The coronavirus has turned wedding plans upside down. Photograph: REUTERS/Johanna Geron However, due to the COVID-19 outbreak, Miriam and Bryon had to postpone their ceremony at the park and reception at the hotel until December. But the couple still wanted to legally marry on their original date, so they decided to proceed with the wedding ceremony in court. We are here to allow you to fill out your marriage certificate accurately and perform a mini-ceremony in the style of City Hall with “I Do” and ring exchange ($250). Although we specialize in personalized ceremonies, we are not able to perform them consciously, as it is important for us to respect social distancing guidelines and regulations. While some have decided to postpone or cancel their plans, others have decided to formalize their commitment to each other now and wait for a later date to host the big party. So how can couples marry safely during a public health crisis? While planning a traditional wedding during the coronavirus pandemic may seem like an impossible task, people are getting creative and finding different ways to plan an alternative wedding. After all, thanks in part to a major new survey of American family life, we have enough data to dare to make an early assessment of how marriage actually behaved during the pandemic, and we have both good and bad news to report. One of the biggest hurdles right now is getting the physical license. In mid-March, many county offices across the state closed in response to the spread of the coronavirus.
Hundreds, if not thousands, of marriage license appointments have been cancelled, postponed, or otherwise thrown into confusion. If you are in a similar situation, you should ask yourself if it is more important for you to formalize your marriage now or to carry out the planned wedding, even if you still have to wait a while. Initial state data indicates a dramatic drop in marriages for 2020, with marriage licenses issued since the beginning of the year down 18% in Hawaii, 17% in Florida, 9% in Arizona and 8% in Oregon (the four states for which data is available during the lockdown months). Figure 2 shows the annual variation in marriage certificates filed each month for each state. Aside from the usual wedding license and ceremony fees, there is no need for the live streaming of your wedding to cost you anything, but you can choose to pay a little more for some features. COVID-19 has significantly affected many aspects of our lives. It was critical that many marriages were affected and divorce during Covid seemed to be a very real possibility for many couples while others were strengthened. Closures, stay-at-home orders and restrictions have forced couples to deal with marital issues that had previously been ignored or gone unnoticed. The proportion of married people who reported that their marriage was in difficulty decreased in 2020. As shown in Figure 6, the proportion of married men and women aged 18 to 55 who say their marriage is in difficulty increased from 40% in 2019 to 29% in 2020. This suggests that divorce will decline in 2020, a trend we also saw during the Great Recession a decade ago.
During this recession, the divorce rate fell by 7% in 2009 as couples at the height of the recession avoided divorce court. Although divorce increased somewhat thereafter, it declined again starting in 2013, meaning that marriage in America generally moved in a more stable direction following the last recession. “No one wants to have a wedding ceremony that no one can attend,” said Chris Robinson, a wedding services professional in Los Angeles. Fifteen months after the first lockdown, the government has finally responded to growing pressure to facilitate legal marriage for couples by allowing civil weddings outdoors from July 1, 2021. This will undoubtedly provide welcome peace of mind for couples who have booked ceremonies in approved locations, and offer a backup plan if it is deemed safer for groups of people to gather outdoors. Although many marriages have been tested, divorce actually dropped by 12% during Covid in Oregon. This may be the result of court closures and financial hardship – but it may also be due to spouses deepening their commitment to each other. Now it`s time to get your marriage certificate. Yes, you`re not done yet! The expiration date cannot be extended – it is enshrined in state law. This means that couples who want to wait more than 90 days to formalize their marriage will need a new license. Similarly, one humanist celebrant recounted how a married couple in a humanist ceremony “would end up getting married legally if they could get a cheap reservation at the registry office, which is not easy.” Of course, couples struggling financially in the midst of the pandemic were more likely than others to say their marriage was struggling.
About one in three losers (33%) reported such problems, compared to 26% of stables. Surprisingly, the proportion who reported that their marriage was in difficulty was also higher among those who improved (35%). It appears that financial stability during COVID is associated with stable marriages. A change in financial situation in both directions can lead to marital distress during the pandemic. Note that the survey question was about marital problems in the past two years, so we can`t be sure how COVID itself will impact the results. Your marriage certificate is the document that says you want to get married. Think of it like the engagement ring; It`s the promise to lock up this baby. The marriage certificate filled with a registered marriage certificate will contain all relevant signatures and essentially state that you married that witness on that date, time and place by that official. (Remember: you only need one witness in New York, although there is room for two) What`s particularly interesting here is that increased engagement and appreciation ratios are particularly higher among couples who have seen their financial wealth decline as a result of COVID.
About 65% of married adults whose financial situation deteriorated said the pandemic has made them appreciate their spouse more, and 60% said it has also strengthened their commitment to their marriage. For many married Americans, especially those who have struggled financially, this tumultuous year has led them to turn to their spouse, and not far from him. The fastest option is to get married at the same time as the license is issued. A county employee may officiate, and in some cases, another employee may serve as a witness. All parties sign the document and the entire legal part of the marriage is terminated. (Riverside County requires couples using its conference call wedding service to have the ceremony performed at the same time.) Luz says it only cost her a few hundred dollars to get to Las Vegas, and they spent a few hundred more on the ceremony plus about $70 for their marriage license. Although Luz and Jennifer are still waiting for the right agencies to reopen so they can complete their legal name changes, Luz estimates that their Vegas wedding cost less than $500. As a bonus, they could get refunds for places originally booked. More appreciation, deeper commitment. In difficult times, men and women often turn to family and friends for support, food and solidarity. This certainly applies to the year 2020. In the midst of so much hardship and tribulation – a global pandemic, the worst recession in a century, political and social unrest and wildfires, to name a few – many husbands and wives have seen their marriages strengthen.
There have been countless hot views about the impact COVID would have on marriage and family life in America. The truth turns out to be quite complex: married people have faced additional stress, the marriage rate is likely to decrease, the impact on married sex is unclear, the bond between husbands and wives has deepened, and, at least in the short term, divorce is likely to decrease. Moreover, the family impact of the pandemic appears to have hit the working class and poor couples particularly hard, as they are the same ones whose financial assets are most likely to decline since March. But our main conclusion from this data is actually about resilience: a historic pandemic has hit America, causing massive disruption and changes in family and professional life, and the overall impact is hard to see. Overall, the news about marriage in times of COVID is better than expected. Couples are stressed. Married couples have been hit hard by a pandemic that has crippled the economy, put millions of men and women out of work, forced families into lockdown, and claimed hundreds of thousands of lives. One clue is that a large minority of married Americans report that COVID has increased stress in their marriage.
