Is Colorado Right for You? Comparing Your Options

Before you book anything, it’s worth sitting with one question: is a self-solemnized Colorado marriage really the right shape for what you want? It isn’t the right fit for every couple, and figuring that out before you buy flights is a lot cheaper than figuring it out after.

Self-solemnization isn’t a Colorado-only thing, but Colorado is the easy version

Self-solemnization, marrying without an officiant, is legal in a handful of US states: Colorado, California, Illinois, Maine, Nevada, Wisconsin, Washington DC, Kansas, and Pennsylvania. It’s not some unique loophole specific to Colorado.

What sets Colorado apart is that its version is generally considered the most straightforward of the group: no residency requirement, no waiting period, and a simple county clerk process, without some of the extra conditions or restrictions attached to self-solemnization in a few of the other states on that list.

If you're seriously considering one of the other self-solemnizing states instead of Colorado, confirm that state's specific requirements directly: residency rules, witness requirements, and license mechanics vary state to state.

Who this suits

• Couples who are comfortable handling their own paperwork and don’t mind being their own wedding planner for a day.
• Couples who don’t need a religious or culturally-officiated ceremony to feel married.
• Couples who want something legally binding and meaningful without a full production: no guest list to manage, no vendor coordination, no reception logistics.

Who should reconsider

• Couples whose home country may not straightforwardly recognize a marriage solemnized without an officiant or witnesses. This is the single most important thing to check before you commit to this path, and it’s not hypothetical: France is a confirmed, concrete example where self-solemnization specifically, not just a Colorado marriage generally, changes what happens next. See our country-specific notes for what we’ve gathered so far, and confirm directly with your country’s consulate or relevant registry office if your country isn’t covered yet. If you’re a same-sex couple, treat this check as a genuinely separate question from the general recognition answer; see does it matter if we’re a same-sex couple.
• Families who expect, or require, a traditional or religious ceremony. Self-solemnization gives you total freedom to design your own ceremony, including a religious one if you arrange it privately, but it doesn’t come with any of that built in the way a religious or culturally-standard wedding would.

How Colorado compares to Vegas

Vegas is the obvious point of comparison. Here’s the honest difference:

• Vegas is an established, marketed wedding-tourism brand. Clark County issued 74,275 marriage licenses in 2023, roughly 16.5% to international couples, backed by a dedicated Wedding Chamber and convention-and-visitors-bureau marketing infrastructure built specifically around wedding tourism.
• Colorado has no equivalent built-out wedding industry. There’s no chapel row, no package deals, no dedicated wedding-tourism marketing bureau. It’s more DIY, more private, and, for a lot of couples, a lot more scenic: alpine lakes and mountains instead of a courthouse or a themed chapel (the photo above is Maroon Bells, one option among several).

Neither is objectively better. They’re just different products. Vegas optimizes for speed, predictability, and a certain kind of kitsch. Colorado optimizes for privacy, scenery, and doing it yourself; that DIY quality carries straight through to the cost side too.

A rough cost preview

One of the quieter advantages of this route is just how cheap the legal/admin side is:

• Marriage license: $30
• Apostille: roughly $5 by mail, with $15 commonly cited for walk-in expedited service
• Officiant costs: $0, since no officiant is legally required, so there’s no vendor fee to budget for on that front

The apostille fees above are commonly cited figures, not confirmed against the current fee schedule. See our full cost breakdown for the complete picture, and our apostille walkthrough for the process itself.

Pure admin costs can realistically stay well under $100 total. That’s separate from travel costs, of course: flights, lodging, and a rental car are their own line item, covered in the trip planning stage of the guide. Curious whether you even need rings or vows for any of this to be legally valid? Short answer: no.

The takeaway

If the appeal is doing something legally real, scenic, and low-friction, without needing to hire anyone or manage a guest list, Colorado is a strong fit. If a religious ceremony, witnessed signing, or guaranteed recognition in a country with strict foreign-marriage rules is non-negotiable for you, do that homework first. The next stage of this guide assumes you’ve made that call.