We’re goin’ to the chapel
With Valentine’s Day approaching, love is aflutter, as are the hordes of couples applying for marriage licenses. The marriage capital of Idaho, Coeur d’Alene is a one-stop shop when it comes to gettin’ hitched.
What’s more, it’s economical and hassle-free, to boot.
“In Idaho, a couple wanting a marriage license needs no witnesses or blood tests, and there’s no waiting period to obtain the license,” says Cheryl Reed, recording supervisor at the Kootenai County Courthouse. “Our office issues a third of all marriage licenses in the state of Idaho. When a marriage license is purchased here, it can be used in any county, statewide.”
Further, Idaho allows sweethearts younger than 18 to marry. Reed, who has worked for the county for 22 years, 20 of those in the Recorder’s Office, says, “Idaho allows 16- and 17-year-olds to marry with notarized, parental consent.”
The record for Kootenai County marriage licenses issued on Valentine’s Day is 61 in 2003. The busiest days of the week for marriage licenses, Reed reports, are Mondays and Fridays.
The price for a marriage license, weekdays, is $28 – the same for the past 15 years. Kootenai County’s is the only recorder’s office in the state open on Saturday. Marriage licenses cost more on Saturdays – $45.
After obtaining the license, many couples choose to head over to The Hitching Post Wedding Chapel at 524 Government Way, just across the street from the courthouse.
Offering a romantic atmosphere, pictures and silk flowers, The Hitching Post Wedding Chapel offers traditional, nondenominational ceremonies.
Justices of the peace formerly performed all the weddings at The Hitching Post, which has been around since the 1920s, until the position was eliminated. Now, ordained ministers perform them.
Chapel owner Pastor Don Knapp, says, “A former Kootenai County deputy sheriff in the ‘40s said couples at that time needed two witnesses. If none were available, the office issuing the licenses would call the sheriffs, asking them to send two deputies.”
The deputies were paid $1 each for their trouble, Knapp says he was told.
Couples from all over the world come to marry at The Hitching Post; some come to renew vows. Others are compelled by economics. Couples are charged $60 ($65 on Saturdays) to marry, compared to the average wedding cost today of $27,000.
The epitome of a couple driven by financial concerns came from Japan, Knapp says.
“Weddings in Japan are very expensive; $100,000 is typical, I’m told. One couple with friends and family in Spokane flew here, rented gowns and tuxes, got married at The Hitching Post, then flew back to Japan for a fraction of the cost.”
Some families make it a tradition to marry at The Hitching Post.
“We recently had a couple tell us they are the fourth generation to be married at The Hitching Post,” Knapp says.
Even if couples don’t get to the chapel on time, that’s not an issue in Coeur d’Alene.
Knapp says, “One couple brought in a license they’d had for 17 years; they’d obtained the license when they were 18, just out of high school. They married here at 35 years of age with that same license.”
Marriage licenses in Idaho don’t expire, but in Washington, law states that if licenses aren’t used within 60 days, they’re void. Also in Washington, couples must apply for their license three full days before their wedding date.
“A pastor in Yakima said a wedding was to take place with hundreds attending, when the couple realized three days hadn’t passed since obtaining the license,” said Knapp. “A church member flew them to Coeur d’Alene, they picked up their license, and married at The Hitching Post on a Saturday afternoon. Only three people knew they were already married before their ceremony that night.”
Tina Wilde, an employee in the Kootenai County Recorder’s Office, shares another story.
“A bride and groom came in near Valentine’s Day to purchase their license. The groom was a singer at a piano bar, and he serenaded our staff.”
Reed says another member of her staff recalls an elderly couple coming in.
“They were a widow and widower, in their 80s and 90s. The two had been friends for many years, and finally decided it would be great to be married to each other.”
Reed says couples have come in with their whole family; sometimes up to 10 people arrive in full wedding attire. This happens, according to Reed, when they forget to obtain a marriage license, and rush in prior to their ceremony.
It makes for some interesting days at the Recorder’s Office, which also issues liquor licenses and catering permits.
Neither the Recorder’s Office nor the Hitching Post accepts personal checks.
Want to get married at The Hitching Post Wedding Chapel near or on Valentine’s Day but don’t have an appointment? That’s no problem either, Knapp says.
“Appointments are welcome but not necessary during regular business hours.”