Marriage Licence

Can I just ask I know this is abit sill but when you get married here in the UK they give you the marriage cert straight away.

We are getting married in Boston MA we have to go in person to the town hall then pick the licence up 3 days later to take to whom ever is marrying us, now he signs it and is that it or do we need to send it somewhere and wait for the town hall to send something else out? The marriage licence is the offical piece of paper right?

Sorry I keep reading all these things on marriage Licence and just wanted to re check that a marriage licence is the same as cert that the justice of the piece signs do not want to get this wrong.


Thanks Sonya and Chris.

As far as I know, the time to get your marriage license back varies from state to state and possibly town to town.  Your best bet is to contact the city hall in Boston directly and ask them.

Can I just ask I know this is abit sill but when you get married here in the UK they give you the marriage cert straight away.

We are getting married in Boston MA we have to go in person to the town hall then pick the licence up 3 days later to take to whom ever is marrying us, now he signs it and is that it or do we need to send it somewhere and wait for the town hall to send something else out? The marriage licence is the offical piece of paper right?

Sorry I keep reading all these things on marriage Licence and just wanted to re check that a marriage licence is the same as cert that the justice of the piece signs do not want to get this wrong.


Thanks Sonya and Chris.

The marriage license is what you obtain in order to get married.  You'll give it to the person performing the ceremony and they'll sign it, along with two witnesses (usually the maid of honour and best man).  Once it's been signed, it can automatically become a marriage certificate if you're married in the UK or in a state that does the automatic switchy thing.  Otherwise, the officiant will take the signed license to the county's registrar of deeds (or the equivalent) where it will be given a raised seal and a signature -- thus becoming the marriage certificate.  How long you'll need to wait will vary from county to county -- we were married on Saturday and able to pick up the certificate Monday afternoon.

Thankyou so much we will check I was getting confused reading the different things with regards to this issue thanks lola for explaining how it works.


Chris and Sonya