The numbers of residents coming to City Hall’s walk-up window looking for marriage intention certificates has increased this month, according to City Clerk Sergio Cornelio.
While he isn’t doing many in-house weddings at City Hall – as many clerks do during the course of their tenure – he said he is issuing more and more marriage intentions. Intentions in Massachusetts eventually turn into a Marriage License after the mandated three-day cooling off period.
“It has gotten busier, but not as busy as we were before the pandemic,” he said. “There aren’t many cities taking intentions. When COVID-19 first hit, I wasn’t doing them. Halfway through no one else was doing them so I decided to take them. I was about the only City Clerk in the area taking intentions. It has definitely increased recently.”
He said he attributes having more marriage intentions to the warmer weather, the break in COVID-19 restrictions and the overall backlog of weddings that were postponed in March, April and May.
“It’s a break from the normal activities and I’m glad to play a part in such a happy moment for people,” he said. “We’re getting back to some type of normalcy.”