Bordentown mayor invites couples to wed at Old City Hall as part of the 5th annual Bordentown Pride and Community Day
Bordentown City Mayor Jennifer Sciortino is inviting couples to get married in historic Old City Hall once again as part of Bordentown’s 5th Annual Pride and Community Day celebration on Saturday, June 28, 2025.
Following the wedding ceremonies, Mayor Sciortino will join participants in the Pride parade beginning at the River Line light rail parking lot at 1 pm. The day’s festivities include a pop-up Pride 5k at 11 am with the Bordentown Area Running Club. Afterward there is a host of activities after the parade for the whole community to enjoy. The community day includes a kids and family fun zone, a pet fashion contest, music, a bouncy house, face painting, art projects, social services and food and drink specials at participating restaurants, bars, and breweries.
Carrying on the tradition first begun by Burlington County Clerk Joanne Schwartz, Mayor Sciortino will officiate the wedding ceremonies — for both same sex couples and their straight allies — as part of the day-long Pride festivities in support of equality and in solidarity with the LGBTQ community.
“I’m thrilled to be able to provide this public service for anyone wishing to make this year’s Pride a celebration of love in every sense of the word,” said Sciortino. “Each year our Pride organizers, led by Brenna Jobes, have done an amazing job of building out this event and making it more and more inclusive for residents of all ages. I’m honored to be a part of the celebration and to help provide a special opportunity for couples who are ready to make one of the biggest commitments life has to offer. I’m also looking forward to joining with Mayor Eric Holliday to kick off the parade with our neighbors in Bordentown Township — in what is definitely a first — as both of our communities are represented by LGBTQ mayors this year.”
The weddings will take place on June 28 between 10:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. at Old City Hall, which is located at 11 Crosswicks Street in Bordentown. The newly restored, historic Greek Revival building is more than 170 years old and served as the city’s municipal complex and courthouse until 1960. The Pride parade and other outdoor festivities have a rain date of June 29. But the nuptials will take place, rain or shine, on June 28.
Sciortino is no stranger to weddings at Old City Hall. She celebrated her own union to longtime partner Molly Dwyer at the historic venue just last fall.
“Old City Hall will forever hold a special place in my heart because of our wedding and that’s thanks in no small part to the amazing job the Old City Hall Restoration Committee has done over the last two decades to restore the building to its former glory,” said Mayor Sciortino. “I encourage anyone contemplating getting married soon to take advantage of this opportunity to have their nuptials in a magical venue with panoramic views of the little city with a lot of charm on a day when the vibe is historically a celebratory one, marked by love and unity.”
Couples interested in being wed during Pride should first contact Bordentown City Mayor Sciortino’s office to book an available time slot.
There is no fee for the wedding service, but couples must obtain a marriage license from the municipality where either spouse resides or from Bordentown City, if the couple lives outside of New Jersey. Couples are encouraged to apply for their marriage license at least one week before their planned nuptials to accommodate the mandatory 72-hour waiting period after the application is filed. To apply for a license in Bordentown City, please contact registrars Margaret Peak or Gina Ficarotta by phone at 609-298-0604.
“As we celebrate the 10-year anniversary this month of the landmark Supreme Court decision (Obergefell v. Hodges) that granted same sex couples the constitutional right to marry, it’s more important than ever that we honor this right by coming together to make sure that it endures,” said Sciortino. “When we celebrated our wedding at Old City Hall last year, we incorporated the words from that historic decision into our marriage ceremony because it poignantly reminds us why two people — any two people — would choose to marry:
‘No union is more profound than marriage, for it embodies the highest ideals of love, fidelity, devotion, sacrifice, and family. In forming a marital union, two people become something greater than once they were. As some of the petitioners in these cases demonstrate, marriage embodies a love that may endure even past death. It would misunderstand these men and women to say they disrespect the idea of marriage. Their plea is that they do respect it, respect it so deeply that they seek to find its fulfillment for themselves. Their hope is not to be condemned to live in loneliness, excluded from one of civilization’s oldest institutions. They ask for equal dignity in the eyes of the law. The Constitution grants them that right.’”
