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Pseunami
Savvy October 2019

Signing the Certificate During the Ceremony?

Pseunami, on June 23, 2019 at 4:01 PM Posted in Wedding Ceremony 0 17
My fiance and I finally have our officiant (yay!) and they sent us a sample ceremony complete with a non religious blessing, unity candle portion (undecided if we're doing that), and a part allocated to sign the marriage certificate.

Up to that point, my fiance and I had never considered that we could include the signing in the ceremony itself (we just haven't seen that before) and now are trying to decide if we want to do it. I'm personally all for it, but my FH is worried it will cause an awkward lull as our guests watch four people sign a piece of paper.

Has anyone seen this done and have any advice? Does it take a lot of time? Is it sweet? Too much?

17 Comments

Latest activity by Cheryl, on June 25, 2019 at 9:59 AM
  • ASMini914
    Super September 2019
    ASMini914 ·
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    I haven’t seen this done, but we are planning to do it. My thought is that you aren’t really actually married until it’s signed, so it’s in our ceremony.

    To make sure to cut to cut down on time, we will make sure to mark where everyone needs to sign, and include in the rehearsal. We also may have our officiant (close friend) sign before the ceremony.
    • Reply
  • Sarah
    Devoted June 2020
    Sarah ·
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    I have seen it done before. They signed it directly after the receiving line, however. I've also heard of it being done around the cake cutting time.

    If everything is pre-filled out, and all you need are the signatures, it shouldn't take long.
    • Reply
  • Kelsey
    VIP September 2020
    Kelsey ·
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    A friend of mine did this during her ceremony. It didn't take long probably less than 2 mins. I didnt think it created a lull in the ceremony at all. I'm planning on having it during my ceremony as well.
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  • Nora
    Expert July 2019
    Nora ·
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    Most I have seen sign it really quick during cocktail hour time since you’ll be coming back to do pictures (if first look, you can still sign during cocktail hour) while guests eat and mingle. However, it doesn’t hurt to include it during ceremony too!
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  • M
    Legend June 2019
    Melle ·
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    My officiant also suggested that but we opted not to for the same reason
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  • SummerBrideInAutumn
    VIP October 2019
    SummerBrideInAutumn ·
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    I’ve been to a lot of weddings but have actually never seen this done. In theory, I think it sounds nice and appropriate but in practice, I think it could be a bit awkward. The certificate is the secretarial, paperwork part of getting married - not the sentimental, emotion-filled part (vows, exchange of rings, etc.) No one likes paperwork and I don’t think I’d want my guests to sit through that.
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  • Monique
    Devoted August 2020
    Monique ·
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    I never knew that it was an option because every wedding I've been to, the couple signed the certificate!

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  • Jennifer
    Savvy March 2020
    Jennifer ·
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    I have heard of an idea where while they signed during the ceremony they raised the music a bit and played "Signed, Sealed Delivered" by Stevie Wonder during the signing and it was a hit. Sounded cute to me! In Texas we don't have witnesses plus I am wanting a very short ceremony so we decided not to.

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  • Kristen
    VIP June 2020
    Kristen ·
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    We don’t even have to sign ours, only the officiant does here, so I would check to see what the marriage certificate looks like in your state
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  • Chandra
    Master May 2019
    Chandra ·
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    We signed ours when we got the license. Then after the ceremony the witnesses signed it while we took family photos..didnt make a whole thing about it. It's just paperwork after all
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  • Lynne
    Super August 2022
    Lynne ·
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    I have never seen it done during a ceremony but I have seen it afterwards.

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  • Jess
    Super September 2019
    Jess ·
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    I have seen it done during the ceremony and it only takes about 2-3 minutes. You could have whoever is performing your music have a song played during this time so it isn't completely silent.

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  • Alli
    Devoted October 2020
    Alli ·
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    Our officiant is going to have us sign before the ceremony. I've never seen anyone do it during, but I don't think it would mess anything up if you did it that way!

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  • Cassi
    Super October 2019
    Cassi ·
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    I actually never really thought about this either. We will probably conclude our ceremony and as people go to cocktail hour and we go for photos we will probably do it then. Ours is a little non-traditional anyways. Our best friend is marrying us but legally he can't so we have an officiant on site that will watch it all and do the marriage license signing and everything and just let our friend conduct it. So we probably wouldn't want to bore our family and friends with officiant coming up and what not. But I actually never thought about it.

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  • Sherry
    Master September 2019
    Sherry ·
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    We did this at my first marriage. It was a weird awkward silence as they guests really had no idea what was going on. We will definitely not be doing it this time.

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  • Rachel
    Expert September 2019
    Rachel ·
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    They have done it in all the Jewish weddings I've been to, no awkward lull about it. It's a very important part of the day!!

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  • Cheryl
    Savvy June 2020
    Cheryl ·
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    Happens all the time here in the UK and its not at all awkward. Makes lovely photographs too.

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