Justice of the Peace Paul Raleeh is bracing for a Valentine’s Day surge, lining up back-to-back ceremonies as couples across Collin County skip the frills and seal the deal.
He has 14 weddings booked between Friday and Saturday alone, more than he usually performs as a JP on an average week.
It’s fitting that Valentine’s Day reliably crowds his calendar in Collin County, which ranks among the five Texas counties with the highest marriage rates, according to the latest state data.
Rapid growth has filled the county with new couples. Sticker shock is steering many of them to his courtroom.
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As traditional weddings become increasingly expensive, more couples are choosing simple courthouse ceremonies instead, Raleeh said.
“Some people are paying over $10,000 or higher for a wedding dress. So couples are choosing to get married by a justice of the peace and then saving that money for a reception or honeymoon trip,” he said.
Deputy clerk Charlene Jackson holds up a blank Marriage License at the Dallas County Clerk’s Office located in the Records Building on Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026, in Dallas.
Juan Figueroa / Staff Photographer
Collin was the only North Texas county to break into the top head-over-heels rankings, based on the latest available data from 2021 for counties with at least 200,000 residents.
It recorded five marriages for every 1,000 residents, well ahead of Dallas County at 3.5 per 1,000.
Bell County came in at No. 1, as it has in past annual tallies, as the marryingest spot in Texas.
That outsized number can be traced in part to Fort Hood, the sprawling Army base in Killeen.
Bell County Justice of the Peace Larry Wilkey estimated that half of the 300 weddings he performs each year involve military couples.
(From left) Adriana Rivas and Andry Lopez share a laugh as they apply for a marriage license at the Dallas County Clerk’s Office located in the Records Building on Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026, in Dallas.
Juan Figueroa / Staff Photographer
Some may be racing to marry before an out-of-country assignment. Others take advantage of a rule that allows active-duty service members with a military ID to waive Texas’ standard 72-hour waiting period.
Beyond timing, paperwork and military presence, Wilkey said the county’s youthful population helps keep Bell County atop the let’s-get-hitched list the state compiled for The Dallas Morning News.
There’s “a high population of young people… starting their lives,” and “part of entering adulthood is, for a lot of folks, marriage and even owning a home,” he said.
Bell County’s wedding boom comes with a flip side.
Deputy clerk Beverly Hastings seen through a Valentine’s Day decoration at the Dallas County Clerk’s Office located in the Records Building on Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026, in Dallas.
Juan Figueroa / Staff Photographer
Among large Texas counties, it also posted the highest divorce rate, 5.9 per 1,000 residents, according to data from 2017, the latest by the Texas Department of State Health Services. Dallas County’s splitsville rate was three per 1,000 residents.
Even so, Wilkey said breakups rarely circle back to his courtroom.
In nearly four years as justice of the peace, he recalls only two couples returning to ask how to undo their marriage.
“We tell them they need to get an attorney,” Wilkey said. “Obviously, I can’t reverse a marriage once it’s done.”
Marriage decorations in the office of deputy clerk Beverly Hastings at the Dallas County Clerk’s Office located in the Records Building on Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026, in Dallas.
Juan Figueroa / Staff Photographer