While most couples who took out a marriage license did marry, it is always possible that they did not. If there is a record that a couple got a license, indicate in your records that it is a license date, not a marriage date. Even if they did marry, there’s no guarantee that they married on the same date as the license.

And clearly indicating that the date is a license date tells others (and yourself) that the marriage record has not been located.

© Michael John Neill, “Genealogy Tip of the Day,” http://genealogytipoftheday.blogspot.com, 20 Jun 2012.

Note from Site Admin: I found a marriage license for a now deceased uncle, but no marriage license.
After checking with family members, they were never married.
In Missouri (at the time) the license is stamped REJECTED with the reason
that the license was never used within 30 days.