[Quick1]

You do know you don't have to go to church to get married, right?

Who signs the marriage license?

[LibertarianInExile]

As to who signs the marriage license, the witnesses, married couple, and the person who performed the ceremony.

As to where you get married, well, that depends on where you live. In France, you have two ceremonies, one at the city hall and one at the church. In most states, you can get married anywhere as long as the person doing the ceremony's certified to do so BY the state (preacher, priest, notary public).

So the state IS involved in every instance of what is a religious ceremony--even though religion isn't involved in every instance of the state certification.