HELP!!! FH lost birth certifricate!!!

[SSNM]

Okay, so my FH was born in Bangladesh and he has lost his birth certifricate. I have yet to come across a DW location that did not ask for a birth certifricate. He is unable to request another copy. Is there any way to work around this? I feel like all my DW planning and researching has been for naught now. I mean, we could have a legal marriage here and do a symbolic at a DW but

 

a) I don't see the point in making our guests pay so much money just to see a symbolic ceremony

 

Even if I was okay with (a), I am not sure if the timelines between getting a married in Canada and getting the marriage license is in our favour (if it takes months to get the marriage license that most resorts want to see before they do a symbolic ceremony, what is the point)?

 

Any advice would be great. I feel very upset right now

[zethers]

So sorry to hear, I know how frustrated you must be right now. I would check with your resort or your officiant, mine didn't request to see anything in order to do the symbolic ceremony.

 

In order to do a legal ceremony we weren't allowed to change any of the verbiage or do our own vows, so a symbolic ceremony totally worked for us. We exchanged our own vows and the ceremony was everything we wanted, we had it done in two languages and nobody knew it was only symbolic. For us, the day we exchanged our own vows in front of our friends and family will be the wedding date we celebrate, not the one where we signed the piece of paper.

 

I guess it's what you make it of it and what you feel comfortable with, and I totally understand how frustrated you must be. I hope it all works out, keep us posted.

[CrystalM]

As long as he has something that proves (passport) who he is and such, it's not usually a problem...

[sjmacphe]

Where are you getting married Stacy? It may not be a problem, you should definitely check with the official regulations for the country of interest. You might be able to get some sort of letter from Canada, they must have his birth cert on file from Bangladesh, right? All is not lost...Also, you could do the legal ceremony after the wedding if you wanted, so that your DW would feel more "real" even if it is not legal technically.

[rodent]

Does he already have a passport?

[SSNM]

Thanks a lot guys...

 

Yes, he has a passport and a drivers' license and a Canadian citizenship card so he has plenty of proof that he is who he is...I am just not sure if these places tend to put emphasis on the birth certifricate or if they will accept other forms of ID.

 

I would like to get married in either Jamaica or Dominican (Dominican if the costs for Jamaica are too high). Jamaica would be WAY easier in order to avoid all of the excess legal fees that the DR seems to have.

 

I guess I will have to plead my case with all the resorts and see what they can do for us...I'll definately keep you posted. I really want a DW...if not, I'll seriously cancel my wedding and do city hall and a big honeymoon.

[CrystalM]

You should be more than fine since he has all that. I carry my passport and never anything else (birth cert., social sec. card, even my drivers license!) when traveling and I've never had a problem.

[~*Kathy*~]

It is my understanding that some resorts do not require you to be legally married prior to having a symbolic ceremony at the resort. I hope this helps, best of luck to you and your FI!

[SSNM]

Hopefully, you are right Kathy.

 

Truth be told, I personally don't care if my marriage EVER gets recognized as legal. I just care that I can have a nice wedding overseas. I am just afraid that I will be caught in a viscious loop hole of no marriage certifricate-no symbolic ceremony, no birth certifricate-no legal ceremony. And since I would have to wait 10+ weeks to get my license in Canada (1 day for license, 10 weeks for registration, 6 days for rushed certifricate)...by then the allure would be gone and would really take away from the whole event for me.

 

I guess another option is elope secretly to city hall, wait for the papers to come through, then just plan symbolic ceremony...again, that just sounds so sucky to me but I may have no other recourse

[~*Kathy*~]

Stay-C: The resort that I had my wedding at said that they do not require a legal marriage in your home country to have a symbolic ceremony at their resort. I looked in to this because I was having so much trouble getting a straight answer on the civil ceremony paperwork requirements. I also considered getting married secretly and letting my guests be none-the-wiser however, everything worked out for me in the end and I didn't need to do anything in secrecy.