How to Get Married in Toronto, ON

Wil asked how we went about setting up our marriage in Toronto, and I realized I never really blogged about that in the rush of planning everything. It was a very simple process, in two parts -- applying for the license and having the ceremony.

First you apply for the marriage license. You fill out a very simple form for that - it's available online as a PDF download, but is also available in city hall on the first floor, where they process the applications. The cost of the license is $140 or so. They require ID - I believe we gave them our passports, but driver's license works also. We went to city hall and turned in our application an hour or so before the ceremony was scheduled, and they gave our our license. The website to download the license application is here: http://tinyurl.com/hmyn7

Once you have the license, you have to have a ceremony to "solemnize" the marriage. We had ours done in the wedding chambers upstairs on the 3rd floor of city hall. You have to arrange the ceremony in advance by calling, and they book you into an appointment. You give them a deposit of $95 when you make the arrangements over the phone, and the rest ($130?) before the ceremony. There's a website for booking ceremonies in the wedding chambers: http://www.marryus.org/

The most difficult part was finding witnesses because we had to find someone around city hall to ask, but it can't be a city employee. But in the end, the office found them for us - they were the couple getting married just after us.