The Marriage Certificates are for marriages performed by the Justices of the Peace themselves. (With the exception of a few volumes of certificates returned to Justices of the Peace as proof of marriage, certificates for ceremonies performed by priests, ministers or other celebrants are available only in church records or, after 1870, in the records of the Board of Health.) Although the actual wording of the certificates (usually printed forms) varies over time, all certificates give the following information: date of marriage and names of bride, groom, three witnesses, and the justice of the peace performing the ceremony. Records from the antebellum period, certificates and licenses alike, include some free black persons, and a few enslaved persons. Post-1864 records include all segments of the population.

Marriage Certificates are designated by the call number VEA-VEI 658, the letters indicating which Justice of the Peace issued the certificate. The page numbers listed appear on the physical records and the physical index, but not on the microfilm. As such, it is imperative that researchers record the call number and date of the individual marriage record in order to gain access to the microfilm.