How long to receive marriage certificate?

In Ontario, there is a marriage license, a marriage certificate, and A Record of Solemnization of Marriage. These are the basics at least.

First, to get married, you must go to any city hall in Ontario (prices are different in different areas, so if you're watching your pennies you can search around) and purchase your marriage Licence.
Both parties getting married must have two pieces of government ID, and of course you pay a fee. This should only take about an hour or so and most city halls don't require and appointment.
You fill out a form, pay your fee and receive your licence.
A Record of Solemnization of Marriage will also be in your package.
Your licence is good for 90 days and tells your officiant that you're able and legal to be married.

During or after your ceremony, your wedding officiant assists in completing the licence. Your witnesses will need to fill out a part, and sign. Both you and your spouse will each need to sign, (your information should already be filled out at the top by the city) and your officiant will sign.
The same process goes for the Record of Solemnization of Marriage, though it's not necessary, as this document is pretty much a souvenir and has no legal value.

You and your witnesses will also sign your officiants register. This is kept by the officiant in the event that there is misplaced documentation. (I also take pictures of the licences I fill out now)

At this point, you're pretty much done.

Your officiant will send the complete and signed licence to the province of Ontario for registration.

The province will register your marriage, from what I've seen, this can take anywhere up to 12 weeks, though there are some options if you require a rush.

you can go here to apply for your certificate:

https://www.orgforms.gov.on.ca/eForms/scr_ServiceStandards.do?eformsId=0#section2

... " It takes approximately 10 weeks from the date the marriage took place to register a marriage... Your request for a certificate will be processed after the registration is complete."

Oh, and yes, you must pay another fee.

So, your licence is required to tell the officiant that you're legal to marry

and your certificate is the result of the filled out and registered licence.

You require your certificate to change your name without fees. You CAN change your name anytime you like, however, only when married are those fees waived (Thanks Ontario)

I hope this helps and makes things a little clearer for everyone.

Best wishes for you all!!

Hi Jac! Welcome to the community!

Thanks for the information! It's very useful!

You should meet the other brides who are getting married like you in Ontario and in Spring 2017. We'll all be very happy to help you in this wonderful moment in your life!

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Yea, that's what I thought too! don't they give you the certificate at your wedding?

Hi Melanie! Congratulations on your wedding last May!! And welcome to the community!!!

I understand the paperwork can be a bit complicated, but if you submitted everything as due, everything should be fine.

I would love to hear how everything went at your wedding! You can join our Just Married group and create a discussion to tell us all about it! I'm sure everyone would love to see what dress you were wearing and how beautifully you planned everything!

There must be many things you could tell future brides and grooms about your experience! I would love to hear you comments in this discussion! Your advice for future brides

You can also share your best wedding pictures on our website to inspire future newlyweds.

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You are responsible to go to your local city hall and get your marriage license which you take to the ceremony with you and sign with your witnesses. This document allows you to marry.
What you are asking about though is your certificate and it's just over three months so it should show up soon! Definitely check with your officiant that they mailed it in!

Sorry I think I didn't read that correctly, but you should check with the Ontario government to see what's going on cause that doesn't seem normal to me.

Yes, it's definitely a weird procedure and the thing is that it's different for every province. If you go to your provincial government website. There's usually a section about life, marriage and death certificates (yes, I know... marriage fits in that category ) and then they tell you what you have to do and I don't know for your province but I think here they recommended something like two months before your wedding. From what I understand, the licence basically prooves to your officiant that you can legally get married (not alreay married to someone else, Canadian citizen, etc.)

That's also one thing I'm confused about
Ive been told to remember to get my marriage license before the wedding.
But isnt that what the officiant is there for? Other than performing the ceremony, doesn't he also get and submit the marriage license?
Thank you to anyone who can clarify this for me.

Im confused dont you sign that at the wedding? Or am i confused with something else?