Marriage and Weddings

Age Requirements

Both parties participating in the wedding ceremony must be at least 18 years old to get married in Ontario. Written consent from both parents is needed for those who are 16 or 17 years old. Consent forms are available at all municipal offices within the province.

Ceremony

Ceremonies are performed by Office of the Clerk staff by appointment only. Our ceremony room holds up to 30 guests. We perform simple, non-denominational ceremonies that take about 15 minutes. The ceremonies are performed on Fridays between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m.

Ceremonies are performed in English. You must arrange for an interpreter if you need one.

Call the Office of the Clerk at 905-771-8800 to book your ceremony or for more information about civil marriage ceremonies.

Please Note: If you have had a religious ceremony performed, in any country, a marriage licence cannot be issued to you as you are considered married.

Exceptions

• One or both parties are under physical or mental force
• One or both parties fail to meet the age requirements
• The parties are related as grandparent, parent, child, grandchild, brother or sister
• One or both parties are currently married
• One or both parties are mentally ill or under the influence of alcohol or drugs and not able to understand the nature of the marriage contract and the duties, obligations and responsibilities that result from marriage

Cost

The cost of a civil ceremony is $355.95, including taxes. The Marriage Licence fee is an additional $153. You can pay the ceremony fees at the time of your pre-wedding meeting. We accept cash, debit, personal cheque, Visa or MasterCard.

Photography

Feel free to bring a photographer to your civil marriage ceremony.

There are also a lot of great locations in Richmond Hill for wedding, engagement and family photos. Learn more about photography locations and permits.

Pre-Wedding Meeting

Obtaining a Marriage Licence 

Your marriage licence will expire three months from the date of issue. To receive a marriage licence, you must first complete a marriage application. Application forms can be picked up at any municipal office in Ontario.

NOTE: You can also complete your application online and print it, however you must bring the printed application to our municipal office for processing.

The fee for a marriage licence $153 (as of January 1, 2018) and is payable by cash, cheque, debit, Visa or MasterCard at the time the licence is issued.

One applicant to the marriage can submit the completed application form provided the required original identification/documentation for the absent joint-applicant is presented. Your application must be original and must be signed by both applicants. 

You'll need two pieces of original government-issued identification for both applicants to apply for a marriage licence. These include:

• Birth Certificate

• Current Passport

• Record of Immigrant Landing

• Driver's Licence

• Canadian Citizenship Card

• Permanent Resident's Card 

• Change of name Certificate

Divorce Outside of Canada

If your divorce was granted outside of Canada, the Office of the Clerk will provide you with a Foreign Divorce Kit. This must be completed for authorization from the Office of the Registrar General. A marriage licence cannot be issued until the authorization is provided to the and submitted with your marriage application. Please note that this process could take up to four weeks to complete.