I need to order a certified copy of a Marriage Certificate. They were
married in Philadelphia County, State of Pennsylvania. I got
frustrated with Philadelphia County's website but at the same time I
do not want a third party involved to help order the certificate. I
also would like directions to accomplish this order via United States
Postal Service and directions if I did travel to City Hall,
Philadelphia. Can you help?

Hi Rexkab ~

Wow, I can certainly see where you would get frustrated working on the
Commonwealth's vital records ...

Everything seems more geared toward history and geneaology than to
help obtaining records past the 19th century, doesn't it?

In any case, I was able to find out that the individual counties are
responsible for maintaining records of weddings, and that the cost to
obain a certified copy of a marriage license (or at least the last
reported cost - who knows if they raised the price yesterday?).

So, the information for the Philadelphia County Courthouse is as
follows:

Address:

Marriage Licenses
3101 Market Street 1st. Floor
Philadelphia, PA 19104

The phone numbers, should you want to call for information are:
(215) 686-1581 (for the years prior to 1915)
(215) 560-3054 (for the years after 1915) 

Here's my suggestion ...

Strange as it seems, there is no one source for the vital records, but
instead some disparate information - a lot of it, as I said, related,
to genealogical records - so I'd call that number and find out what
they require and the fee.

As for a Map ... I did a search on Map Quest ... and here's the
location on the map (excuse the long URL):
 - http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?country=US&addtohistory=&address=3101+Market+Street&city=Philadelphia&state=PA&zipcode=&homesubmit=Get+Map

Since I didn't know where you were coming from should you wish to
drive there yourself, I couldn't give you driving directions, but you
can do so on Map Quest and get directions from your own address to
there which you can print out.


Search terms used -

 - Pennsylvania vital records
 - Philadelphia County vital records
 - Philadelphia County marriage licenses

I suppose it has to do with the historical nature of Philadelphia, but
one would think getting information would be a bit more "centralized".
I understand your frustration.

Regards,
Serenata
Google Answers Researcher

I will call them first thing Monday Morning! Thx for the phone numbers!

I recently went through the Pennsylvania maze of confusion regarding a
marriage record in the city of Pittsburgh.  Drove me about nuts - but
I was able to finally obtain what I needed.  Good luck to you,

tlspiegel
Google Answers Researcher