We are unable to get our marriage license until after our wedding ceremony. Any one with a similar problem?

Question

My fiancee lost his wallet 3 days ago and now we are unable to obtain our marriage license. I am very upset that we are going to have the ceremony but technically getting officially "married" days to weeks after. We are getting married next weekend. He always waits until the last minute to do everything. Now we have to wait until the DMV sends his drivers license which could take a couple weeks. Has this situation happened to anyone?

Answer 1

Certainly there are other forms of identification that he could use to obtain the wedding license. I mean, what if he never had a driver's license to begin with? Not everybody does. He should contact the office that issues the marriage licenses and find out what other forms of ID are acceptable. (Or maybe you should if he is going to procrastinate again)

Answer 2

You have a PROBLEM.  A wedding ceremony officiant (judge or justice of the peace or minister or priest or rabbi) CANNOT legally conduct this ceremony "as a wedding ceremony."  We are all required "by law" to see the Marriage License before we conduct a wedding ceremony and without that Marriage License in hand we cannot conduct "a legal wedding ceremony."  So if there is to be a ceremony it will have to be "a commitment ceremony" which means the person who conducts this ceremony cannot declare you "married" or "husband and wife."  I truly hope you have brought this problem to your wedding officiant's attention, and if you have not, you need to do that immediately.

Answered by:  A Certified wedding specialist / A Professional bridal consultant / A Wedding ceremony officiant

Answer 3

He should just be able to bring his birth certificate and his temporary drivers license to the county clerk.  If your county clerk won't accept that...call your neighboring counties and find out if they will.  You'd be surprised at how differently they do business.

If it can't happen...don't worry about it too much.  Your wedding day is the day you make your vows, not the day you sign a piece of paper.  Almost no one will EVER have to reference the date on the paper.  

My signed license was due back to the recorder within ten days of the ceremony.  You might even be able to "back" date the license to the wedding day if you can get it within ten days.

Answer 4

Not this exact situation, but I had a similar thing happen to one of my brides before.  She didn't realize she needed a certified copy of her birth certificate for the marriage license, and found out when she got to the courthouse to apply for the marriage license, the day before the wedding.  All you need to do is explain whats happened to your officiant.  He/she will make it seem as though it's all legal, the ceremony will be exactly the same as if you actually had your licence, it just won't be registered legally until you get the licence.  I'm sure your officiant has dealt with this before.  He/she may even be able to "redo" it quickly after you've returned from your honeymoon.  Just make certain you handle the legalities involved--or you'll have problems when you try to file your taxes as "married, filing jointly."  

Also, if he has a copy of his birth certificate, that MAY work for getting a marriage license.  Check with the county clerks office to be sure, because that varies from state to state.  If he has a passport, that will serve as a form of id as well.  I'm sorry this happened to you, but it will all work out.  Enjoy your wedding, and hopefully THAT'S your glitch!

Answer 5

My husband got a "provisional" license permit (a plain old piece of paper, stating his name, and his ability to drive) while he waited for his license to arrive in the mail. If he's a US citizen, couldn't he just get a state ID (as long as it's a government issued ID, that's all they asked for when we went).

If he's not a US citizen yet, then you'll just have to go through with the ceremony now, and make it legal later.... Oh, well... Sh*t happens.You could still observe your anniversary on the date you want to... The day you got "spiritually" married, or the day you got legally married...

Just make sure the officiant knows about this, and is willing to do it (some are very picky about it).

Good Luck... and just remember, something always goes wrong. Just learn to deal with it, and not let you ruin the memory of that magical day...

Answer 6

No, because my husband and I were prepared for getting our marriage license.