Alberta marriage commissioners busier than ever

Any newlywed will tell you that if you want to get hitched, you have to book your wedding venue months in advance.

But that's not the only thing you have to plan ahead for.

Albertamarriage commissioners are busier than ever,which mean couples who want a non-religious ceremony could be left scrambling to make it official.

"I know of some marriage commissioners in the cities they're doing one every day," said Marianne Bennett, who works as a certified marriage commissioner south of Red Deer in the town of Bowden, Alta.

Bennett, who hasofficiated 24 weddings since May, says she has seen an increase in business in the last two years.

And while she doesn'tofficiate more than two weddings in one day, that hasn't stopped her peersfrom fillingtheir daytimers.

"If people are open and not everyone wants to get married at two o'clock, you probably could do three or four. I know one marriage commissioner has done as many as six," said Bennett.

That's right six weddings in one day.

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According to Service Alberta, right now there are 251 certified marriage commissioners in the province.

Bennett says becausequite a few officiantsare retiring, there is a shortage in some ares of the province.

She adds thatgetting certified is alengthy processand all marriage officiants in the province mustre-apply from scratch, every five years.

Couples need to compromise

While Bennett has never heard of a couple having to cancel their wedding because they couldn't find an officiate, she says they mayneed to be flexible with their dates.

"I've done a Tuesday, a Wednesday and a Thursday," she said.

She also says brides should be open to changing the time of their ceremony, especially if they wait until the last minute to book their marriage commissioner.

"Alot of them are not booking their marriage commissioners, or not trying, until after they already have their invitations out and then you can't change the time."

Bennett says if a couplecan't find a marriage commissioner within100 kilometres of their venue,they can apply to Service Alberta to have a family memberofficiate the ceremony.