The Marriage License

[preach]

THE MARRIAGE LICENSE.

Quite a formidable title but what is it and what does this form do?
This form or license gives the minister or officiant permission for
you to get married within the official legal parameters of the country
where you reside.

Basically what this form does is commit you and the person who is
going to perform your ceremony together. Yes it is a legal form and a
very important form. A very important step that needs to be followed and
this can not be emphasized strongly enough. Some of the information
here relates to people living in the united States of America, for those in
other countries you will need to consult your Department of Births Deaths
and Marriages or its equivalent name.
This form needs to be given to the person who is going to
perform your ceremony as soon as you have it issued and preferably
not on the day of the marriage.

REGULAR MARRIAGE LICENSE

• With this type of license, you can be married in any county
within the State of Issuance.
• Your license becomes a public record and it is available for all
to see and gain access to. No big deal? Stand by for heaps of mail from
companies offering you deals on almost everything you can possibly think
of.
• No blood tests as these where done away with as of January
1995.
• The license is valid for a period of 30 days in Michigan.
• When applying for the license, you both must be present and
you both must be able to show some form of identification to prove your
date of birth as both must be over 18 years of age or have parents consent.
• If previously married you must furnish the final divorce date.
It is a good idea to take your decree nisi papers with you.
• Parent’s names are required and mothers’ maiden names, along
with town, city, county, country of birth.
• Witnesses are required at the ceremony, either 1 or 2.
• An official certified copy of the marriage is available after the
marriage from the courthouse. You will at least receive a certificate from
the Minister or Officiant on the day of the marriage, this is generally a
requested legal requirement.

CONFIDENTIAL MARRIAGE LICENSE

This is similar to the regular license with the following exceptions
and is only available in a very few states here in America, California being
one of them.
• Both parties getting married must be 18 years of age or over.
• The license when issued can only be used in that county, for
example a confidential license issued in Los Angeles county can only be
used for a ceremony or service that takes place within Los Angeles
County, similar for any other county.
• Nobody can gain access to the information either before the
marriage or afterwards, except the bride and groom, who in turn become
husband and wife.
• No witnesses are required at the marriage, although you may
have witnesses if you want them for the memento Marriage Certificate,
that is given to you.
• Photograph identification is required when you apply for this
license.
• Please remember that the above is to be read in conjunction
with the application for a regular license, as this may change from country
or county and state.
OK, what do we look at next?. Yes the ceremony. The easy part.
Yes it really is easy. Know what you are doing and it really is easy!
Here we will discover a very important rule to remember which is,
“This day is your day, not Aunt Mary’s or Uncle Bob’s or your whoever”.
It is your day and a day you will remember for the rest of your days
together. When it is all over and you lie in bed together you can honestly
say to each other, “Gee, that was really the way that we wanted it to be, it
was great”. That’s the way it needs to be and that’s the way that it ought
to be and will be, providing that you follow YOUR heart and do it YOUR
way.