After The Wedding
After The Wedding
The ceremony is done. Here is how your license becomes a recorded marriage, and what to do next.
The License Goes Back
Within 30 Days
After the ceremony your officiant fills in the license. Glynn County lists what goes on it, the date of marriage, the county and city of marriage, and the officiant's signature, printed name and complete address. Missing fields delay recording. Glynn County.
The state says the signed license should go back to the probate court within 30 days of the ceremony, and your certificate typically arrives by mail within 30 days after that. Georgia.gov.
Chatham County By Mail
Chatham asks for the license by mail to its Attention Marriage Certificates address in Savannah, and mails your included certified copy once it is recorded.
What Comes Next
Your First Month As A Married Couple
Confirm It Was Returned
Ask your officiant to tell you when the license is in the mail. Cobb notes that witnesses can help if a license is never returned, under O.C.G.A. 19-3-30(e).
Get Certified Copies
Order enough for name changes, insurance and any immigration paperwork. See certified copies and apostille.
Change Your Name, If You Want
Social Security first, then your driver's license within 60 days, then everything else. See changing your name.
Use It Abroad
For a foreign country you may need an apostille from the Georgia Superior Court Clerks' Cooperative Authority.
From A Photographer
Keep The Story
Your certificate is a one page record. The photographs and film are the rest of the story. I always photograph the license signing, and couples tell me later it is one of the frames they did not know they wanted. If you are still planning, check your date with me.
Where Records Live
County Court Or State
Your marriage is recorded by the probate court in the county that issued the license. That court is where you order certified copies and where you ask for any correction. The State Office of Vital Records holds marriage records only from June 1952 to August 1996, and can verify marriages from January 1, 2014 on, with a $10 nonrefundable search fee.
How Many Copies
Think about every place that will ask. Social Security, DDS, a passport update, employers, insurance and any immigration filing. Most courts in this guide charge $10 per copy, so ordering a few at once is easier than going back.
Questions
Questions Couples Ask
Who returns the marriage license?
Your officiant. Glynn County says it is the officiant's responsibility to return it, preferably within 30 days.
How long until we get our certificate?
The state says typically within 30 days after the signed license is returned. Glynn says it mails within three days of receipt, and Fulton asks you to allow up to 30 days to record.
Is the marriage certificate the same as the license?
No. The license is what lets you marry. Once your officiant completes it and the court records it, the court issues the marriage certificate, your proof of marriage.
Do we get a certificate automatically?
In Chatham, Fulton and DeKalb one certified copy is included in the license fee and mailed after recording. In Cobb certificates are not sent automatically and the first one is not free.
What if the officiant made a mistake on the license?
Contact the probate court that issued it. The State Office of Vital Records says changes to a certificate or application go through the probate court in the county where the marriage happened.
