Wedding Planning - 90 days isn't long!

[Miki28 91]

Thank you for sharing your experiences! It's reassuring knowing that some you got a decent wedding, in a short time, and for a small budget. Being a girl, I have thought about my wedding day for the last 15 years! And I really want it to be perfect and special, non-stressful, and not rushed. I suppose ideally, it would be more "realistic" (but not as romantic) to have a courthouse, then plan the rest later when we have money and time.

To the guys that did court house - did it make your proper ceremony any less special knowing that you were already legally married?!

I am really freaking out about it!! I just want it to be perfect. The visa is stressful enough!

I asked this recently my friend. Some of my friends (army wives) got married the same way like I did with having a wedding later. It is difficult with the army plan the wedding or it is more challenging so I know quite a few people who did court and then wedding like a proper one. One of them told me not to worry that it does not take any from the big wedding ceremony.

[Eastroc 13]

We just invited a few of USC family, a few close friends, and a few members of the church we been attending. K1s family couldnt be there so they watched live via video chat. Venue at the church for both ceremony and food. Cake ordered from local baker that specializes in wedding cakes. Food was done potluck style so everyone can participate. Decorations done by the church members, supplies bought by us. We told them everything we wanted to do in the wedding, set our budget, and the members did most of the legwork from there.

I have to say we were very fortunate that we had such reliable help which made our stress next to nothing. Getting a dress bought and fitted was cutting it a bit close, but not too much cause for concern. The only thing was that we did almost forget about the wedding cake and barely placed an order for it about 4 days prior to the wedding (Lol)...I am just thankful we had asuch a great support system, i hope everyone can enjoy their first 90 days with their fiance instead of stressing too much about things, good luck to everyone.

[Lowlie 191]

My husband and I just went down to our local courthouse and got married with no frills at all. Within that 90 days, the main thing was just to get that marriage certificate.

Later we had a wedding in Istanbul, in the Blue Mosque (Sultan Ahmet Camii). Weddings inside the mosque are rare, as it's not at all easy to get permission for that, but somehow my husband was able to get the permission, and the ceremony was on a huge balcony above the main hall where tourists are never permitted to go. It was so amazing, I felt like it was just a dream. It was a full year from the time we did the court house "get 'er done" wedding and the "real" wedding, but it was worth the wait.

I have a couple other friends whose fiancé's came to the USA on a K1 and they did the same thing....just something practical, followed by the wedding they really wanted later on.

[Mike-eeh and Odie 193]

We got married in a court house a few weeks after she arrived, Feb 14th to be precise as we wanted our wedding anniversary to be on Valentines day. We did however also plan a religious wedding/party a few months later.

[Vicky&Fritz 33]

When he had the Visa, and we knew when he was coming, I reserved an indoor pavilion at a local botanical gardens. My sister had actually gotten herself ordained on the internet, so she could perform our ceremony. I purchased a cocktail dress on eBay a couple months before, and employed my friends around town who do hair, cakes, and flowers. My sisters and other friends were more than happy to help me day of with set up and picking up flowers and such.

He arrived on Friday, and the week before we bought him a suit (without the jacket) off the rack at a department store, and purchased the products we needed, like plates and such, and we picked up our license. One of my sisters works at Olive Garden and was able to get us a discount on food, so we had some light snacks. Ceremony went down in a shady spot in the park, everyone had fun!
Was simple, wonderful, and went down two weeks after he arrived.

Best wishes to you guys!

[Unidentified 2,930]

A friend of us married us in a park by a lake. It was just her, my fiance and his best friend (he was the photographer). We were supposed to have a ceremony for our family but it got cancelled so we'll try to have it next summer.

[KayDeeCee 4,893]

You can start making tentative plans before you arrive. Also, you usually have 6 months before the K-1 visa expires to enter the US. If you are in need of more time, then you can use that time to plan things out before moving. Many people have an easier time planning a smaller wedding or getting married at the courthouse, and then may have a larger ceremony later.

We chose a tentative date far enough out that we thought could work, but if not, we would push it back. We researched venues, photographers, officiants, invitations, etc. together via the internet, phone and webcam. I went out and looked at the venue that interested us most to get a feeling for the place and meet the people to see if they could work with us. As soon as we knew for sure our date would work, then we ordered the invitations we had already chosen together, the flowers, secured an officiant and photographer and placed a deposit on the venue. Once he arrived in the US, I took him to see the venue in person, we bought our wedding attire, ordered the food, worked with the officiant on the ceremony, and tied up all the loose ends. Buying the decorations and setting things up ourselves worked out for us, and we were able to have the small intimate wedding ceremony we wanted in less than 2 months after he entered the US with his K-1.

[Limey 551]

We'd gone to visit our desired venue and talked to other suppliers and the officiant prior to confirming dates. We'd discussed having wedding on a Sunday as it was June and our suppliers and venue more likely to be booked on a Saturday.

Once my interview was scheduled we took a leap of faith (wasn't expecting any issues) and booked the venue and other suppliers and paid deposits, and relatives began to book flights, book hotel rooms, etc. Fortunately interview was fine and visa followed a few days later, and I still had a couple of weeks in the UK before flying out a couple of weeks before the wedding (we needed to get marriage license etc in advance, but it was very simple!).

We had around 40 guests mainly from the UK, Portugal and New York (we are in North Carolina).

All the legal stuff got sorted, in around 60 days I had the temporary "advanced parole" travel doc and work visa, and the green card followed a couple of months after.

I'd never advise someone do this, as its a risk, but it all worked out fine.

[Meant2B 8]

Just do something small and simple (justice of peace) then plan the big day (all brides deserve) later when you can plan and give guests enough notice to plan and attend. My husband and I married abroad with his family in attendance and are planning my big day for my family and others around our first anniversary (if he's finally have him here). My big thing was it wasn't exactly how I wanted it, but it was WHO I wanted so that made it special. We were fortunate that we were able to marry in a church with a minister and family though and I'm envied since I got married in Jamaica lol. Just breath and take your time. Congrats!

Edited December 10, 2015 by Meant2B

[NikLR 13,227]

Even though I'm not K1 I did plan our wedding in about 2.5 months. I loved it. It was outside by a wishing well in a park where i grew up.

[oncefuturealien 45]

We got married 6+ years ago, but we planned it in 3 days...all of our family are more or less distant, so we got married in the living room with an officiant, our pets, and two friends for witnesses, went for a lovely dinner, then had a small drinks party with local friends.

I ordered clothes online, we got rings, he bought a new shirt to wear with his suit, and I bought Champagne and some flowers the day of. We "announced" on facebook and twitter, and mailed out announcements once I had them printed up.

We went on our honeymoon 3 months later, and then we did a trip to New Orleans and Michigan to meet for celebrations with friends and family a few months after that.

Our families couldn't afford to travel, so it made more sense for us to go see them, and then we chose New Orleans as a fun place for friends to meet us to celebrate.

A wedding doesn't have to be a big deal to be a special day, and you can take as much or as little time as is convenient to make it happen Also if you'll be 30 people, see about booking a restaurant rather than a more traditional wedding venue, if you don't have a suitable space available at someone's home. Give you even less to worry about!

Good luck

[Izor 79]

We are doing a small intimate ceremony on a beach in Lake Tahoe, 15 guests, private small reception after

We are not planning a bigger ceremony beacuse we arent extravagant like that. A small ceremony is enough!

could never imagine planning a big ceremony, cred to you guys that have the patience

[SunflowerSweet 1,321]

Well, you can start planning the wedding before your fiance arrives in the country. You can do a lot of planning without putting any money down, which is what we have been doing. Our wedding is scheduled for the 29th of July. It helps that he isn't flying here immediately after his K-1 is approved, so that gives us more time.

For the hall we booked (it's a pretty large, fancy place) generally they want you to put money down super early to save your date. But as it turns out, the owner has a brother who is going through the K-1 process with his fiance. He was super understanding and let us save a date without the usually $1000 deposit.

For the officiator, we wanted to make sure it was 100% legit so we are having a registered justice of the peace that was listed on the county website officiate the ceremony.

I wasn't planning on having a big wedding right away due to financial and time restraints, but my mother was having no part of that. She has been a huge help for the wedding. We have about 200 people on the invite list right now.

Edited December 10, 2015 by MorganandMichael

[KimberlyAhmed 28]

We had a small wedding in my church. Caterer was a family friend, photographer, musician and the church were made aware that we would not know the actual date until after my fiance picked up his visa. Flowers, decorations were all made by myself. My dress, maid of honor and bridesmaids dresses were ordered about 4 months after we started the process so we would have these on hand. Invites went out as soon as he picked up his visa with RSVP due the next week (family and friends knew this in advance). We got married a week after my fiance moved here and the only thing we needed to do that week was get our license, meet with my pastor and decorate the hall.

You can always like people had stated was to go to the courthouse for the legal part and have a reception/party.

[laurak29 19]

I arrived in the states on May 12th...married my usc hubby on July 1st where his parents, aunt and cousin attended in our local city hall. My mother was also able to be there. Then on September 12th we had a big celebration where more of my family could attend, along with my husbands friends and family. 70 people altogether and I'm so glad we did it that way!

Edited December 11, 2015 by laurak29