‘No straight answer’ on processing certificates: Vaughan wedding planner

#EssentialServices: Do we need to sign a paper in-person to make the marriage official?

Yorkregion.com
April 23, 2020
Dina Al-Shibeeb

Jade McAdam-Murphy and her fiance, Cody McCaig, were supposed to get married April 11, but cancelled their plans because of COVID-19.

Fidan Ismayilova, founder and certified wedding planner at Designed Dream Wedding & Event Planning in Vaughan, described how the “whole event industry was affected very badly by COVID-19” and said many weddings were postponed.

“As for our company in particular, all of our weddings from April to the end of June and even some weddings in August and September were postponed to the fall of 2020 or to 2021,” Ismayilova said.

Before COVID-19 shed its unwanted impact, Ismayilova had an average of 30 to 35 clients per year, combining both wedding and corporate clients.

“Of course that affects our business in a major way, but we all understand that these are unprecedented times and the whole situation is beyond anyone's control,” she lamented, reminding herself and others of how “it is important to stay positive and help each other in this situation.”

But how about people who want to tie the knot officially --at least on paper --without the extravagant ceremony?

“As for the marriage certificates, there is no straight answer from the government on that,” she said. “When officiants that we work with reached out to the City (of Toronto) about that, they were told that the couples need to contact them directly and they will consider it case-by-case,” she added.

The wedding planner further elaborated, “It would have been more helpful if the government provided a straight answer on what to do for couples who already received their marriage licenses and how to extend them, as well as if there would be an additional charge for getting a new license or if it would be waived.”

She continued, “I hope we will receive more accurate instructions on that soon, so we and the officiants that we work with can assist our couples better.”

In response to COVID-19, the City of Vaughan said it "will not be conducting or scheduling marriage ceremonies until further notice."

It added: "Although marriage licences will also not be available while Vaughan City Hall remains closed, they may be issued for emergent requests on a case-by-case basis."

While the province is responsible for registering marriages and issuing marriage certificates after couples wed, municipalities issue marriage licences allowing them to get married.

But some municipalities in York Region have suspended that service during the pandemic because they have closed their facilities to the public. Couples getting married are required to physically go into their town halls to ensure their documentation is in order.

Wedding officiant Vinnie Marchese, founder of Avalon Weddings in Vaughan, said officiants are not performing weddings during COVID-19.

“The government has said if you are not an essential service, you may not do your job,” the Maple resident said.

Two exceptions are if one of the couple is dying or if there is an urgent need for immigration purposes, Marchese said.

Officiants can’t perform weddings by video conferencing because paperwork must be signed in person to make the marriage legal, she added.

However, there appears to be a disconnect between what officiants understand their limitations are during the pandemic and what the provincial government is saying.

“There are no provisions under Ontario’s Marriage Act preventing couples from getting married as a result of COVID-19,” Harry Malhi, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Government and Consumer Services, said in an email.

“The Marriage Act requires every Ontario marriage to be solemnized in the presence of the parties to the marriage, at least two witnesses, and the marriage officiant --which makes a total of at least five individuals present at the ceremony. Currently, the emergency order under the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act prohibits attending organized public events and social gatherings of more than five people.”

As people scramble to fine-tune processes during this pandemic, Ismayilova said, “We are all in this together!”

“All vendors are very supportive and flexible with the date changes, because we all understand what kind of stress the couples are going through,” she said.

Ismayilova is also adapting to this new situation as a businesses woman.

“We are here to assist and to help our couples who are going through the rescheduling process, to make this complicated process smooth and painless. We are also happy to assist our non-clients with the rescheduling process, and we have created a special Emergency Package for non-clients. They don't need to do it alone. Help is here!”