No particular form or ceremony is required when a marriage is solemnized as herein provided by a clergyman or magistrate, but the parties must solemnly declare in the presence of a clergyman or magistrate and the attending witness or witnesses that they take each other as husband and wife. In every case, at least one witness beside the clergyman or magistrate must be present at the ceremony.
The preceding provisions of this chapter, so far as they relate to the manner of solemnizing marriages, shall not affect marriages among the people called friends or quakers; nor marriages among the people of any other denominations having as such any particular mode of solemnizing marriages; but such marriages must be solemnized in the manner heretofore used and practiced in their respective societies or denominations, and marriages so solemnized shall be as valid as if this article had not been enacted.
Joseph v. Singh, 2022 NY Slip Op 04158, ¶ 1, 206 A.D.3d 982, 982, 168 N.Y.S.3d 873, 873 (App. Div. 2nd Dept.)
The parties took part in a Hindu wedding ceremony, conducted by a Hindu religious leader and attended by several guests. Despite the defendant’s assertion that the parties never intended to be married, the parties solemnly declared in the presence of a clergyman and at least one witness that they took each other as husband and wife and, thus, they entered into a valid marriage (see Domestic Relations Law § 12; Hirsh v Stern, 83 AD3d 783, 920 N.Y.S.2d 783; Ahmed v Ahmed, 55 AD3d 516, 865 N.Y.S.2d 610). Contrary to the defendant’s contention in this matter, the parties’ failure to obtain a marriage license had no effect on the validity of their marriage (see Domestic Relations Law § 25).