To be legally married in BC you will need to purchase a BC Marriage License. Obtaining a marriage license is a simple process that normally takes about 30 minutes, however, only the couple getting married is entitled to purchase and pick-up the marriage license. Your wedding planner, best friend, or WWP officiant is not legally able to do this for you and you can not do it online.
In Whistler, you can purchase ($100 CDN) your marriage license from the Resort Municipality of Whistler administrative building located at 4325 Blackcomb Way, Whistler BC, open Monday-Friday 8am-4:30pm. Please ensure your travel plans to Whistler include space in the schedule to pick-up your marriage license.
If you prefer to purchase your marriage license elsewhere in BC, here is a link that let’s you search for marriage license issuers in other regions of BC.
To purchase your marriage license, you will need to provide two pieces of Primary Identification and, if either one of you are divorced, it is a good idea to bring your divorce papers for proof of separation.
Examples of Primary Identification include:
- Birth certificate
- IMM/immigration form
- Permanent resident card
- Citizenship card
The marriage licence issuer may accept a passport or driver’s licence in some (most) circumstances.
Once you have acquired a marriage license, you have 90 days to use it and you are required to bring the marriage license to the wedding ceremony for signing & legalization. In addition, two witnesses are required to sign the licence. After everybody has signed the BC Marriage Licence, I complete the paperwork and file the document with the BC government's Vital Statistic's division. You will receive a Marriage Certificate in the mail 2-5 weeks after your wedding date.
Always check with your home country, state, province or region to ensure a BC Marriage License is legally binding at home. That said, I have officiated many weddings for couples visiting from America, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, the UK, Europe and many other countries around the world with no problems or issues re: out-of-country marriage license issuers.
If you have any questions about this process or need clarity on anything, please reach out to me at jeremy@WhistlerWeddingPastor.com