Local couples looking to tie the knot before Valentine’s Day will have a chance to save a few bucks in the process next week.
The Fairfax County Circuit Court is offering free civil marriage ceremonies next Tuesday, Feb. 11 at its Reston satellite office, which will be open in the Cathy Hudgins Community Center at Southgate from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Typically, civil celebrants authorized to perform marriage ceremonies can charge up to $75. Fairfax Circuit Court Clerk Chris Falcon will waive that for the ceremonies he conducts on Tuesday, though the actual marriage license still carries a $30 application fee.
“In honor of Valentine’s week, we are giving back to our community,” Falcon said in a press release. “We recognize that many of our residents are facing financial uncertainty, and we hope this helps.”
Interested couples can sign up through an online pre-application process.
The circuit court introduced its satellite office in Reston last May, providing civil filings, marriage licenses, certified copies of court records and notary services on the second Tuesday of every month.
The addition of a satellite site continued the court’s efforts to become more accessible. Under Falcon, who campaigned in 2023 on promises to improve the accessibility of court records and services, the circuit court has shifted to electronic filings for criminal cases, launched an online database with basic case information and worked to digitize historical records.
Falcon told the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors last October that the court hopes to expand its satellite services in 2025 with an office in the Richmond Highway corridor.
Other planned initiatives include a judicial learning center with exhibits on historic cases, a property fraud alert system and an expungement clinic for people charged with a crime but never convicted.
