil matter.