Monday was slow, really slow. There were a couple of Spanish ceremonies and I did a couple of ceremonies. We are afraid everyone is waiting for Valentine's Day, also a Friday and the start of a three day weekend. Heaven help us.
One ceremony was almost boring. The couple had little interest in the ceremony. It was if they just wanted it over. Before I could tell them they had time to take pictures while I got their certified copy, they were ready to walk out.
The other wedding had more interplay. It was a fairly large group of people. I asked the magic question, "Is everybody here?" The answer was no. One of the grooms had not arrived yet. They had bought the license last week. On Monday Groom #1 had paid for the ceremony and given the information about the witnesses. All that without telling the clerk groom #2 hadn't arrived yet.
Finally we have two grooms and have the ceremony. The grooms were very emotional and everyone was in tears. Lots of pictures were taken during the ceremony and after. During the picture taking the license was signed by the witnesses and by me. I told the group they had 2 more minutes for pictures while I finish up the legalities, and they must exit the room when I return.
I gave the certified copy to the couple and asked everyone to gather their things and we would go downstairs. (The lobby is filling up, I could have another license on my desk) They told me to go ahead, they wanted to take more pictures. They would stay upstairs for awhile.
Just so you know, that did not happened. I hurried their hineys out the door.
Showing posts with label marriage license. Show all posts
Showing posts with label marriage license. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 5, 2014
Saturday, May 11, 2013
I think I scared the bride
Clerk F brought me the license. I checked it over and found what I thought might be an error. The bride's name was Mary Worth. Her mother's maiden name was Sally Forth, her dad's name was Rex Morgan. The bride had been married before and on the line for name at birth if different, it was blank. I looked at the names of her mom and dad and her name, it didn't add up. I was 99% sure Worth was not her birth name. Now she could have been adopted and they kept her birth name but I doubted it. I had to check it in case we needed to correct the license.
I went out to talk to to the couple. The couple was Japanese and the groom did all the talking while she looked to him for a translation. That is never a good sign. I told the groom he mustn't talk, she had to answer my questions. I asked her what was her birth name, blank stare. What was your name before you married? Is Worth your married name? No answer and then very broken English that I could not understand. I asked if she could understand what I was saying, blank stare. The groom says she has a problem with English. He said Worth was not her birth name. I told him we had to correct the license. Then I explained if she could not understand me I legally could not marry them. I told him it was for her protection.
I talked to F and she was bent out of joint. She didn't want to correct the license, and the bride spoke English. We have no Japanese translator so we would have to credit their credit cards. Not a happy clerk. I went to get the lead clerk Y to do the refund.
About 5 minutes later Y says, "She speaks pretty good English and if you aren't comfortable doing the ceremony someone else will do it." I agreed to do the ceremony, not understanding why the groom said she had a problem with English.
The bride and groom explained they only speak Japanese at home and it takes a while to totally switch to English. The bride said she just got nervous and couldn't think of any words. We laughed and I tried to make them comfortable. They both relaxed and I did the marriage ceremony. The groom asked if we really have men bring in non English speaking brides and we have to refuse to do the ceremony. Yes, yes we do. More than you would think.
I think the bride thought I was going to make her take an English test before they could marry. I feel bad that I might have scared her. I thought I was being nice and professional. Maybe I need to work on professional being a little softer.
I went out to talk to to the couple. The couple was Japanese and the groom did all the talking while she looked to him for a translation. That is never a good sign. I told the groom he mustn't talk, she had to answer my questions. I asked her what was her birth name, blank stare. What was your name before you married? Is Worth your married name? No answer and then very broken English that I could not understand. I asked if she could understand what I was saying, blank stare. The groom says she has a problem with English. He said Worth was not her birth name. I told him we had to correct the license. Then I explained if she could not understand me I legally could not marry them. I told him it was for her protection.
I talked to F and she was bent out of joint. She didn't want to correct the license, and the bride spoke English. We have no Japanese translator so we would have to credit their credit cards. Not a happy clerk. I went to get the lead clerk Y to do the refund.
About 5 minutes later Y says, "She speaks pretty good English and if you aren't comfortable doing the ceremony someone else will do it." I agreed to do the ceremony, not understanding why the groom said she had a problem with English.
The bride and groom explained they only speak Japanese at home and it takes a while to totally switch to English. The bride said she just got nervous and couldn't think of any words. We laughed and I tried to make them comfortable. They both relaxed and I did the marriage ceremony. The groom asked if we really have men bring in non English speaking brides and we have to refuse to do the ceremony. Yes, yes we do. More than you would think.
I think the bride thought I was going to make her take an English test before they could marry. I feel bad that I might have scared her. I thought I was being nice and professional. Maybe I need to work on professional being a little softer.
Sunday, August 5, 2012
Wedding stories part 2
I have lots of stories, again from the last couple of weeks. Here are a few of them, some are happy, we had errors, we had just happy people getting married.
The bride was heavily pregnant, due in less than a week. She was glowing with love and happiness. He adored her. But this woman was in that awful last week of pregnancy, swollen, tired, and ready to have that baby.
I was going to marry babies, the bride was 18 and one week. The groom was 19. Lots of family and lots of excitement. The bride had taken a satin long white dress and added some personal touches to make it her own. Her dress had good quality satin and was a basic sheath with spaghetti straps. It was very low cut. She added a white knit insert to cover up a little. She make a satin shrug with cap sleeves. And on the back she added flowing chiffon. The dress was very simple and elegant at the same time.
The groom was born in 1949 and the bride was born in 1961. They wanted the ceremony for people in a long term relationship. Their granddaughter was the witness. She was so excited for them. The couple was very moved by the ceremony. There was love in the room.
Usually the bride is the one who is vain. Not this time, the groom wouldn't wear his glasses during the ceremony. The man needed his glasses to just walk around. When he tried to put the ring on the bride's finger, we were all laughing. He kept backing up to see where her finger was. He finally got the ring on.
This last couple was annoying. I was tired (this moving thing is making me nuts and very tired and cranky) and I let them make me snap at them. I checked the license, and both places where it said mother's birth name we had married names. It was possible both mothers had the same last names as their husband, but I doubted it.
I found them and asked if that was the birth names. No, they had written down birth and married names. I said we would have to reprint since they had put the married names. The groom snippily said, "Well! I wish they had told us birth name only." His tone was rude and hit me wrong. I snapped, pointed to the words Birth Name and said in my school teaching voice, "Darling, (I am a Southern Belle) it says Birth Name." He backed off. He then said he was just too excited to bother reading the license carefully. I calmed down too. But it just kept getting worse.
I always have the camera people take test shots. The witness, bride, and groom have no idea how to operate the camera. They had just bought it. They can't find the shutter button. I took the camera and found the button, showed the witness what to push, and how to use the zoom in/out button. Don't you find it scary that moi, who is useless with tech stuff was showing them how to use a camera?
The bride never once looked at the groom during the ceremony. She was making duck faces and posing for the pictures. Also the three of them talked to each other throughout the ceremony. Really? During the ring ceremony you are talking about how to pose. This couple was in their late 30's, not 18. They should have known better.
The bride was heavily pregnant, due in less than a week. She was glowing with love and happiness. He adored her. But this woman was in that awful last week of pregnancy, swollen, tired, and ready to have that baby.
I was going to marry babies, the bride was 18 and one week. The groom was 19. Lots of family and lots of excitement. The bride had taken a satin long white dress and added some personal touches to make it her own. Her dress had good quality satin and was a basic sheath with spaghetti straps. It was very low cut. She added a white knit insert to cover up a little. She make a satin shrug with cap sleeves. And on the back she added flowing chiffon. The dress was very simple and elegant at the same time.
The groom was born in 1949 and the bride was born in 1961. They wanted the ceremony for people in a long term relationship. Their granddaughter was the witness. She was so excited for them. The couple was very moved by the ceremony. There was love in the room.
Usually the bride is the one who is vain. Not this time, the groom wouldn't wear his glasses during the ceremony. The man needed his glasses to just walk around. When he tried to put the ring on the bride's finger, we were all laughing. He kept backing up to see where her finger was. He finally got the ring on.
This last couple was annoying. I was tired (this moving thing is making me nuts and very tired and cranky) and I let them make me snap at them. I checked the license, and both places where it said mother's birth name we had married names. It was possible both mothers had the same last names as their husband, but I doubted it.
I found them and asked if that was the birth names. No, they had written down birth and married names. I said we would have to reprint since they had put the married names. The groom snippily said, "Well! I wish they had told us birth name only." His tone was rude and hit me wrong. I snapped, pointed to the words Birth Name and said in my school teaching voice, "Darling, (I am a Southern Belle) it says Birth Name." He backed off. He then said he was just too excited to bother reading the license carefully. I calmed down too. But it just kept getting worse.
I always have the camera people take test shots. The witness, bride, and groom have no idea how to operate the camera. They had just bought it. They can't find the shutter button. I took the camera and found the button, showed the witness what to push, and how to use the zoom in/out button. Don't you find it scary that moi, who is useless with tech stuff was showing them how to use a camera?
The bride never once looked at the groom during the ceremony. She was making duck faces and posing for the pictures. Also the three of them talked to each other throughout the ceremony. Really? During the ring ceremony you are talking about how to pose. This couple was in their late 30's, not 18. They should have known better.
Sunday, January 1, 2012
More Weddings from Wednesday
The first wedding of the day, I found a possible error on the license. There is a box that asks for the mother’s birth name. The bride’s mother’s last name was the same as the father’s. Now that happens sometimes, so I went out to check before we did anything. The bride said that it was her mother’s married name. I took the license back to Clerk L. She blew a gasket.
L had asked the bride about the name. The bride said that was the name on her mother’s birth certificate. To me she says not the correct name. We reprinted the license with the correct maiden name. How hard a question is birth name?
One wedding really bothered me. Everyone was happy except the bride. She was the saddest looking young woman. I was sure she wanted to be anywhere except my wedding room. Her family was happy, his family was happy. He was happy.
He also was a sleaze bag. All during the ceremony he kept grabbing her and kissing her face and neck. She just stood there and took it. I was sick to my stomach watching him. He was like a dog marking his territory. I took the ceremony very slow in case she wanted to back out. She didn’t. She was no happier when they left.
There were several lovely fun happy weddings. Little girls in fancy dresses, brides dressed up with bouquets. But one wedding stands out.
The groom was 47 and the bride was 27. It was a first marriage for both of them. It was also a secret marriage. (I wish I knew why) In July they are having a big “wedding” for family. Such happiness and love in the room. They had a baby around 5 months old in a carrier. They put the baby on the floor between them during the ceremony. They were ecstatic, grins, great vibes coming off them.
When they kissed after the ceremony, I looked at the baby. He is looking up at them. He had the most puzzled expression on his face. It was like, what are they kissing for, what is going on? I hope the witness got a picture of that little boy’s face.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
SHE'S BAAAAACK!
Location: County building
Job: Preparing marriage licenses
SHE would be the clerk from hell (CFH). This woman has been so sweet working in the rotation. She has helped me, been friendly, we have laughed together. But man when on the marriage desk, she is one sullen . . ., well I won't go there.
Monday she brought me a license. First there was no souvenir marriage certificate. Then I looked at the license. Bride's state/country of birth Africa. Brides' parents state/country of birth Africa and Africa. Groom's address Oakland, VS.
I went to her desk to get her to reprint with corrections. She isn't there, but a couple is sitting there waiting for her. I went looking for her and found her having her lunch. I told her the license needed to be corrected, that Africa is not a country. And she said, "That's what they wanted." I said ,"The state won't take it." And she says, "I'm at lunch, get W to fix it." And walked off. I was ticked big time. One of the supervisors D came up and asked me what was wrong. And I told her all about the mess. She said ask W to help you and stormed off to talk to the CFH.
This did get handled. The couple at the CFH's desk were the ones on the license. She went to lunch with them sitting there. D found out they weren't getting married then, D had to refund them their ceremony money, correct the license, and offer an apology for something not her fault.
The next license from the CFH, no souvenir certificate and again with errors.
How the CFH keeps her job I don't know. She is such a bad representative of Alameda County workers. All the other are trying, working hard, and at least learn from their errors. This woman doesn't give a hoot.
Job: Preparing marriage licenses
SHE would be the clerk from hell (CFH). This woman has been so sweet working in the rotation. She has helped me, been friendly, we have laughed together. But man when on the marriage desk, she is one sullen . . ., well I won't go there.
Monday she brought me a license. First there was no souvenir marriage certificate. Then I looked at the license. Bride's state/country of birth Africa. Brides' parents state/country of birth Africa and Africa. Groom's address Oakland, VS.
I went to her desk to get her to reprint with corrections. She isn't there, but a couple is sitting there waiting for her. I went looking for her and found her having her lunch. I told her the license needed to be corrected, that Africa is not a country. And she said, "That's what they wanted." I said ,"The state won't take it." And she says, "I'm at lunch, get W to fix it." And walked off. I was ticked big time. One of the supervisors D came up and asked me what was wrong. And I told her all about the mess. She said ask W to help you and stormed off to talk to the CFH.
This did get handled. The couple at the CFH's desk were the ones on the license. She went to lunch with them sitting there. D found out they weren't getting married then, D had to refund them their ceremony money, correct the license, and offer an apology for something not her fault.
The next license from the CFH, no souvenir certificate and again with errors.
How the CFH keeps her job I don't know. She is such a bad representative of Alameda County workers. All the other are trying, working hard, and at least learn from their errors. This woman doesn't give a hoot.
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