Wedding?

[NYGirl 0]

Hello all,

I see that many of you already know the date of your wedding. How are you prepared for it so soon? it takes a long time to find a hall, dress and taking care of all the other preparations. Do you guys really make the wedding happen in 3 months?

I thought that once my fiance comes to US then within 3 months we can to to the city hall and get the legal marriage papers but then in few months plan the wedding. I would like him to participate with me in preparation for OUR wedding. Please tell me how do you set your date not knowing when exactly your fiance will be here, how are you risking setting up the date and etc and then if god forbid something goes wrong with the papers or the interview and etc.

thanks

sorry, just curious

hope didn't offend anyone

[fozzie 41]

My wife and I tentatively planned for a mid september wedding and had to put it back until october. We didn't confirm dates at the venuee or with the photographer etc until I had my interview date but we didd all thee ground work. We tapped them all up and explained thee situation. Fortunately october isn't a busy wedding month (we still got married outside though - sunny but cold). She did most of the work as i was still in england but i helped out where i could. I found the rabbi (not easy to find aone that will do an interfaith marriage let alone on a saturday) but she di d almost everything else. I was always consulted and frrom that perspective was involved in the process.

Once I had the interview datee we were confident enough to book everything and it was a success. So we started planning in may 2006 (dress was sorted early, rings too) and i knew my interview date by the beginning of september so we still had 6 weeks to confirm everything for the mid october wedding.

It was aa very stressful time. Maybe getting a legal marriage when you are both here and then having a wedding later will give you the time to plan your dream wedding. No matter what you decide, planning a wedding is stressful even if you have 18 months to plan it.

[Allie&Leo 0]

I didn't set a date or book anything until visa was in hand. We are eloping to Keys with my mom and sister. Resort took care of putting everything together. I just made a phone call and everything done. Because last minute we had to do a midweek wedding but it didn't matter to us. We might have a party later on in the summer to invite family and friends to.

I have not picked out dress or rings yet. Will be looking this weekend.

After stress of getting fiance visa = last thing I wanted was stress planning a wedding in such a short time so it worked for us to have a destination wedding.

Sunset Beach wedding.

Good luck with your planning!

[Chris-n-Veronica 0]

My wife and I tentatively planned for a mid september wedding and had to put it back until october. We didn't confirm dates at the venuee or with the photographer etc until I had my interview date but we didd all thee ground work. We tapped them all up and explained thee situation. Fortunately october isn't a busy wedding month (we still got married outside though - sunny but cold). She did most of the work as i was still in england but i helped out where i could. I found the rabbi (not easy to find aone that will do an interfaith marriage let alone on a saturday) but she di d almost everything else. I was always consulted and frrom that perspective was involved in the process.

Once I had the interview datee we were confident enough to book everything and it was a success. So we started planning in may 2006 (dress was sorted early, rings too) and i knew my interview date by the beginning of september so we still had 6 weeks to confirm everything for the mid october wedding.

It was aa very stressful time. Maybe getting a legal marriage when you are both here and then having a wedding later will give you the time to plan your dream wedding. No matter what you decide, planning a wedding is stressful even if you have 18 months to plan it.

After Offically Setting the Date... I can see money as a major problem as I'm the only one working..and I might have to get a short time loan from my sister just to get Veronica here...as the Consulate trip is going to cost a whole lot more then I planned... So I see us getting married soon after her arrival to meet the 90 days requirements(probably at the court house)..but remember it takes time for your mail to get to the Immigration..So you need to marry 60-75 days and give yourself 15-30 days to get everything mailed...So anyway I see a court house wedding...and then the Offical Reception later..maybe in April or May.. And then we can Redo our Vows..or just say some words to each other...

Yea...things change as reality sets in .. but the main thing is your with your love...Your married..and your future couldn't look happier..

[sereia 0]

i really wish i had the guts to set a date, plan a location, photographer, etc.. because i really don't like the idea of doing a court house wedding first, then another later....but i know my luck and we'll get 20 RFE's or a denial so i really don't want to plan anything until after he arrives, we've had time together, and have our civil marriage. then plan the big ceremony/reception for at least 6 months after that. (thats how long i imagine my wedding will take to plan but the wedding planner will have more to say about that)

[CanuckmeetsYank 0]

As soon as I got my packet 3 we decided on a date. But like the previous posters, we sort of laid the ground work before hand. My fiance found a place to have the wedding; and then basically told them our situation. Then as soon as I got the approval we booked it, found and officiant. Mind you the wedding we are having is very small..about 20-30 people who can make the trip since we didn't have a whole lot of notice. Most people do the courthouse then plan bigger shindiggs later on.

[NYGirl 0]

i really wish i had the guts to set a date, plan a location, photographer, etc.. because i really don't like the idea of doing a court house wedding first, then another later....but i know my luck and we'll get 20 RFE's or a denial so i really don't want to plan anything until after he arrives, we've had time together, and have our civil marriage. then plan the big ceremony/reception for at least 6 months after that. (thats how long i imagine my wedding will take to plan but the wedding planner will have more to say about that)

That's why we plan on doing, to go to court house first and then take our time to plan a real wedding, i am afraid to set a date and etc and then to jinx myself, running ahead of yourself is not a good idea, but i heard that some consulate have asked on the interview " when is the wedding" so that got me curious. Also, i've seen some people's timeline and it's like Jan 1 Interview, April 1 wedding........so i was a bit curious.

[1HappyGuy 45]

It generally is not a good idea to set the date, unless you really have the timelines in order. Remember the K-1 visa is good for six months, so if your fiance is arriving sometime after the likely approval date and issuance of his visa, then you can plan a date. Most don't want to wait that long and get a small simple wedding.

Just make sure the date is within 90 days of his arrival.

Good luck.

[NYGirl 0]

It generally is not a good idea to set the date, unless you really have the timelines in order. Remember the K-1 visa is good for six months, so if your fiance is arriving sometime after the likely approval date and issuance of his visa, then you can plan a date. Most don't want to wait that long and get a small simple wedding.

Just make sure the date is within 90 days of his arrival.

Good luck.

you mean the court house marriage is within the 90 days, right

[ariana623 0]

I'm doing the groundwork now and have bought a dress (I'll need that no matter when the wedding is!) but we are waiting for his interview date to set the date. We are doing it on a weekday, which most people have open AND you get discounts!

[Catica 1]

We tried setting a date many times and realized it was just kinda pointless with not knowing what is going to happen, so we are doing pretty much what you said. We are going to see the magistrate as soon as he gets his visa and gets here and just get married legally the first week hes here. Then we will take the time to plan out our wedding so its the way we want it, not something rushed. We have started to get things ready for our wedding though. I have my dress already, and we have our caterer picked out, music for the receptions, bridemaids dresses, flowers and a few arrangements done already. We also picked out our location but havent put a deposit on it. In some ways this has been a blessing for us too, since we are paying for the wedding ourselves no help from mine or his parents really, and I didnt want to take out a loan to pay for our wedding. So buying stuff in small chunks for the wedding and saving it over time while we wait has made it alot more affordable then forking out 5-10k in just 3 months.

[NYGirl 0]

I'm doing the groundwork now and have bought a dress (I'll need that no matter when the wedding is!) but we are waiting for his interview date to set the date. We are doing it on a weekday, which most people have open AND you get discounts!

I always thought it takes good 6-9 months for your dress to arrive + some alterations and adjustments, so what you are saying better to start looking for that dress no matter what? I am afraid to do that, just in case something will go wrong. I guess i am superstious

[The Molinas 0]

I came to the states on oct. 16th , and we got married on nov. 17th. We only did the courthouse wedding so we can file for my AOS and EAD.

Right now we are preparing a big curch wedding and a reception for about 150 People for August this year.

[fozzie 41]

Our wedding was reallly small. Just immediate family so we did not have to get many people to new york. (9 of us total). Its what we wanted anyway. It was perfect, our families got a chance to get to know each other and we could just enjoy the day, that one moment when you get married. Later on we had aa party with my wifes extended family and friends and while nice to see everyone we were glad that we didn't have to do all that on the actual wedding day.

It was a small wedding but everything was proper. A beautiful venue (barbetta restaurant, NY), great food, fantastic photographer (check out http://www.barnabydraperweddings.com/photo/ryan and look for lauren and David. We made it onto their website) The cake was fantastic too (again we made it onto the designers website http://www.elizabethhodes.com/ its the one with the phone booths on top), the rings were beautiful andd the dress.....well, see for yourselves.

We didn't want to have a courthouse wedding and the real thing later and we wanted to get married outside so we had to gamble and set the date for mid octoberr. Any later and we would have hyperthermia! Also we knew that time was of the essence when it came to filing for AOS and EAD as I need to be working as soon as possible.

Edited January 23, 2007 by Lauren and Dave