Wedding!

[Tunaa 0]

I am very close to (hopefully) obtaining my fiance visa, so I can travel to the states, and marry my fiance.

Moving, settling and marrying withint NINTY DAYS!

So needless to say I am pretty stressed about it all. There is so much to plan, along with the fact that I'm still trying to get my family to get used to the idea of me both moving and marrying a man I met online a few years ago (they have met him several times, but still think its too soon etc).

Anyways, here's our plan so far:

I am pretty sure I will have my visa by August. I plan on moving in August, from Oslo in Norway to Dallas in Texas, then we are staying with his family for a very short while, until we find an appartment to share.

The wedding has to happen within 90 days, and we are streching that limit as long as possible. We will try to get it as close to 3 months as we can, so we can plan as much as possible.

My guest list from family and friends from Norway and Sweden is about 50 people. I doubt that even half will be able to make it however.

Most of my fiance's family are from Chicago and Mexico, so at this point we are not sure how many of them will make it either.

I am thinking maybe around 50 guests total, but that's a wild guess.

Anyways, planning a wedding in a country I'm not currently in, is hard. And my fiance wants me to help and decide as much as possible. Since he is at work when I get home from work, we don't get time to plan much during weekdays.

So I am turning to these forums for help!

Anyone got any advice? Stories?

We want to try to keet it cheap. I am making my own dress together with my grandmother.

Food I would prefer a buffet, and we will make most of the food ourselves, together with family members who can help. But if we can get caterers who are not too expensive, we might do that.

I would love some advice on locations, churches / people who can marry us within 90 days, tips, stories etc. Anything that could help.

(I hope this is not the wrong section, I was not sure where to put this).

[NigeriaorBust 4,087]

Las Vegas is the home of the wedding to go. You can get any type of wedding you want from traditional to elvis to starwars. Also many of the places are set up to broadcast/save the wedding to the internet ( great for foreign families ) The also usually have an in house photographer.

If you want to go more local check parks and golf clubs. You can usually google wedding locations "cityname" and get a lot of ideas. Have your hubby to be look at were people are having their weddings. A lot of cities rent banquet halls , although some will not allow drinking. If you want to arrive in style google carriage rides. There are several near me that have special wedding carriages.

[Vivi6 12]

Try this link:

The Knot

I found some useful ideas and tips (I was TOTALLY clueless and I had to do it without any of my family's help...long story...). If you habe the dress, that's a big plus! The website has names of vendors in every state, so you can look at florists, caterers, etc. Pick a flower combination (they have TONS of beautiful pictures on the website) and have your fiance call a local florist to see if they have availability for what you pick. I married in March so the choice was pretty limited .

As far as location, that website can help too. Otherwise google it and see what's available in that area. Maybe a hotel or something like that? Usually they have a person in charge of weddings that can give you a quote via email depending on the number of guests you have. So I think you can do that from Norway! Then your fiance can check it put and secure the location.

Start thinking in advance about the wedding bands: they might need to be resized, so at least think about the kind you and your fiancee would want. Turns out Matt and I had COMPLETELY different ideas on what we wanted, he actually wanted a tungsten band, it's a metal that doesn't scratch- only problem is it can't be resized so we went crazy looking for one that would fit (and I almost hated him for that...wedding bands in Italy are just simple, yellow gold bands but no...he likes to be special ). I got a palladium band, very simple. We spent 700 dollars for both of them.

Another thing to check: the marriage license. Here in San Diego they only give you one by appointment, so I had Matt call and schedule an appointment for the day after my POE (we got married within 3 days of my arrival but we only had 12 guests and a super simple beach wedding!). It was $50 dollars for us, and it's valid 90 days. Check the validity in your state, you might be able to get it as soon as you arrive and use it when the wedding is ready! Just show your passport and fill out a form.

What else...if you have the reception at a family's house, looks like you are pretty much set. I would check places that cater just because the days before the wedding are usually very hectic so having to worry about cooking mught not be the best idea!

Oh, and if you need a hair appointment or want a mani+pedi, I would schedule that as well as soon as you have some dates available. In the meantime, see what's in your fiance's area and ask your in laws maybe. My mom in law was a great resource!

Good luck and congrats! What stage of the K1 are you at right now?

Edit: depending on the location you choose, they might offer an officiant too. I found my by googling "beach wedding, san diego, officiant". The officiant's fee was $350. She also got us a photographer for $300/hour (!!!!!) who took pictures during and after the ceremony but not at the reception:)

Edited July 2, 2010 by Vivi6

[Saddle Bronc 124]

I am very close to (hopefully) obtaining my fiance visa, so I can travel to the states, and marry my fiance.

Moving, settling and marrying withint NINTY DAYS!

So needless to say I am pretty stressed about it all. There is so much to plan, along with the fact that I'm still trying to get my family to get used to the idea of me both moving and marrying a man I met online a few years ago (they have met him several times, but still think its too soon etc).

Anyways, here's our plan so far:

I am pretty sure I will have my visa by August. I plan on moving in August, from Oslo in Norway to Dallas in Texas, then we are staying with his family for a very short while, until we find an appartment to share.

The wedding has to happen within 90 days, and we are streching that limit as long as possible. We will try to get it as close to 3 months as we can, so we can plan as much as possible.

My guest list from family and friends from Norway and Sweden is about 50 people. I doubt that even half will be able to make it however.

Most of my fiance's family are from Chicago and Mexico, so at this point we are not sure how many of them will make it either.

I am thinking maybe around 50 guests total, but that's a wild guess.

Anyways, planning a wedding in a country I'm not currently in, is hard. And my fiance wants me to help and decide as much as possible. Since he is at work when I get home from work, we don't get time to plan much during weekdays.

So I am turning to these forums for help!

Anyone got any advice? Stories?

We want to try to keet it cheap. I am making my own dress together with my grandmother.

Food I would prefer a buffet, and we will make most of the food ourselves, together with family members who can help. But if we can get caterers who are not too expensive, we might do that.

I would love some advice on locations, churches / people who can marry us within 90 days, tips, stories etc. Anything that could help.

(I hope this is not the wrong section, I was not sure where to put this).

What, if any, is your religious/spiritual affiliation? (this can potentially help a great deal towards the planning)

[Tunaa 0]

What, if any, is your religious/spiritual affiliation? (this can potentially help a great deal towards the planning)

He is a catholic, I am protestant. But none of us are very religious, so to us it doesn't matter if it's a catholic wedding, or not-religious.

Thanks for the advice so far!

I have looked on The Knot before, and there is so much great info there. Love that site!

We are looking at arranging flowers, food etc. ourselves hopefully, and get some friend's friends or something to help with the food, for pay of course.

Thanks for the advice on reception, I will definitely look into that! There are some nice hotels in the Dallas area, and a very nice park too.

[engineer21 51]

He is a catholic, I am protestant. But none of us are very religious, so to us it doesn't matter if it's a catholic wedding, or not-religious.

Thanks for the advice so far!

I have looked on The Knot before, and there is so much great info there. Love that site!

We are looking at arranging flowers, food etc. ourselves hopefully, and get some friend's friends or something to help with the food, for pay of course.

Thanks for the advice on reception, I will definitely look into that! There are some nice hotels in the Dallas area, and a very nice park too.

Weddingbee.com is great for DIY wedding projects. Lots of tutorials on floral projects, favors, invites, etc!

These came in very handy for me when I was planning our wedding

You can also connect/ask questions with brides from the same area. Love love love that site!

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

Don't forget you have 6 months to use that visa. So if you want more time to plan, don't come immediately after getting the visa. 6 months + 90 days should give you a range of dates to plan a wedding. Wedding venues often book up a year in advance, so start searching.

Here's some info on getting married in Texas. You get the license at the county courthouse or more specifically the county clerk's office. Sometimes the clerk's office could be in an annex or another location so check that out before you go. You can marry anywhere in Texas with that license, but register it back at the same county where you got it. All you need is your passport for photo id. Husband can use his driver's license or a passport. He will need to know his Social Security number, but you don't have to have one as an international person. A license is good for a month after buying it. You have to wait 72 hours after getting the license before the ceremony -or- get a judge to sign a waiver of the waiting period. You can be married by a judge, justice of the peace, pastor, priest, or anybody who has gotten licensed....like over the internet. You can marry in a church, a park, on horseback, or in a hot air balloon and it's legal. The officiant signs the license after the ceremony. Often they will mail it in for you as a courtesy, but you can take it yourselves back to the clerk's office where you bought it and get the marriage registered while you wait. Ask them when you purchase the license if they will do that if you want a certified copy of your marriage certificate asap. They will record the marriage in the county records, then sign and stamp or embosser seal it and the former license is now your marriage certificate. If you want a spare certified copy, ask at the time. They normally do it for an additional fee while you wait. You'll need your marriage certificate for filing Adjustment of Status.

[trillium13 84]

I plan on moving in August, from Oslo in Norway to Dallas in Texas,

Have you spent much time in Texas? You may be in for some culture shock.

[Darnell 8,478]

trillium - hey ! we have all types of culture in Texas - just not in the same place at the same time .. don't scare her, much, ah ?

[trillium13 84]

trillium - hey ! we have all types of culture in Texas - just not in the same place at the same time .. don't scare her, much, ah ?

Nah, that wasn't my intent. Just a comment based on my own experiences.

I didn't know you lived in Texas, Darnell? Did it always say Houston there?

Edited July 3, 2010 by trillium13

[Tunaa 0]

Thanks for the info everyone! I appreciate it so much!

When I get my visa, I will be leaving to move to America pretty quickly, our wait has already been so long (initially he applied to move here, and it's been an ongoing process from that to this for very long). Can barely wait these last weeks.

Thank you SO much for the info on getting a marriage license, that is so detailed and helpful!

As for moving to Texas: I have been there several times. I'm aware its very different, but I've prepared the best I can, and I go there knowing it will be very life changing. But I am excited and happy about moving.

We have found a wedding venue that is very affordable, that we might try to get booked. Only problem is that they don't allow alcohol there. But we have decided that based on the cost of most places, and what we want to spend, that's a compromise we will have to make.

We have been thinking of making it a weekday or a sunday, because that is cheaper in most cases, but are afraid that might make it hard for people to make it.

We are planning a lot this weekend, very happy its a long weekend in the US.

[Vivi6 12]

Only problem is that they don't allow alcohol there.

Here comes the Californian side of me that says...welcome to Texas!!! or better, welcome to America...they have to keep their prude facade at all costs, then they will go get absolutely wasted at home!

Anyways, that might be good-- no drunk people at the wedding making inappropriate comments(I've seen that happening many many times!)

Good luck with the move:)

[arwilson80 0]

All i will say is... Do NOT book anything until you have the visa in your hand. We had almost everything organized for July 24 and everything has had to be postponed due to not getting the visa approval on the day of the interview (mislaid document, and then put in AP).