Nothing Really Poignant - James in Taiwan

When Steven and I arrived in Vancouver we had a problem. We were getting married in 3 days and we didn’t have wedding rings. Why didn’t we get them in Taiwan? Well I have sausage fingers like my grandfather and unfortunately the fingers of the average asian male are under size 10.

We decided to spend the entire day Saturday looking for a quality jeweler in town. We found a few places that sold Jewlry online, but we were worried that they would be closed or wouldn’t be able to do a rushed order. Fortunately we found Jones the Jewler near our hotel, and they were open and very nice and very accomidating. They helped us pick matching bands, delivered on time and provided top notch service. We were in and out of the store in less than an hour and had the entire afternoon to go sightseeing (we went to Stanley Park).

If you are in the Vancouver area and you are looking for a high quality jeweler that can provide gold, platnium, silver, steel bands, engagement rings and custom designs, then I suggest you check out Jones the Jewler.

So you are ready to tir the knot in Vancouver, but you need to find someone to conduct your ceremony.  In Canada you can have either a civil marriage conducted by a licensed Marriage Commissioner or you can have a religious wedding.  We had a civil wedding, so I will provide some insight on that first.

The best way to find someone is by word of mouth.  Our commissioner was Ann Moore, and I couldn’t think of a more caring individual.  Steven was very nervous due to language issues, and she helped us through the ceremony.   You can browse the entire list of marriage commissioners if Ann is unavailable.

Once you have contacted the commissioner you should ask about the following information:

• Dates and availability
• Fees
• Location
• Number of guests
• Clothing
• The ceremony (sample ceremony)

We had a very simple ceremony with only two friends attending (the minimum required) in a small house wearing casual attire.

Once you have decided to get married in Vancouver, one member of the couple getting married needs to apply for a Marriage License with a Marriage License Issuer.  The marriage license is valid for up to three months from the date issued and costs $100 CDN dollars (cash).

When we applied for the marriage certificate, we supplied the following information for each person:

• Passport
• Full legal name
• Marriage status
• Current address
• Phone number
• Birth date / location

Please remember to have all the information for EACH PERSON before visiting the Marriage License issuer.  You can review the PDF form used to obtain a marriage license. You can also search the database of Marriage License Issuers.

Vancouver has wonderful weather, great food, affordable accomidations and they will marry anyone who qualifies for marriage.  How can you tell if you qualify?  Basically you need to meet the following requirements:

• Currently unmarried (for 31+ days)
• Over the age of 19

That’s it!  This means that you do not need to have any of the following:

• No blood test
• No citizenship requirement
• No gender requirements

To find out more, please feel free to read the BC Vital Statistics Agency article on How to Get Married.

Well, If you don’t already know, I have been very busy over the last few weeks dealing with my wedding. Yes yes, I am now officially married (according to Canada). This was a big step for the two of us. We decided ~6 months ago to finally tie the knot. It is actually very easy and I will post the information soon.