Couples Face Long Drives Before Walks Down Aisle : Marriage: Licenses will no longer be issued in the Valley. Budget cuts and three-day delays force spouses-to-be to make two trips to distant offices.

Marriage licenses were issued for the last time Friday in 14 Los Angeles Superior Courts, and county officials had another surprise in store for hassled couples who will be forced into longer drives just to tie the knot.

Effective Monday, a three-day waiting period for the documents will be imposed, meaning that spouses-to-be will have to make two trips to offices of the registrar-recorder/county clerk--none of which are located in the San Fernando Valley--to obtain their marriage licenses.

“That’s terrible,” said a beaming bride-to-be, Julie Adams, 30, who along with her fiance on Friday received the last marriage license to be issued in Van Nuys Superior Court.

“That’s a whole day off work to go downtown,” said Adams’ fiance, an Agoura Hills professional who declined to give his name. “That is the real hassle. And to go there again three days later would really upset me.”

But the wait is the only way to handle the crowds of people expected to jam those few offices where licenses will still be available, according to Richard Hughes, assistant registrar-recorder/county clerk. The clerks will take the applications on the first trip, but will not issue the licenses for three working days.

“When you’re reducing the number of people handling the process, you’ve got to come up with a method” to handle the workload, Hughes said.

Hughes predicted that on Monday, the license offices will compare to staging a Raiders’ football game inside a convenience store.

The three registrar-recorder/county clerk offices expected to have the longest lines are in downtown Los Angeles, East Los Angeles and Norwalk, according to Hughes. Licenses will also be available at offices in Lancaster and Avalon on Catalina Island.

Licenses are valid anywhere in California. Ventura County offices are in the city of Ventura, Fillmore, Port Hueneme and Thousand Oaks.

The change was prompted by budget cuts in the office of the registrar-recorder/county clerk. Hoping to save about $560,000 annually, that county office decided it would no longer compensate the Superior Court for marriage license-related work its clerks did.

The end of court-issued marriage licenses was supposed to be effective July 1, but the final day was pushed forward so prospective mates could be warned about the changes.

There was a booming business at the marriage license window Friday at San Fernando Superior Court, possibly because officials there have been telling people for two weeks that Friday was the last day to avoid the dreaded drive downtown.

“Most everyone knew it was the last day; that’s why it’s been real hectic today,” said marriage license deputy clerk Tony Trujillo.

Officials in San Fernando said they issued 54 marriage certificates Friday, nearly triple the volume of an average day.

San Fernando, which issued about 200 licenses a month, was second in volume only to downtown Los Angeles.

“Everybody is complaining,” said Trujillo, who also criticized the decision to stop issuing marriage licenses at the courthouses. “They’re just putting more cars on the street by making people drive to Norwalk or Lancaster to get their licenses.”

Saul Martinez, 30, and Criselda Lopez, 30, both of Pacoima left work early Friday to get their license in San Fernando.

“It’s inconvenient for people from the Valley to have to drive to Norwalk or Lancaster to get a license,” Martinez said. “They should have one in the Valley.”

Martinez and Lopez said they will each have to work Saturday to make up the hours they missed on Friday to get to the courthouse before it closed.

In contrast to San Fernando, the last few couples who were granted the certificates in Van Nuys were blissfully unaware of the change. Most said they had stopped at the courthouse on a day they were merely running other marriage-related errands.

“If it was closed, I guess we’d have to call off the marriage,” joked Jeff Cruz, 29, who had come with his fiance, Tina Jiminez, 25.