How to Elope with a Wedding Officiant in Montreal

As a wedding officiant in Montreal, I sometimes get asked how quickly I can marry a couple. 

Most of the time, couples reach out to wedding officiant’s at least a year in advance giving them ample time to plan and organize everything, but sometimes, that isn’t the case. Many couples want to elope and have a short timeframe for several reasons ranging from a relocation to an illness in the family.

Being in the province of Quebec, one main consideration that we must have, is the language of all required documentation.  If your birth certificate, divorce certificate or passport is in a language her than French, it MUST be translated to French. The government of Quebec has one site that has all the government authorized translators is www.ottiaq.org.  If your documents aren’t in a language your wedding officiant can read, then they can’t publish the intent to marry until everything is translated.

It is strongly advised that while the documents are being translated, the couple chooses the witnesses they will be using during the wedding ceremony as one of them will have to sign the intent to marry publication.

After your documents are translated, the wedding officiant in Montreal can publish your intent to marry.  This needs to be done for a minimum of 21 days within 3 months of the wedding date. Depending on the season, the publishing can take up to a week before it is online, so this timeframe needs to be considered.

Once the publishing is done, the wedding celebrant in Montreal can then conduct the ceremony with two witnesses present.  It is also advised to give the government about 2 weeks to process the documents that the wedding celebrant will mail in.

In short, if you are looking to elope with a wedding officiant in Montreal, then the process should take you about 5 weeks if there are documents that need to be translated into the French language.

If you are organizing your wedding or planning an elopement, please contact us to book a free consultation. celebrationscoeuracoeur@gmail.com 438-371-9738