NOREEN: No matter where it is, wedding is easy part

It's called "self-solemnizing."

It's also called getting married. No muss, no fuss, no preacher or a judge. Just show an ID, fill out a form, pay $10 and raise your hand, pledging to tell the truth.

In 10-15 minutes, boyfriend and girlfriend become husband and wife. So far this year, according to Sandra Hook of the El Paso County Clerk's Office, almost half of this year's marriage licenses sold (see my blog) were for "weddings" of this sort.

Hook, the manager of the Recording Department, believes the economy is one reason for the rise in budget marriages, but it's not as if the participants were questioned about their motives. The clerk's staff is there to serve citizens, not to judge them.

If a man and woman walk into the office directly from a tattoo parlor reeking of tequila, they can get married on the spot, although one county staffer said such a couple might be gently reminded that the marriage license is good for 30 days, so there is no need to rush it.

Breaking up, even these days, is harder to do, and someone nursing a new tattoo along with a hangover soon learns the county clerk doesn't perform annulments.

But the reality is many couples who self-solemnize have been together for a while already.

Alex and Rachel Parker, for example. On Wednesday they sat down next to a sign that read, "Please take a number. The next clerk will be with you momentarily."

True enough. Quicker than they could have been issued license plates, Alex, 21, and Rachel, 18, were wed.

Alex, a Fort Carson soldier just returned from a tour in Iraq, joked, "I was pretty nervous. I think I'd rather get in a shootout."

He and Rachel high-fived as they ffnished the paperwork and then they kissed as their 1-week-old baby, Brendan, slept in a stroller.

Later in the summer there will be a wedding ceremony in Oregon, but Brendan couldn't be a military dependent without documented proof of the marriage. The Parkers walked out to the lobby to stand under an arch bedecked with lights and plastic ffowers as their parents took pictures.

About a third of the marriages in the U.S. nowadays end in divorce. There are no precise statistics about how long marriages last if they are launched by perfunctory civil procedures or by formal religious ceremonies.

It's relatively easy to get a divorce, but it's still easier to get married, although the cost of a marriage license in Colorado will rise from $10 to $30 on Wednesday.

The Parkers' plan of getting legally married, then having a ceremony later is common. County staffers said it's not uncommon for a couple to tie the legal knot before going on a vacation where a ceremony is attended by relatives.

Some find little romance in an over-the-counter wedding; others have no need for a religious ceremony. But whether the match is made in heaven or simply entered into the county's database, it's what happens later on that's important.