MBON
A marriage bond was a promise of payment, not an actual payment at the time the bond was arranged.
In 1660-61 the [Virginia] law requiring a bond was first enacted. Because of a scarcity of ministers, the colony required that all persons wishing to be married by license must go to the county court clerk and give bond with sufficient security (usually $150 by the 19th century) that there was no lawful cause to prevent the marriage. The license was then prepared by the clerk and presented to the minister who would perform the ceremony.( From the introduction to the published Frederick Co., VA)
Marriage Bonds, by John Vogt & T. William Kethley, Jr., Iberian Publishing Company.