New to the idea? Can you get married online? See how it works in all 50 states — then read on for everything specific to Maine.

If you searched for an online Maine marriage, here is the good news: you can skip the long drive to a municipal clerk and the scramble to get both of you plus two witnesses into one room — right now you can obtain your marriage license and complete the ceremony entirely online through Utah from wherever you are in Maine, and Maine recognizes it under the U.S. Constitution's Full Faith and Credit Clause. The one nuance to know is that this online license is a Utah one, not a Maine one: under 19-A M.R.S. Chapter 23, Maine's own license still requires you to file a notarized Notice of Intentions to Marry at a Maine municipal clerk and to solemnize the ceremony in Maine before an authorized officiant and two witnesses who are physically present.

So the fully legal way to get married online while sitting in Maine is a video ceremony on a Utah marriage license. Utah has no residency requirement, so Maine couples qualify, and under the U.S. Constitution's Full Faith and Credit Clause the resulting certificate is valid in Maine for every purpose — your witnesses can join the video call from anywhere instead of standing on a cold dock. Below, the Maine town-clerk route and the Utah video route sit next to each other — fee against fee, step against step — so you can see which one actually fits a state where the nearest open clerk window and a free weekend rarely line up.

For the full national picture, see our complete guide to whether online marriage is legal and how the Utah process is recognized in all 50 states under the Full Faith and Credit Clause.

Maine is the most rural state in the Northeast, and that geography is the whole story. There is no central county clerk — each of nearly 500 towns and cities runs its own clerk's office, with its own hours, and a resident must file intentions in the municipality where they actually live. For someone in Aroostook County, the nearest open clerk window can be a long winter drive away. Add Maine's seasonal rhythm — lobstermen and fishing crews offshore, Bath Iron Works and Portsmouth Naval Shipyard workers on shift, snowbirds wintering south, and couples chasing an Acadia or Bar Harbor coastal wedding — and getting both partners plus two witnesses into one room at one time is the genuine bottleneck. The Utah video route removes every one of those constraints.

How Maine Residents Get Married Online

A Maine marriage license is issued only in person: you file a notarized Notice of Intentions to Marry (form VS2-A) at a Maine town or city clerk's office. The filing fee is $40, there is no waiting period, and the license is valid for 90 days. Maine residents must file in their municipality of residence; if partners live in different Maine towns they file in one of them; out-of-state couples may file in any Maine municipality (and may mail the notarized form in advance). No blood test is required, and a valid photo ID is needed. The ceremony itself must be solemnized in Maine by an authorized officiant with two witnesses physically present, and the signed license must be returned within 15 working days. None of this can be done online. The online alternative is a Utah license + Utah video ceremony, which is valid in Maine under the Full Faith and Credit Clause.