J and I went to pick up our marriage license today and it was a breeze! We hopped down to the North York Civic Centre (by Mel Lastman Square) and contrary to prior warning, there was no line and the whole process took no longer than 15 minutes.

A marriage license is required in Ontario if you want to get married, so you don’t want to forget to do this little thing before your big day. It’s the thing you sign during your ceremony, along with 2 witnesses (usually best man and maid of honour) and the person who performed the ceremony. It’s pretty easy, download this form and fill it out with your fiancé. One thing to note is that you must bring ID to the office that shows the full name that you put on your application. For example, if your name is John Michael Smith, but all your ID says “John M Smith”, then you can only apply as John M Smith on your marriage license.

Only one of you needs to go (but you both can if you want); just make sure to bring the other’s ID with you.

The cost in Toronto is $130 flat, in Markham $129.50 and in Richmond Hill $125. Best place to go? Pickering, where it’s only $100. Don’t ask me why the prices are different, but I wish I knew this before we went. We could have saved on lots of time and a bit of money (including parking). Grrrr! At least Toronto is better than Mississauga, where it’s a whopping $140.

City of Toronto marriage licenses
Town of Markham marriage licenses
Town of Richmond Hill marriage licenses
City of Pickering marriage licenses

There are some days where I still can’t wrap my head around the fact that I’m engaged. Today is one of those days! I looked at J today and I can’t believe that in a year from now, I’ll be looking at my husband.

One of the things I have been battling with is the whole name change thing. I’ve never really had an opinion about women taking on their husband’s name after marriage, but now that I’m facing this selection process, I don’t know how I feel. Anyway, I did a little research on changing your name here in the Canadian province Ontario, and I came across some things that I wasn’t aware of.

You can legally change your surname to your partner’s surname
This is what I thought was common practise among all the new Mrs. I knew, the ones who now had maiden names. In Ontario, if you apply to legally change your surname within 90 days of your marriage, there is no cost. Any time after will cost you $25 (interestingly, the set up is the same if you get divorced – you’ll need to change back to your maiden name within 90 days or it’s gonna cost you!). You have to fill out a form, answer a bunch of questions, and be ready to embrace a new surname on your birth certificate.

You can also “assume” your partner’s surname
Apparently, “assuming” your partner’s name is different from changing your name legally. According to the government of Ontario website, it is “the most common practice in Canada”. I had no idea!! Assuming your partner’s name is much simpler than doing a legal change – you just have to change all your current ID to reflect your new name. Best of all, your birth certificate remains the same – which means no formal name changing requests needed. As long as you have your marriage certificate, you can change your name as you like – be it hyphenated, whatever.

Changing your name – Government of Ontario