What are your wedding plans/timelines?

[Novembro 1,763]

We decided to get married after our failed k-1 attempt. I had gone to visit him in England after 9 months of being apart and he came back to America with me for my friend's wedding and to visit. I was staying with said friend at the time (having just moved to MN with only the things I could fit in my car), so we found the closest place with the earliest judge and booked him.

That day, we dressed up a bit and were super early to the courthouse so we went to the nearest bar and had a few drinks. I remember TH saying that this was "his last drink as a single man", and things just felt right. We went back, met the judge, and went into the empty courtroom. The judge couldn't say Ali's name right to save his life, but we exchanged short vows and rings and it was one and done.

I do remember one of the random witnesses (we couldn't find anyone to come with us because I knew literally two people in the state and they were both working) being very judgmental about the relationship. It was amusing trying to restrain my sarcasm while explaining what we had been through up until now...and what we were about to face.

Later on, we met up with my friends and smashed a ton of drinks. It was fun. I submitted our I-130 and we were on our second journey.

We had always originally planned to have our wedding in April of that year, and we kept to that, even though we were already married. His friends and family came over and we had a lovely ceremony in Gettysburg, PA complete with fisting jokes in speeches, keg stands, and bars after the fact.

Wouldn't change it for the world, but it's always funny to see how these things work out. They never work out as you plan them.

[ChicagoSarah 127]

We did the normal wedding 3 weeks after POE. It was a smaller wedding (40 people) since it was a second wedding, but his family didn't get to see him marry the first time anyway. We waited for his family to book tickets until we had an interview set and were comfortable our date would be feasible. We got married in the fall whichever was off-peak, so I made sure the room at the hotel could have the date changed if needed. Same with our reception which we held at an Irish Pub (the official pub of Chelsea of course). I made sure that was flexible, too. I didn't sign or commit to any dates until the interview. It all worked out as hoped, and we ended up with about a 50/50 split on Brits and Americans!