BATON ROUGE — Impatient to tie the knot?

Rep. Julie Emerson, R-Carencro, wants to speed up the process in Louisiana, and her colleagues in the House agreed Thursday.

They voted 84-2 for House Bill 747 that would reduce the waiting time between securing a marriage license and taking vows from 72 hours to 24 hours.

“Louisiana is an outlier with this concept,” Emerson said.

She said 30 states have no waiting period, four have a 24-hour period as Emerson proposes and 14 still have a three-day, or 72-hour, waiting period.

Emerson’s original bill would have waived any waiting period, but it was amended in committee by those who want some time for contemplation.

“Initially the bill would have done away with it entirely, but there some concerns,” she said. “This bill brings us closer in line with other states.”