Marriage License

LakeR2014

The topic of signing of the marriage license and not actually signing the marriage license after the ceremony was brought up here.   Ugh...

But it got me to thinking - When did everyone and their witnesses sign their license?   Our officiant had us and our witnesses sign it at the rehearsal.   When I did it for my best friend, we also signed it at the rehearsal.  Both were so the ceremony wasn't disrupted to sign it I guess, keep things flowing.   I believe we post dated it to the actual wedding day - but can't remember.   Wasn't a big deal - but the thread earlier just had the question pop in my head.   As to my knowledge (and recollection) all the weddings i've been in - all the license paperwork was signed during the rehearsal and not during or after the actual ceremony.

climbingsingle

We signed after the ceremony during the cocktail hour. 

novella1186

When I was a BM for my college roommate, I remember her signing it in the morning, while everyone was getting ready, before the ceremony. 

Our officiant told us that she almost always has couples sign it immediately following the ceremony. There's a "bridal suite" right next to our ceremony site, so after FI and I go back down the aisle, our plan is to duck in there and just take a minute to relax, at which point the officiant is coming in and signing it with us. 

KeptInStitches

We aren't sure who will be officiating - our officiant has been ill and her colleague is backing her up. If our officiant is able to officiate, the license will be signed immediately after the ceremony. If it's her colleague, he likes to collect witness signatures the night before at the rehearsal and then sign it himself immediately after the ceremony.

cupcait927

We did ours during the actual ceremony. Our officiant had it as an option. We had no bridal party and planned on having our sisters (we each have one) be our witnesses. It was a nice way to honor them without having a bridal party and to do something a little different.

sarawifenow

Our officiant had us sign our license right after our ceremony.

ETF: grammar

Maggie0829

We didn't have to sign our license.  Only the officiant needed to.  And we actually forgot our license on our wedding day.  Luckily our friend was our officiant so it wasn't an issue.  When we got back from our HM we had our friend stop by and sign it really quickly.

daria24

We signed it during the ceremony, since we were self-uniting. 

Jells2dot0

Everyone signed ours immediately after the ceremony- the celebrant, witnesses, myself, and H.

ShesSoCold

I wanted to sign it during the ceremony but it didn't make sense. It was forgotten at home (I think. i don't even know where it was, THB) the day of the wedding but my brother was the officiant so he stopped by the next day and signed it. Dated the wedding date, though. 

So I had a pre-PPD. 

Maggie0829

ShesSoCold said:

I wanted to sign it during the ceremony but it didn't make sense. It was forgotten at home (I think. i don't even know where it was, THB) the day of the wedding but my brother was the officiant so he stopped by the next day and signed it. Dated the wedding date, though. 

So I had a pre-PPD. 

We should start a club!

Cookie Pusher

We signed ours during the reception.

princessleia22

We signed immediately after the ceremony.  We did the recessional and there was a table back there where they had us sign it real quick.   

charcoalandblush

I've been to three "weddings" this year. One was a straight up PPD (they had been married for 3 months, only immediate family knew). One they signed during cocktail hour immediately after the ceremony. And one everyone signed at the rehearsal (including the officiant) but post-dated for the wedding day.

We'll probably sign ours during cocktail hour.

PandaNikki

We signed ours at City Hall when we applied for an got it- they told us to sign it then and there (I guess that's how they do it in NH?). Our officiant filled out his part and signed it after the wedding and we mailed it from there. There were no spots for witnesses to sign on ours.

theartistformerlyknownas

We all signed directly after the receiving line following the ceremony. Gave the license to the pastor at the rehearsal so it didn't get lost and he held onto it until then. The WP was still gathered to go take pictures so there weren't any issues with witnesses.

poodledoodleooo

We signed/applied for our license a few weeks before. Our witnesses signed the certificate right before we walked down the aisle (we didn't need to sign the certificate). Our pastor made them sign it before because so many people get wrapped up in the post-ceremony hoopla.

As a witness, I've signed it before and after the ceremony, though I do know couples who incorporated the signing of the marriage certificate into their ceremony - it basically replaced the "unity candle/sad" portion.

Bubblegum5586

Maggie0829 said:

We didn't have to sign our license.  Only the officiant needed to.  And we actually forgot our license on our wedding day.  Luckily our friend was our officiant so it wasn't an issue.  When we got back from our HM we had our friend stop by and sign it really quickly.

I don't remember signing mine.... so seeing this makes me think we didn't have to either? We have our marriage certificate so my officiant must have signed it and sent it in for us.

We did have a Ketubah (spiritual wedding contract) that we all signed during the ceremony.

[Deleted User]

I officiated my sister's wedding.  The day after the wedding, after we had all slept off the hangover and gotten some food, I asked the couple if they wanted to get officially married.  The new husband had the license in his pocket for me to finish filling out.  They got a couple witnesses to sign, and he put the completed paperwork back in his pocket.  I think they went back to the courthouse to turn in everything the next day.

lyndausvi

We didn't have to sign ours.  We signed something at the courthouse when applying, but not the actual license.   

 The witnesses signed at the RD.   Not sure when the officiant signed, but when we returned 3 weeks later the certificate was in our mailbox.   I'm assuming we did everything right.

 I was a witness in St Thomas for a few different weddings.  We (couple and witnesses) always signed after the ceremony.

My sister got married in DE and we did all the signing the night before at the rehearsal. 

lovesclimbing

I live in Alaska. Here, you sign it when you apply for it, so we signed it a few weeks before the wedding. Then, the officiant and the witnesses have to sign it after the ceremony. I can't remember if it happened right after we exited or right after the receiving line before we entered the reception. There was a little table near the door where they signed it and we fake signed it.   

labro

We didn't sign our license. The only signature required was for our officiant. He actually signed it the evening of our rehearsal and dated it for our wedding date the next day. He wanted to make sure we had an unofficial copy to take with us on our HM in case we needed it for any reason.

flyingfoxes

Same as @lyndausvi - only our witnesses have to sign it.  We signed when we applied.  So I'm not sure if we're "officially" getting married tomorrow at the rehearsal or on Saturday.  lol

WinstonsGirl

Ours was done as the final part of our ceremony.  I've actually never seen it done any other way and thought that was how it worked.  Even at the PPD I went to last summer, they sat at the little table and signed something for photos as the end of the ceremony.  

JaniV123

I have always seen it done during the actual ceremony after the vows rings and kiss but IDK how it will be for us

huskypuppy14

I've never seen anyone sign the license at the wedding. In Massachusetts we signed something when we applied for the license, but only the officiant signed the actual license. No witnesses. Connecticut is similar. 

amelisha

Up here (Canada), we sign them as part of the ceremony. People usually have music and a little table and make a little photo op of it. I've always liked it because it means guests get to really be witness to the legal part too, not just the vows.

emmaaa

We signed it right after the ceremony,

JennyColada

I think we signed it when we applied. I know that anything we had to sign we signed pre-ceremony.

Our witnesses and officiant signed after our ceremony, while DH and I were taking photos.

ElcaB

We signed ours right after photos/during cocktail hour/right before the BP reception entrance. We were hanging in a private room with a bar, doing shots of tequila with our BP. Our officiant had us sign it and then, without our knowledge, it was placed in my BM's bag and we never saw it again. 

True story. It went MIA & we had to pay a $10 replacement fee to get a new one. 

[Deleted User]

We decided to do ours during the ceremnoy because we're not doing a unity candle / box / sand jar / whatever- hate those things, no offense, just not for me.

We'll see how it goes.