Make Sure To Do This Before Your Wedding Day

Everyone loves a good wedding-day story, right?

So, last wedding season, I was helping my sister Ellen photograph a wedding. Since I was playing the role of second-shooter for the day, I had never met the couple before arriving on their wedding day.

As Ellen & I arrived at the location where the bride was getting ready – everything seemed to be going fabulously. The bride was excited & happy, her hair & makeup was already done, and she & her bridesmaids were just hanging out, eating lunch, and trying to relax. Ellen got to work photographing the bride’s dress, shoes, jewelry, and other details.

About half-way through those detail photos, the bride got a phone call. No big deal, right? Brides get phone calls all day long on wedding days, but this phone call quickly damped the mood of the room. We couldn’t hear the other side of the conversation, but it was obvious by the bride’s immediate change of disposition that something was wrong.

She finished up her phone call & tearfully turned to her bridesmaids & us and explained that there was a big problem. She & her fiance could not get married that day.

Everyone rushed in and gathered around to comfort the bride & hear what was going on. Ellen & I rushed over to see what we could do to help – we’ve been a part of a lot of wedding day problems, so we knew there had to be a solution – it couldn’t be that bad, right?

It turns out, it could.

The sweet bride & groom had followed all of the necessary steps in order to get married. They’d done premarital counseling with their church, reserved all the proper venues & vendors, sent out invitations, and gone to the courthouse to get their marriage license.

After registering their upcoming marriage at the courthouse, the clerk mailed their actual marriage license to the couple. Thinking it would be safest to just leave all the marriage license documents sealed in the envelope, they never opened that envelope to make sure the details listed on their marriage license were correct.

So, with literally 2 hours until their wedding ceremony was scheduled to take place, the groom handed the priest their marriage license. The priest opened the envelope & you can imagine his shock when he realized that a completely different couple’s names were listed on the license. The groom & the priest tore through the entire envelope – hoping that the correct documents were also included, but unfortunately, they weren’t. The clerk at the courthouse had simply mailed the bride & groom someone else’s marriage license.

The groom laughed nervously & asked the priest what this meant. The priest slowly shook his head & explained that without the proper documentation, he was unable to marry the couple.

You can only imagine the sprint of phone calls that then took place. The groom & his groomsmen got on their phones and tried to call anyone and everyone they could find phone numbers for: the main courthouse line, specific judge’s offices, and the marriage license department. But with it being Saturday around 12pm, they couldn’t get a hold of a single person.

What would you do?

You can’t postpone the wedding – your guests are literally already on their way and your reception has already been set up & is waiting for you. Your vendors have already either done their jobs (like the hair & makeup artist) or are in the process of setting up (like the DJ). However, the priest cannot marry you without the proper marriage license.

It was a rough time for the bride & groom. They had to figure out a solution, over the phone, and had to figure it out quickly.

Thankfully, it was a warm fall day – the weather literally saved the day. We had already planned to go to Oak Hollow Park for portraits after the ceremony and since the Park has a “Wedding Garden” – a small arbor where small weddings could be held – it seemed like the only solution.

A pair of groomsmen was sent to the church to redirect guests on to the Park. Another pair of groomsmen were sent to the Park, to direct guests to the Wedding Garden. The bride called an old family friend & after explaining the bizarre situation, she asked him if he would be able to “officiate” a small “fake” ceremony. He generously agreed and pulled together the outline of a wedding ceremony.

About 2 hours later, in a completely different location and setting then had been planned on, the sweet bride & groom got “married”. Even though it wasn’t official, their priest had agreed to “officially” marry them early on the following week when they were able to get in touch with the courthouse & sort out the swapped paperwork fiasco.

From there – the day proceeded as usual. We did their portraits at Oak Hollow Park and then went on to the reception.

So, here’s the bottom line:

When you get your marriage license in the mail – make sure you open it immediately & double-check all of the details are correct!