When to sign the marriage licence/registry during ceremony?

miranda holly

I am working on our ceremony order, and I honestly have no idea where the signing of the registry goes.  It seems awkward to kiss, then sign, then pronounce husband and wife; but this is what my FI has always seen in weddings.  Help please!!  Where do I fit this in?

kmmssg

I have never ever seen that done in the US.  Is this something that is done in your faith, or a custom in your family, or are you in a different country (these are international boards)?

ETA - just read your post history and see you are from Canada.  Is this commonly done there?  I"ve never attended a wedding in Canada.

miranda holly

Ohhh!!  I had no idea it's a Canada thing.  When you get the marriage licence, it's valid for a certain amount of time.  Ours is 3 months.  You then have your wedding/ceremony/vows, and the bride, groom, two witnesses and the officiant sign off on it.  Once that's done, it's legal. 

vk2204

I have never seen that either. What I have seen is the bride and groom go through the entire ceremony, exit and then go into a room with their witnesses to sign it.

misshart00

We signed our directly after the ceremony in the small prayer room at our church. Then we went to the reception.

AdeleDazeem

I've been to a wedding in NYC where the registry was signed during the service.  It was in the middle of the ceremony before the kiss.

We married in Bermuda and signed the registry during the ceremony.  We did the whole ceremony, did the kiss, then signed the paperwork.  Once finished, everyone went back to their places and we were announced as husband and wife.  Everyone clapped and we walked back down the aisle.

Here's a pic of us signing during the ceremony!

miranda holly

Thanks Joy!!  Yours is how it's done here, from what we hear and the few we've seen.  I just don't want to feel awkward about signing it during the ceremony.  We do have a friend singing a solo while we sign, so it's not so silent!

Gustafson28

Every wedding I've seen here (Canada) has the signing after the kiss. Then the couple walks down the isle together as husband and wife.

AdeleDazeem

Everyone actuallly chatted while we did it, including us and the officiant.  There's pictures of us laughing and talking.  We did have a violonist.  He may have played?  I honestly don't know!  Our whole marriage ceremony was a blur, honestly.

Good luck!

tiny speck

I'm Canadian and in weddings I've been to it's usually after the vows and readings (before the kiss), or sometimes after the kiss before walking back up the aisle. It's part of the ceremony, or rather, must take place right after, in the UK as well (which is where I'm getting married).

Jen4948

In the US, this happens before the ceremony.

In the UK, this happens after the ceremony.

misshart00

In Response to Re:When to sign the marriage licence/registry during ceremony?:[QUOTE]In the US, this happens before the ceremony.In the UK, this happens after the ceremony. Posted by Jen4948[/QUOTE]

Not necessarily true. We signed ours after the ceremony. As long as you sign it that day, the government doesn't really care what time it is.

AddieCake

Ours got signed after the ceremony. My husband and I had already signed it and just needed the witnesses.  I have no idea when they did it.  I just remember suddenly freaking out about it before we left and where was it and our groomswoman saying, "Oh, we signed that earlier and then the minister took it with him." 

LDubHawksFan

I think it also depends on the state too.  I've never actually seen the couple & witnesses sign during the ceremony, but when I've been a part of WPs in the past, usually they sign just after the ceremony.  For ours though, in CA, when we had to get our certificate, the registar required us to sign it there under oath, and then the officiant and our witnesses were the only ones to sign it after our ceremony the day of.  We weren't expecting that, so it was kind of weird, and then a friend mistakenly told me that weekend that if we signed we were already married, afterwhich I start bawling thinking that we accidently JOP'd our marriage a week before our planned wedding.  lol  Turned out she was wrong though once I thought about the witness and officiant signatures.

PhoneCardLady

My sister had a small wedding the first time, and we all signed after the wedding.

Vireyda

I'm Canadian too.  I was just thinking about the last few weddings I've attended and the signing has always come after the vows and before the couple are pronounced married and then kiss. 

Jager1219

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_when-to-sign-the-marriage-licenceregistry-during-ceremony?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:053f80cc-4c21-43af-abc1-62c497bddfa0Post:ac7a6398-ba0a-41e6-a5ef-18fac242fb24">Re: When to sign the marriage licence/registry during ceremony?</a>:
[QUOTE]<strong>I think it also depends on the state too.</strong>  I've never actually seen the couple & witnesses sign during the ceremony, but when I've been a part of WPs in the past, usually they sign just after the ceremony.  For ours though, in CA, when we had to get our certificate, the registar required us to sign it there under oath, and then the officiant and our witnesses were the only ones to sign it after our ceremony the day of.  We weren't expecting that, so it was kind of weird, and then a friend mistakenly told me that weekend that if we signed we were already married, afterwhich I start bawling thinking that we accidently JOP'd our marriage a week before our planned wedding.  lol  Turned out she was wrong though once I thought about the witness and officiant signatures.
Posted by lwoehlk[/QUOTE]
It does.  In CT, we need to get the license & sign it, and swear to it at the town hall of the town we're getting married in prior to the wedding (no more than 60 days I believe?).  Then after the ceremony, the officiant signs it & files it with the town.  CT also doesn't have witnesses or blood tests.

lovesclimbing

I have never heard of signing during the ceremony. Here, it's generally signed right after the ceremony. It only takes a couple seconds. I'm from Alaska.

Peledreamsofrain

It's really interesting to hear about the different variations.  I would have never thought of signing it during the actual ceremony, but that would be super cute.

In our state, once you get the license, it's good for eternity (so theoretically we could have waited till we were 80 to marry).  We signed it months before the wedding, and gave it to our officiant.  He was a trusted family friend who had done millions of weddings, so we were comfortable with it.  We honestly didn't see the document from then on until he walked up to us after the dinner and handed it to us with all the witness signatures (and his own). 

What's also funny about our state?  Hilariously blase about getting the license.  Neither myself nor my husband were asked for IDs.  A seriously bored lady just took our information down verbally, then handed us the papers.  She was rather suspiciously meticulous about making sure we knew how to return them should we change our minds though...

misshart00

I actually find this really interesting too. In Oklahoma, we have to sign it that day. So do our witnesses and officiant. The license is only good for 10 days so the timing stressed me out some. What else I've found different about Oklahoma is tht you have to sign your full name "as it will be known." So I literally had to sign first middle new last name. And it had to be legible.

GardenMaven

I've only been to one wedding where the license was signed during the ceremony.  It was in the US and it was a Jewish wedding.  They signed both the religious version and the legal version in the middle of the ceremony.