Can a Notary Officiate a Wedding in Georgia?

A notary public cannot officiate a wedding in Georgia. State law lists the people authorized to solemnize a marriage, and notaries are not on that list. If you want a notary friend to marry you, they will need a different kind of credential before the ceremony.

Who Georgia Authorizes to Solemnize a Marriage

O.C.G.A. § 19-3-30 sets out an exhaustive list. The marriage license is directed to one of these people:

The Governor or any former Governor of Georgia
Judges, including those on state and federal courts of record
City recorders
Magistrates
Ministers or other members of any religious society or sect, provided the organization’s own rules authorize them to perform marriages¹

Notaries do not appear. Neither do ship captains or self-styled officiants without a religious body behind them. Georgia also no longer has justices of the peace.

The minister category is where most non-clergy officiants end up. The statute turns on whether the person is authorized by the rules of their religious society, not on how they were ordained or how long they have held that role. Online ordination through organizations like the Universal Life Church or American Marriage Ministries has been used to perform thousands of Georgia weddings on that basis. Georgia does not require officiants to register with any government office before performing a ceremony.¹ No Georgia appellate court has squarely ruled on whether online ordination satisfies the statute, but the practical risk is low, and the safety net described below covers most edge cases anyway.

What a Georgia Notary Is Actually Authorized to Do

Under O.C.G.A. § 45-17-8, a Georgia notary’s powers are limited to:

Witnessing or attesting signatures on deeds and other documents
Taking acknowledgments
Administering oaths and affirmations
Witnessing affidavits
Taking verifications
Making certified copies of original documents, under specific conditions

These powers exist to prevent fraud in document transactions. Nothing in the notary statute grants authority to solemnize marriages, and a notary commission does not make someone a public officer in the sense that a judge or magistrate is.²

The confusion is understandable. Some states, including Florida, South Carolina, and Maine, do let notaries officiate weddings. Georgia does not. If you want a friend or family member to perform your ceremony, the workable path is online ordination through a recognized religious organization, not a notary commission.

If a Notary or Other Unauthorized Person Performs the Ceremony Anyway

Georgia has a forgiving rule here. Under O.C.G.A. § 19-3-42, a marriage is still valid even if the officiant lacked authority, as long as the couple, or even just one of them, genuinely believed the ceremony was lawful at the time. A good-faith mistake about the officiant’s qualifications will not void the marriage.

That protection covers the couple, not the officiant. O.C.G.A. § 19-3-48 makes it a misdemeanor for an authorized person to perform a marriage without a license or while knowing that one of the parties has a legal disability that would make the marriage improper. The statute is aimed at authorized officiants who cut corners, but its existence is a reminder that Georgia treats officiant duties as real responsibilities.³

Choosing an Officiant Whose Authority Is Unambiguous

The good-faith rule is a backstop, not a plan. If you want your marriage recorded without any complication, pick someone whose authority is not in question: a judge, a magistrate, or a minister with a traditional ordination. A magistrate ceremony at the probate or magistrate court is usually the fastest and cheapest option.

If you have your heart set on a friend performing the ceremony, have them ordain online well before the wedding, keep a copy of their ordination credentials, and confirm with the probate court that issued your license that nothing else is needed. Then make sure they understand their post-ceremony duty: the officiant returns the signed license to the issuing probate court within 30 days, along with a certificate stating the date of the marriage.¹ A notary can witness plenty of things in Georgia. Your wedding is not one of them.