What are the dates and places of marriage of your ancestors?

In genealogy, finding a marriage record can often unlock the next steps in your research. Indeed, marriage records (especially recent ones) are quite comprehensive.

Where to find information about your ancestors' marriages?

Many resources and archive sources can help you find your ancestors' marriage:

• Marriage records : find these records in parish registers and civil registry records. These records will give you information about the spouses (name, age, profession, birthplace(s), place(s) of residence... depending on the municipalities) and about the spouses' parents.

• Decadal indexes : these indexes will be precious for your research in the 19th and 20th centuries. They will save you time in your search and allow you to have some information (names of the spouses and date of marriage) if the marriage record has been destroyed.

• Marriage contracts : they are most often available in notarial archives (at departmental archives). The contracts were drawn up by a notary between 1 day and 2 months before the marriage. They are interesting because they give us the following information: names of the spouses, their professions, their home, that of their parents, the financial contributions from parents and/or spouses, the separate property of the future spouses and the property excluded from the community, the conditions of widowhood, the property that will go to the children in case of death or remarriage... If there is a marriage contract, it has been mentioned in the marriage records since 1850. For research before that date, it will be a matter of luck!

• Marriage publications - banns and betrothals : these publications, sometimes available at the AD, can be useful for guiding you. These notices contain the names, home and professions of the future spouses.

• Family photos: if your photos are annotated, then it's the jackpot! In addition to finding dates (and even places?), you can put faces to names.

To facilitate your research, make sure you know this information:

• the department and municipality of the marriage

• the year of the marriage (or a defined period)

• the name(s) of one or both spouses

💡 Did you know? 
The waiting period for a marriage record (without masking mentions) is 75 years after the date of celebration. Similarly, the marriage contract is transferred to the AD for free consultation 75 years after its signature.

Research tips to find your ancestors' marriage

• Most often, the parents' marriage takes place BEFORE the birth of the first child (within the 3 years preceding the birth).

• During the Ancien Régime, the marriage was mainly celebrated in the bride's parish.

• Finding the birth records of the children will give you information about the parents (and their marriage, perhaps).

• Search for the marriage record in the municipalities of birth of the first children (and in the neighboring municipalities).

• Search for the marriage record in the birthplaces of the spouses (which you can find in the civil registry or in the censuses).

• Search for the marriage record in the municipalities where the husband lived (which you can find in military registration records).

• Search for the places of origin of the children's godparents and godmothers and check the archives in these municipalities for the parents' marriage record.

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