“Marriage is a personal relation arising out of a civil contract between two persons, to which the consent of the parties capable of making that contract is necessary. Consent alone does not constitute marriage. Consent must be followed by the issuance of a license and solemnization. . .” (Family Code, sec. 300(a).) “A valid marriage requires solemnization. Solemnization is the marriage ceremony where the parties declare in front of the official performing the ceremony that they take each other as spouses. . . [There is] no particular form for the ceremony . . . but the parties must declare, in the presence of the person solemnizing the marriage that they take each other as husband and wife.” (LW Greenberg, California Family Law.) “A marriage contracted outside this state that would be valid by laws of the jurisdiction in which the marriage was contracted is valid in California.” (Family Code, sec. 308.)
