[QUOTE=Nava]
It is not required. Starting from the Council of Trento (XVI century) it is recommended to have a priest as one of the witnesses of the wedding, and have him write down that he’s witnessed it. This was prompted as an easy way to keep track of whether people were married or not. Before the written registry, if two people were married, one wanted out and the other one didn’t, the way to decide whether they were or were not was to ask the whole village… much easier to be able to present a piece of paper.
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This is similar to the concept of common law marriage under the English (and Anglo-derived) common law. If a couple set up housekeeping and held themselves out to the community as married, then, by golly, they were considered married in the eyes of the law.
[QUOTE=WhyNot]
And it’s officiant only in Illinois, no witnesses or participants. The signed license must then be sent into the state within a certain number of days of issuance (30, I think?) and the state does its paperwork thing and sends out a marriage certificate. There are three dates listed on the Certification of Marriage: “Date of Marriage” which is the date the officiant wrote down when s/he signed the marriage license, “Date Recorded” which is when the County Clerk’s office put the paperwork through, and “Application Date” which is when you applied for the license (and must be at least 24 hours before the “Date of Marriage” date.)
(The preceding is accurate at least as of August 25, 2000. I’m looking at my marriage cert for the proper wording.)
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Huh. The judge just signed ours at the wedding - it’s official and everything. Didn’t get it in the mail - he just handed it to us.
[QUOTE=Missy2U]
Huh. The judge just signed ours at the wedding - it’s official and everything. Didn’t get it in the mail - he just handed it to us.
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He signed your marriage license or your marriage certificate? The “Marriage License” (as it says at the top) is signed by the officiant. The “Certification of Marriage” isn’t signed by the priest or judge. The only signature on it is the stamped or pre-printed (I can’t tell which) signature of the County Clerk.
The marriage license, which is usually signed at or after the wedding ceremony, is supposed to be mailed into the County Clerk’s office by the officiant (or by the bride or groom, if the officiant refuses) within 10 days of the ceremony. http://www.idph.state.il.us/vitalrecords/marriage_faq.htm#10
The law apart,you only know that you are really,really married when your other half ORDERS you to go out and mow the lawn/put a shelf up etc.and you meekly obey her.
[QUOTE=Lust4Life]
The law apart,you only know that you are really,really married when your other half ORDERS you to go out and mow the lawn/put a shelf up etc.and you meekly obey her.
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Or when she says "I want an orgasm, and I want it now
I suppose it depends on what you mean. If you want a legal definition, there are some great answers in this thread. However, my two best friends who are gay didn’t get a license to marry since, well, they’re gay, but they held the ceremony anyway. We consider them just as married as anyone else.