Not much is more romantic than a spontaneous wedding on Valentine's Day. But if you get engaged this morning, can you end the day married?
Here, where four states are a short drive from one another, the answer is yes-if you choose the right one. While Louisiana and Texas make couples wait, adults who get marriage licenses in Arkansas or Oklahoma can be wed as quickly as they find someone to perform the ceremony.
In Arkansas, boys age 17 and girls age 16 or 17 may get a marriage license with parental consent, but they must then wait five days to exchange vows. Couples age 18 or older are not subject to that restriction.
"As soon as they get the license, they can go out the door and go ahead and get married right then," said Miller County, Ark., marriage clerk Linda Cutshall.
The law in Oklahoma is similar. People age 16 or 17 must wait 72 hours after they attain their licenses, but older couples may get married immediately. Louisiana imposes a 24-hour wait, and Texas a 72-hour wait, for everyone.
An Arkansas marriage license costs $60. To get one, an engaged couple must appear in person together at any county clerk's office in the state and present valid government-issued identification showing their dates of birth. The process in Oklahoma is similar, though the cost is $50, or $5 if the couple has completed at least four hours of premarital counseling.
Lovebirds in a hurry "constantly" travel to the Miller County Courthouse from other states and even other countries such as Mexico and Nigeria to take advantage of Arkansas law, Cutshall said.
"A lot of times, they know it's right and they want to get married right at that time," she said. "Some of them fly in on that day, and it's just the day they want to get married, so they purchase their license and they get married then."
Often such couples include service members stationed at posts such as Barksdale Air Force Base in Bossier Parish, La., or Fort Hood in Killeen, Texas, who have limited time to get married before an overseas deployment, local wedding officiant Jerry Shipp said.
"It's an honor to work with them," said Shipp, who is allowed to conduct wedding ceremonies because he served as a justice of the peace for 20 years. Over more than 40 years, he has officiated hundreds of weddings, and he is Cutshall's go-to recommendation.
Both Cutshall and Shipp are ready for any couples who need them today, however many there may be.
"We always are prepared, but sometimes there's just not that many that come in. One year, they said they had them lined out the hall and down the hall. Last year, I think we only had three," Cutshall said.
Shipp offers a religious wedding ceremony in either his living room or a gazebo on his property-along with his best advice.
"I always tell them it's a 50/50 proposition; do your part," he said. "And I always tell the man there's two words you need to know when you walk out my door: 'Yes, dear.' A happy wife makes for a happy life."