Is This Thing Even Legit?

Is This Thing Even Legit?

October 22nd, 2010 @ 12:56 pm by Mrs. Seashell
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Allegedly Mr. Seashell and I have been married for almost a month. “Woo hoo!!!” right? Sure, totally. I’m all about that. Except one tiny detail. We’ve yet to see anything in writing.

So, you know, aside from the whole wedding thing—with the vows and exchange of rings and the whole “woo hoo!!!”—we have no documented evidence of a legally binding marriage.

When we obtained our marriage license (pre-wedding) we also picked up the forms to receive copies of our marriage certificate. In the midst of the wedding craziness, I knew they’d easily get lost in the shuffle, so I tucked them into a prominent compartment of my travel bag. Two days after our wedding, while sitting at Logan airport, we filled out all necessary paperwork at 5AM while waiting to depart for our honeymoon. Then we figured we could drop our marriage certificate request form in a mailbox off in between our connecting flights at the next airport. No go. There aren’t any mailboxes in airports since 9/11. So, the request form sat in my luggage for 10 days.

We returned to Chicago and I promptly put the paperwork in the mail.

Each day after dropping the marriage certificate request in the mail, I eagerly checked to see if it arrived. To my surprise, we received a piece of mail from Providence City Hall quite promptly. However, it was a rejection letter.

Is This Thing Even Legit? : wedding legal providence Denied Denied_

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Our request for copies of our marriage certificate was rejected due to a failure to provide photo identification. (Side note: this was not an indicated requirement on the form.) The letter arrived on a Friday, so we were set back another 3 days before I could call City Hall and inquire about suitable submissions of identification. Fortunately, photocopies of our drivers licenses would suffice so I was able to get that handled efficiently and get our forms back in the mail.

Where does that leave us? Well, that takes us to today. Approximately one month out from our wedding and there is still no documented evidence of us actually being married. Mr. Seashell and I have a running joke about “…not ’til I see it in writing!” that’s starting to get a little old.

When did you receive a marriage certificate? When am I allowed to get antsy?

Tags: legal, providence |

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27 Responses to “Is This Thing Even Legit?”

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Bee

Mrs. Nachos (message) 1,734 posts, Bumble bee

Eeeek! We got ours in the mail all the way from St. Thomas within 1-2 weeks of the wedding. Have you called them to see what the hold up is?

10/22/10 @ 1:04 pm (reply)

Member

Moffy (message) 200 posts, Helper bee

We got ours in the mail the day before our 1 month “anniversary”! And my dad dropped the paperwork in the mail for us the day we left for our honeymoon (two days after the wedding) and without any rejections or need to send anything in — so I’m sure you’re still fine. If it took a month for everything to go smoothly, with your little bump in the road, it’s probably normal to take a little longer! (FYI: We got married in CA, and live in AZ.)

10/22/10 @ 1:05 pm (reply)

Member

crayfish (message) 4,993 posts, Honey bee

We were lucky - in CA, they asked us when we got our license if we wanted copies of the certificate, and we were able to prepay and get it into the system right then and there. Easy peasy!

10/22/10 @ 1:08 pm (reply)

Guest

Julie

Our minister dropped ours in the mail right after the wedding and we waited and waited to hear something. After about a month of not hearing anything I called the processing office and it turns out I had to go in person to pay and get a copy of our certificate. This was not indicated anywhere on the initial form or website. Doh!

10/22/10 @ 1:12 pm (reply)

Bee

Mrs. Jellyfish (message) 1,450 posts, Bumble bee

Since we got legally married 6 months before our wedding, we didn’t have to worry about that. I totally understand you feeling antsy, I would be the same way! Looking at the bright side - this will seem funny in a few years? (or even now?)

10/22/10 @ 1:22 pm (reply)

Member

kayakgirl73 (message) 2,158 posts, Buzzing bee

In WV, at least the county I got married in they don’t send you anything. I called after our honeymoon and was told that our marriage was recorded and on the books, however to obtain certificates we would have to pay and either come in person ourselves or our parents could come in person since their names are listed on the application. Luckily my mom works right near the county courthouse and got a few certificaes since we live out of state. The certificates were $5 a piece.

10/22/10 @ 1:30 pm (reply)

Guest

Mrs. Serenity

Wow. In Ontario (Canada) it takes a loooong time.

We got married in July, and we were only able to apply for our certificate at the end of September (12 weeks after our marriage). It’s another 6-8 weeks before we get our certificate.

I’m sure people apply before the specified requirements, however, our officiant mentioned that if you apply too soon, the ministry will tell you they have no record of your marriage

10/22/10 @ 1:42 pm (reply)

Member

TheFutureMcBride (message) 4,484 posts, Honey bee

It’s been almost 2 months and we still haven’t received ours even though we requested it twice. Good luck!

10/22/10 @ 1:44 pm (reply)

Bee

Mrs. Trail Mix (message) 6,329 posts, Bee Keeper

Hmmm, to be honest, I’m not even sure what the deal was with ours (I put Mr TM in charge.) Well, now I’m a bit nervous and am gonna have to ask him if we ever recieved something in the mail to make it official!

10/22/10 @ 1:50 pm (reply)

10.

Bee

Mrs. Starfish (message) 1,926 posts, Buzzing bee

We got ours much quicker than I expected, like 2 weeks after our wedding. But our church works closely with the town hall and the chruch delivered it for us.

10/22/10 @ 1:54 pm (reply)

11.

Member

alivoo01 (message) 2,625 posts, Sugar bee

We received ours a few days after our honeymoon so in all, about 14 days after we shipped it out we got the marriage certificate.

10/22/10 @ 2:01 pm (reply)

12.

Member

Goldilocks1107 (message) 2,602 posts, Sugar bee

I went to the City Building 7 days after the wedding and walked out with 4 copies of our marriage certificate (I didn’t know if I needed to mail any in for the name change process!).

10/22/10 @ 2:04 pm (reply)

13.

Member

pansyshell (message) 1,955 posts, Buzzing bee

Are you sure they send you a copy when you submit your forms? (I’m sure you are tho)
We got married in NC and there you don’t receive a copy in the mail. We got a “marriage certificate” when we filled out our paperwork with the deeds office that has no legal value (that’s what the clerk said). We have to send off and pay for copies of ours. We just sent our request in Monday so we’ll see how long it takes.

10/22/10 @ 2:13 pm (reply)

14.

Member

jgoulart (message) 1,069 posts, Bumble bee

Oh no! That stinks… hopefully you can get it straightened out.

10/22/10 @ 2:32 pm (reply)

15.

Guest

Danielle K

I’m getting married in Jamaica and I’ve heard it can take 6-8 MONTHS to get your marriage certificate. Ouch. Which also means I can’t change my name or be added to my H’s insurance, etc. until then!

10/22/10 @ 2:43 pm (reply)

16.

Bee

Mrs. Locket (message) 2,837 posts, Sugar bee

This just made me realize that we haven’t gotten ours yet either…I decided to call and apparently we should have gotten in a while ago…guess the USPS lost it? Now I am getting antsy! Though the clerk said we are officially in the system so we did in fact get married!

10/22/10 @ 2:48 pm (reply)

17.

Member

7SEVENJ9 (message) 3,702 posts, Sugar bee

We still haven’t gotten ours!!! Our JP sent it in the monday after the wedding, and I thought for sure we’d have it available after our 11 day honeymoon! I called the city hall when we returned, and they said they haven’t received it… so I called the JP, who insisted she sent it in… but then found that it was returned to her in the mail! So she sent it back (two weeks later!) and then I called again… and apparently the JP had filled out the certificate in blue ink… but only black is legal! so she had to send a new one in! So hopefully they’ll get it by Monday! Eventually I can change my name!

10/22/10 @ 3:54 pm (reply)

18.

Member

jennfer (message) 96 posts, Worker bee

I think we got ours within a month of our wedding date, and I don’t think we had to request a copy. Once our officiant mailed it in, they mailed us a copy after it was processed.

10/22/10 @ 4:05 pm (reply)

19.

Member

amyboston (message) 32 posts, Newbee

We’re 5 months out (today!) and still haven’t received ours. In fact, we even got rejected the first time I sent off for it (3 months out!) as “too soon.” Ah, Massachusetts civil servants. But our officiant definitely filed it, and our City Hall confirmed over the phone that we’re listed on the books (once my husband explained at length how freaked out I was). So I guess there’s always that option.

10/22/10 @ 4:21 pm (reply)

20.