Cook County clerk to do 1st marriage of 2014

Cook County Clerk David will preside over the first Cook County marriage of 2014, at about 9 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 2.

A tradition for more than 20 years, Orr marries the couple who get the first marriage license of the year, who also get gifts donated by local businesses including the Palmer House Hilton, Broadway in Chicago, Lettuce Entertain You restaurants, and LaSalle Flowers.

Orr also pays the marriage license fee. Couples should line up at the clerk’s downtown Vital Records office in the lower level of the Daley Center, 50 W. Washington.

The ceremony will take place after the couple applies for a license, agrees to be married immediately and a judge waives the standard 24-hour waiting period.

The Vital Records office opens at 8:30 a.m. and the building itself is open at 6 a.m. A video of the first 2013 marriage is on the clerk’s YouTube page.