How do atheists get married?

Civil service before a judge – there doesn’t need to be any mention of God. You can even write your own vows.

Just find an officiant online. We had a completely secular ceremony, officiated by a Unitarian pastor. So far as I can tell, he had gotten his pastordom online, which was fine by me. The ceremony was held at a hotel and there was no mention of God.

So far as legality is concerned, all you need is a piece of paper certified by someone who’s authorized to certify it. No God necessary.

You can make a very nice civil ceremony. Mayors and Justices of the Peace are often called on to officiate at weddings. It can be a “real wedding.” Mine was.

I smell trouble.

There was no mention of God at my wedding either. We got a Justice of the Peace, just like @janbb did, rented a space at a local estate that also did decent catering, and had a nice get-together for 40 people for under a grand (including the wife’s wedding gown).

My mother also had a JP for her second wedding, and there was also no mention of the big guy.

“Getting married requires swearing to God of your love.”

No it doesn’t, We were married by a cantor (my husband is a non-practicing Jew) and God was never mentioned.

Like @crisw I had a Jewish wedding too, and I’m an atheist. But I’m Jewish.

By Satan, of course ~

We got married by my best friend who’s a Muslim, lol and later had a ceremony in City Hall.

The idea of marriages as social contracts far predates Judaism or Christianity, or monotheism for that matter. Making marriages a religious ceremony is really a peculiar thing. Sure, lots of people include blessings, but actually making it about religion is just weird.

Don’t you want to get married in the church of scientiology?

Getting married requires you make a commitment to each other. Not anything to do with imaginary gods. You could find someone to marry you who is recognized by whatever state you are in, but who does the ceremony you lay out with whatever vows you would like.

Where do you live? It seems odd that you would not have any notion of a civil wedding performed by a Judge at the courthouse (or anywhere you want).

In this day and age, marriages ceremonies are mostly legal contracts. It’s what you make of your marriage that is important: love, commitment, shared values, children etc. Your commitment is to your spouse, not a God. There are all sorts of people who are legally allowed to perform marriage ceremonies, Judges are the most common.

You need special dispensation from the left hand pillar of the altar of finance and politics. Then you must take a dip in the pool of molten lilies fired in the forge of finality. Next, a visit to the completeness machine, which tests you for compatibility and offers relationship tips (most of them stolen from Fluther, might I add). Should you complete these steps, you have one final thing to do.

You must say, “I do.”

And then, before all the representatives of machine life and assorted baseball stars, you can consider yourself married under the law of atheist fast food.

You can find a non-denominational Minister who will work with you in terms of what vows you feel is appropriate. Best wishes and good luck to you both!

Marriage pre-dates religion, has existed in practically every culture we know of, and is in no way inseparable from the capitalized god that you’re speaking of. It is most universally described as a legal contract of union. Most countries have some secular method of formalizing legal marriage (and in some countries it is exclusively secular). In a nutshell, the ritual you choose to enter into marriage is entirely your own, and has no requirement to be religious if you don’t wish it. The formal agreement, the written contract, may be certified by a religious official, but that doesn’t make the contract religious. The point of marriage under the law is to be recognized by your government, and most western governments are secular.

We got married at my parents’ house in a civil ceremony. No gods required.

We got married in the middle of a forest, between just the two of us and the deer and the flowers. I pledged my love/life to him and he pledged his to me. That was 37½ years ago.

Five years later, when our son was born, we went to the state registrar, paid the fee and filled out a marriage license. This was for the legal privileges and protections provided by the contract. We signed and the clerk signed as witness, and that was that.

If you want a ritual, make a ritual out of signing the marriage certificate. After all, that’s when you get legally married—not when you swear before God.

You can even get a fancy desk for the occasion (like how Obama ritualizes the bill-signings). That’s what me and my fiancée are doing.

We were thinking of getting married in a graveyard.

That sounds a little dark, but if it suits you then it’s fine. I’m not sure if anyone on Fluther is legally able to marry you and your fiance, but I would ask @Symbeline if she’d like to do the honors.

just live together for 7 months… and in most countries you will be married according to common law

@Kardamom Ya it’s dark but me and my fiance are dark. We love whore films and such!

@talljasperman There is no such thing in California, and it’s 7 years in most places that do allow it, not 7 months.

@YARNLADY its 7 months in Canada… and that is most places for me… but thanks for the info

I wrote my own service. Look into what words of commitment are legally required to be in the marriage vows. In most jurisdictions I am aware of, swearing to God is not one of them. In fact, there are many theists who think the biblical prohibition on swearing makes such ceremonies sacrilegious.

Marriage is a civil institution as well as a religion, so you can have a civil ceremony. If you’re not interested in a big wedding, you can go to the local justice of the peace. If you want something more elaborate, you can hold a ceremony at whatever destination you choose and invite a marriage celebrant who is authorized to perform marriages (celebrants may or may not have a religious affiliation). Here is a wiki page about celebrants (the article focuses on Australia, but some US cities have celebrants, too):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celebrant_(Australia)

I meant to say “religious institution”, not “religion”! Aargh!