Bilingual Marriage Certificates: Cover Layout
A Hong Kong marriage certificate is bilingual: Chinese and English sit on the same document. That has one practical consequence for the holder — the names on the cover may be written in Chinese, in English, or in both. This page covers how a MyO! certificate holder handles the two scripts, and what to decide before ordering.
The certificate is bilingual
The Hong Kong marriage certificate is a bilingual document, with Chinese and English together on it. The certificate measures about 209mm x 298mm in practice, close to A4, and every interior we make is built to that size so it goes in without folding. The measured figures and a comparison with other sizes on the market are in certificate holder sizing.
The holder does one thing to the cover: it presses your names and wedding date onto it. So what needs thinking about is not the certificate, but which script the names go in.
Names in Chinese, English, or both
The cover carries two stamp fields: one for the couple’s names, one for the wedding date. Those two fields are the whole of the cover stamping, and both scripts can be stamped — a calligraphic Chinese face and a serif English are equally at home there, so neither language has to settle for the wrong typeface.
In practice that means the names can be written in Chinese, written in English, or printed as a mix of the two. Tell us which form you want, and whether the two run side by side, and the layout is set from that. If either name is long, saying so in advance avoids the type size being squeezed down.
How the two scripts sit on the cover
The designer pairs a calligraphic Chinese face with a serif English and sets both on the centre of the cover. Each language gets the face that suits calligraphy or serif, and both are centred on the same visual centre — the two lines carry equal weight, so neither overpowers the other. Set side by side, they read as one layout rather than as two separate blocks of text.
If you have a particular font preference, raise it before ordering; which face is used is settled at the design proof stage. How the stamping is pressed into the cover material, and whether it is charged separately, is covered in hot-foil process and pricing.
Three things to settle before ordering
- Which script the names use: Chinese, English, or both, and whether the two names run side by side.
- Which date format you want: the same date has several ways of being written, so settle it before the layout is set.
- Typeface preference: if you want a particular face, say so before ordering.
All three are settled at the design proof stage, and production starts only once the proof is confirmed. Changes are possible up to that point; once production has begun the content can no longer be altered.
Lead time
Custom orders take about 7-14 working days depending on order volume, counted from the point the design proof is confirmed. If your wedding or registration date is fixed, move your order earlier to leave room for the stamping lead time plus delivery buffer. If the wedding and the registration fall on different dates, work from the earlier one.
Price
Each holder is HK$388, and that price already includes printing the couple’s names and the wedding date — setting the names in both scripts is not charged on top. Two colours and six designs make 12 combinations, all priced the same way, so the design and colour you choose make no difference to the price.
Enquiries
If you want to check that a particular script will lay out well, use the enquiry button on this page and tell us the form of the names and the date together. For the full ordering and confirmation steps, see how customisation works; for the wider picture, see the complete guide to certificate holders.