Learn How to Find Hawaii Marriage Certificate Records

Why are you interested in tracing a Hawaii marriage? Is your interest mainly historical? Or, is there some other purpose? Perhaps you are searching for a person from your family who traveled to Hawaii, married there and decided to stay amid the beautiful surroundings. Perhaps you are making your family tree and need to know more about the person. A marriage certificate can help you in these types of searches.

Hawaii has been lagging in keeping vital records. Its birth and death records began in 1853 but are incomplete prior to 1896. From the early 20th century, vital records began to be available. Though these pertained mainly to birth records, they often contain valuable genealogical information, and some of them were relevant to Hawaii marriage data too.

For birth, marriage and death records, you will need to write to the Hawaii Department of Health, Vital Records Section, P.O. Box 3378, Honolulu, HI 96801-9984.

Make Sure You Have Your Request Complete

•    Keep your letters brief and topical. Make only one or two requests in a letter. More may cause procedural delays.
•    Try your best to provide the fullest information you can.
•    If the person who got married is known by more than one name, write them all down, including nicknames and alternate spellings.
•    Be accurate about the date of marriage. If you are not sure of the precise date, provide a span of years that must be searched. Remember that you have to pay extra for searches that cover many years.
•    If you do not already know how many pages there are in any particular marriage deed, there’s no way you will know exactly what fees to pay. If so, paying in advance by guesswork will speed up nothing. 
•    It may be safer to send a blank check, duly signed. Write, under the "$____" line of the check, ideally in red ink, "Not to exceed $X.00", which should be the most likely amount.
•    Ideally, what you should do is take the trouble to write two letters. The first letter should state your need of a Hawaii marriage record, along with all the information you can provide, and a request for the service charges payable. Enclose your check for the specified amount with the second letter.
•    A stamped and self-addressed envelope should always be enclosed with your request letter.
•    Here is a word of caution: The state and county offices may be quite often short-staffed. Genealogical research is not part of their job. They do it as a kindness. They appreciate you keeping that in mind: do show some patience and courtesy if they are not responding as quickly as you would like!

Details to Remember 

When writing for a copy of a Hawaii marriage certificate, make sure to always to include the following:

•    Husband’s full name (last name in caps)
•    Wife’s full maiden name (last name in caps)
•    Date of marriage
•    Place of marriage
•    Relationship to you/the applicant
•    Why the record is needed
•    Your name & address
•    Your driver's license number & state (some counties require it)
•    Your signature

Online is Easier

There are many online archives today keeping official Hawaii marriage certificates compiled in one database. That means you can save yourself a lot of trouble and expense: go online, download from an archive, and pay by credit or debit card.