Getting "married" before DW?

We got married in Vegas and live in Oregon. I can't imagine many states have laws preventing couples from getting married in other states. Many people live in different states and return to get married in their "hometown" state.

Ooooh Rachel, that is a GREAT idea to go to Vegas and get "officially" married! Did you just do that as a weekend trip?

Well, we did it! We got legally married yesterday. After we did, FI (now technically DH), said that we probably should have just planned on doing that anyway before Jamaica. Now I can get him on my insurance and can start making things "official" right after we return from SGOR!

Kinda. We went for 4 days- we go to Vegas A LOT! DH loves it.

Anyways, we hired a cabbie to take us through a drive thru chapel. He then signed our wedding license as a witness. It was hilarious. We didn't want it to take away from our "real" wedding ceremony so we just had fun with it.

That is awesome! did you go thru McDonalds or something afterwards?! hee hee hee, that is a super good idea! (might have to tell my FI about it and "steal" that one!)

Legally I'm already married. Like most of the girls here, I feel safe knowing its legal in the US. Do not change your name on your passport. Your passport needs to be the same name as your ticket. My husband and I got married in the courthouse. Now we do not have to pay for the legal services in Jamaica and we do not need to wait for a marriage license...so we saved a little $$$ and time. We already have our marriage certificate. Our witnesses were my cousin and my good friend (who is not going to the DW). We didn't invite our parents or anyone not going to the DW so they feel they are celebrating our special day in Jamaica. Our family and friends know we are legally married but since they were not there to witness it, they are treating our DW as our official wedding and are really excited.

Rachel, that's fantastic! We are moving x-country the week before our wedding, from NYC to CA, just the other day I thought tha -- rather than dealing with getting married before we leave New York, and rather than having to determine the CA legalities in the two days before we leave for Mexico -- we should go through Las Vegas and do it there. The boy thinks I'm crazy, but he loves the idea.

Amanda: congrats!

Rachel, I love that idea! Our courthouse wedding will be in front of his brother and sister in law because their daughters want to be there and wont be at the DW. I am like you, I dont want it meaningful because I want my DW to be my real wedding!

Our wedding day was not minimized with the knowledge that we were already married. We still were both VERY nervous. It was funny because I kept thinking to myself- why the nerves? You're already married silly. That didn't help.

 

I totally recommend the drive thru chapels. It was so fun. I wish we had gone to mcdonalds afterwards. Would have been perfect because we were slightly drunk too. Could have been 4th meal!

I'm happy to see that so many other "brides" did a civil ceremony at home before the DW. I've been thinking about it but wasn't sure how it would work. I originally wanted to get married on the date that we met but it's the day before Easter in 2010 and Jamaica basically closes down on Good Friday, Easter Sunday and Easter Monday. It is also the 3rd busiest time to visit Jamaica. So we were going to wait until after the 15th since rates drop almost 30%. Maybe we could work it out getting married here first. What about getting married here 1 year early...Is that too far in advance. I just don't know what to do? Sorry for the rambling!! Any suggestions? I know this is corny but I want our wedding date to signify something in our relationship...We met on 4/3, first date 4/14, moved in 2/14 etc. Should I just pick a date to pick a date??