Next exciting topic: THE WEDDING...

[lilsadie 50]

Ok, so who knows how I book in for a court house wedding? Do I need any other legal certs, etc or do I just book, show up and BAM, married?? Lol.

And... what is everyone else doing?

[sandra68 10]

every courthouse is different, some have set hours, some you can just walk in, check with the one you want to go to.

good luck :-)

[Tracey&Greg 33]

We had a courthouse wedding I had to schedule a day so we could have a judge marry us which was pretty easy. We basically showed up with his parents from the UK and registered with my drivers license and his passport plus the fee money. My parents were late and so we waited till they finally arrived and finally had the ceremony. I loved it lol the courthouse is also the DMV in my city so the halls were packed with people waiting in lines for car tags and whatnot all cheered us on while we left.

[landr 126]

every courthouse is different, some have set hours, some you can just walk in, check with the one you want to go to.

good luck :-)

Yep, Google is your friend

We looked into Vegas, but I believe the name-change options via marriage are easier if we get married in California. My fiance is happily looking into our options and we're going to discuss it next week face-to-face when I POE at LAX.

If budget isn't an issue, someone posted a link to a Hawaiian weddings website that had all-inclusive packages, including flights, which looked interesting. But I don't think it would be a good idea for us, considering there's the AOS fee to pay for and saving up for rent deposit, etc.

[sweetswinks 400]

Ok, so who knows how I book in for a court house wedding? Do I need any other legal certs, etc or do I just book, show up and BAM, married?? Lol.

And... what is everyone else doing?

My arrival is August 20th, We're heading to the court house to apply for the marriage certificate with our photo I.D's and picking up the licence 3 days later as that's the wait time in Pennsylvania, we're getting married by a waterfall September 7th and his Dad is the minister!

[hiimkristina 9]

Well we're just doing a courthouse wedding initially, and probably later down the track we'll do something bigger. I think it's more important for us at the moment to be married so we can start the next step in paperwork

We're planning to leave Australia in November, so it will be a cold wedding for us!

[aruadha 58]

We are planning to do very small wedding, just us and my kids very soon after he gets here. We also want to get the next steps rolling as far as AOS and all that...

Then later, we will do a bigger thing over in Australia. But trying to plan anything is crazy without knowing when he will actually be there.

[darin&josh 18]

Ok, so who knows how I book in for a court house wedding? Do I need any other legal certs, etc or do I just book, show up and BAM, married?? Lol.

And... what is everyone else doing?

The first step will be applying for a marriage license from within the state you will be getting married in. These are usually issued from your local county administration office (search for registrar or recorders office in your county). There is often a waiting period from when you apply for your license to when you can actually get married (usually a few days). You will require photo ID (passport is the best option), and in some states a witness.

The second step is finding out what the arrangements are for the specific court house you wish to get married at. Some will allow you to book a time, others will have set days or times where you show up and you get the first available judge. In some cases there is a risk that you can show up and no one will have time available on that day. Some judges will make themselves available to do out of hours marriages (for a fee).

If you are going to be in LA County, this page should be a good starting point: http://www.lavote.net/clerk/marriages.cfm

[sweetswinks 400]

Hello everyone!

This will be an odd question. My lovely fiance and I are getting married by his father who is a minister, on September 7th 2014.
We're having a small ceremony with just immediate family. I'll be changing my last name to his last name straight away
We're having a big wedding next year in July 2015 when we can afford it. After some feedback from some friends, we were unpleasantly surprised by a friend saying whats the point on the big wedding? For us, we want to share a big day with everyone but we were limited on time to arrange such a festivity so soon.

My question is this; For those of you having a small ceremony now, and a big wedding later, did you announce it to the world you were married already prior to the big wedding? or anything such as changing your last name on social media, emails etc?

[darin&josh 18]

Hello everyone!

This will be an odd question. My lovely fiance and I are getting married by his father who is a minister, on September 7th 2014.

We're having a small ceremony with just immediate family. I'll be changing my last name to his last name straight away

We're having a big wedding next year in July 2015 when we can afford it. After some feedback from some friends, we were unpleasantly surprised by a friend saying whats the point on the big wedding? For us, we want to share a big day with everyone but we were limited on time to arrange such a festivity so soon.

My question is this; For those of you having a small ceremony now, and a big wedding later, did you announce it to the world you were married already prior to the big wedding? or anything such as changing your last name on social media, emails etc?

For the 'big' wedding, were you planning on redoing the ceremony and reception, or just the reception?

We had a ceremony with a judge and only Josh's parents and younger brother (and his wife and two kids) in attendance. We are having our reception in August, and the invitations were worded to let people know that it would just be the reception and that the ceremony had already taken place. We then plan to have a second party (aka reception) next year back home in Australia.

[Kiwinyc 62]

I got married in Vegas (I am a Kiwi even though my country shows UK, we did it through London as thats where I was living) and i changed my name when I submitted my AOS application.

You only need a marriage certificate as proof of name change, it doesn't matter what State issues it. In Vegas of course they have an office that issues marriage licenses 24/7 and we had a small wedding with just us and our kids at the Bellagio Hotel last Nov and then a big party to celebrate in NYC at my husbands parents home last month.

[sweetswinks 400]

For the 'big' wedding, were you planning on redoing the ceremony and reception, or just the reception?

We had a ceremony with a judge and only Josh's parents and younger brother (and his wife and two kids) in attendance. We are having our reception in August, and the invitations were worded to let people know that it would just be the reception and that the ceremony had already taken place. We then plan to have a second party (aka reception) next year back home in Australia.

Just saw your reply! Yes we are re-doing the ceremony due to all of both our families being unable to attend in September this year, my mum is sick and I want her to see me get married. I know that might seem strange to do the whole thing again but we really want a big wedding to share with our loved ones.

[LionessDeon 2,060]

Our plans really depend on the time of year his visa is issued and the weather. My sister is licensed to marry people (she also married my brother and sister in law) so she will do our ceremony...just don't know where yet. If it's warm it will be outdoors. Either way it will be something simple but definitely meaningful!

[darin&josh 18]

Just saw your reply! Yes we are re-doing the ceremony due to all of both our families being unable to attend in September this year, my mum is sick and I want her to see me get married. I know that might seem strange to do the whole thing again but we really want a big wedding to share with our loved ones.

I don't think it is strange at all to 're-do' the ceremony, especially since your mother is not well and you would like to be able to share that occasion with her. In fact, I think a lot of couples with a partner arriving on a K-1 would do something similar by having a legal marriage first to satisfy the visa requirements and holding a more formal ceremony and reception at a later date.

[VicAus 7]

im havign a small vegas wedding in 2 weeks and next year a giant one where all my best friends and parents from australia will (hopefully) be coming over

its a bit cheaper reception wise to have it in the USA as well. Personally I wish i could have the bigger wedding in Australia since we are having the first initial one in the USA but alas its a bigger deal for his family and extended family to attend and have a reception so hence next yr after it can be planned properly we will do a church and reception in his hometown.

Im trying to keep this inital vegas wedding as low key. for SSN and AOS and EAD reasons i will be changing my surname now, but for all other intensive purposes i will still want to be refered to by my maiden name and live in a bubble of "im still engaged - not married" until the big deal next yr.

Ofcourse my friends. his friends will understand that its beyond our control havign to get married within 90 days but that doesnt mean u dont get to have a wedding because of it whether its this yr or next yr!!!

Hello everyone!

This will be an odd question. My lovely fiance and I are getting married by his father who is a minister, on September 7th 2014.
We're having a small ceremony with just immediate family. I'll be changing my last name to his last name straight away
We're having a big wedding next year in July 2015 when we can afford it. After some feedback from some friends, we were unpleasantly surprised by a friend saying whats the point on the big wedding? For us, we want to share a big day with everyone but we were limited on time to arrange such a festivity so soon.

My question is this; For those of you having a small ceremony now, and a big wedding later, did you announce it to the world you were married already prior to the big wedding? or anything such as changing your last name on social media, emails etc?