Marriage certificate lost?!?

For us there is only a three day waiting period to get a license, but I don't know about a replacement one. Best thing to do would call the county you got it from for that information.

We got married the same day and just received ours in the mail today.

Yeah my flight is booked in my new name. I've been talking with our officiant and she just gave me the phone number of where she sent it and said to keep her updated. But since they don't have it there's not much they can help me with. I'll need to call my county when they open on Monday.

Yikes!! I don't think you should book anything under a different name until you officially change it. Too late now. I hope it all works out! We got married the 8th and haven't received anything. Should I be worried. I'm not in a hurry or anything.

It's definitely on the officiant for any extra fees you incur due to her sending it to the wrong county. She should also try helping to track it down.

This kind of happened to one of my friends, their marriage certificate got lost in the mail but they didn't realize that until 5 months after their wedding! They also discovered this right in the middle of tax season so they were a little stressed. I don't remember the exact process or how long it took them to get it resolved, but I don't think it took too long.

I def wouldnt of changed your last name in anything until you got the official license back. Oops.!! Call the airline and change the name back to the one on your ID, not that big of a deal and youll be covered

Yeah definitely should have booked the flight that way I guess lol but I honestly didn't think it would take long at all and we had to book months ago so I thought it would have been changed by then! I'll call the airline and see if they can change it back. Thanks all!

How does someone mail it to the wrong county? I don't get it; we are absolute psychos about making sure our licenses go back to the right place but if we are in NY or PA, the license goes back to where it was issued. I don't know where you are, so it may be different. But that's not helpful, is it.....

The waiting period has nothing to do with this.

This is what I would do. It is totally her responsibility to shepherd your license until you get the 'real' copy and she is shirking her duties in that department.

Call your officiant again and ask for a copy of the signed license that she sent to whatever place she sent it. In NJ, we automatically get a copy (our forms are four parts), but any officiant worth their salt is going to keep a readable copy for themselves; did you get a copy too?

This is HER mess to fix. She needs to make the calls, and if there is any running around, resubmitting to do, it's up to HER, not you to take care of until it's in the right place and under control. Keep her updated....bite me.

I usually tell my couples not to book any travel arrangements in their new name until they have their name change accomplished and new ID in hand, but that's kind of water under the bridge....I'd probably also call your airline company and explain the situation. You may be able to board with your DL in your maiden name and proof of marriage; I really don't know.

It will all work out, but it's too bad that you have to have so much more stress involved.

You might be able to change the name on the ticket for a small fee if needed. My office booked me flights under my first married name and it changed with my divorce and I forgot and change my id. It was maybe $50. Just having a backup makes it less stressful. Call the airline and see if it's possible.

Yea I agree with Erin, you shouldn't have booked anything in your new name until it's officially changed. Not sure about your state, but it's about 2 weeks here for a new ID to come. Hope you get it sorted out.

@Celia I have no clue how this happened! We are in OR and the paperwork came with a sheet with step by step instructions for her on what to do so maybe she didn't look at that. It was a bit chaotic right before the ceremony and I wasn't concerned with the license at that time. I figured afterwards we would all meet up to sign everything. Well she ended up having to leave right away after ceremony and we didn't see her again. We were scrambling looking for it and I tried calling her because we didn't know if she took what she needed or anything. All we were left with is the decorative copy. She later texted me and apologized for having to leave and said she had what she needed to turn in.

I will call once more Monday morning to our county and see if it ended up there and if not I'll see what she can do. Definitely not a stress I anticipated dealing with!

How did she mail it? Was there a tracking record of it? If so you can start there to see where it is. I'm sorry to say but I don't think you're gonna make the less than 2 months to get all this sorted out and still get a new license. I'd call the airline company and explain your situation and have them change it back to your maiden name and just deal with it after you get back.

Depending on the airline, you could get a full refund then just rebook. We were married on 7/29 and just received our cert in the mail yesterday (Cumberland county PA). So once they find it and send it to the right county, it's pretty quick.

I would go to the post office used and see if they still have it. They may even return it to the officiants return address if there was a mistake made.

You should use your maiden name until your official marriage certificate arrives. The US has downloaded into Paranoia Plus about ID since 9/11. Make a personal call to the correct registry office. Sometimes a call speeds things up. Your documents may be sitting on a desk.

I was able to take my signed copy of our marriage certificate to the local county office of records and they gave me 2 certified copies on the spot. No waiting, no mailing. It will work out. You have 2 months. Last resort is to change the name on your airline ticket with a fee of course....

This is why I took the license to the clerk's office myself. I trust no one.