Married in the states first...

we're getting legally married in VA next week and then leave for our symbolic ceremony in Mexico the week after (holy crap!)

 

we are NOT exchanging rings at our legal ceremony because FI wants the first time we put our rings on each other fingers to be when we're with all our family and friends...

You don't have to change your name right away if you don't want to, you can wait until after the DW

Hello there everyone...I just had a question regarding all this legal stuff. I'm having a catholic symbolic wedding in Mexico. For those of you that are already married, did you bring your legal papers there. Also do you sign anything with the priest after the ceremony?

I'm brand new to the planning and am wondering what the benefits are of legally getting married at home before the wedding in Mexico. I'm thinking that the overall planning is easier if you do it that way. Is that correct?

Thanks Courtney! Good to know.

Hey guys random question: Is it possible at all to have a religious ceremony on the beach, even if its not legal? If that was possible, I would just sign the papers here first.

We are trying to decide when to get married too. Our wedding (non-legal) in Mexico is April but we were thinking of getting married at the courthouse here March 17th, exactly 6 years from the day we met. But then we have to decide which anniversary to celebrate. I was under the impression we had to do it here first, but after reading some of the posts it sounds like that's not the case. We're still deciding!

I will probably get married before my DW because we are having a big AHR 2 weeks after our DW and I know I won't have time to get married at the courthouse in that 2 week span.

I was adament about having my anniversary date the same day as our wedding date so my FI and I secretly got married last June 20th. So now when we have our ceremony in Mexico it will be our actual wedding however I keep teasing my FI saying it's our 1yr anniversary wedding.

Now my only issue is, I've kept my maiden name b/c I don't want anyone to know we secretly got married and I plan on changing it after our Mexico ceremony. However, my passport expires April and my wedding is June. Do I want to change my name when I renew my passport so I don't have to go through the hassle later or do I wait. Also If I change it before the wedding will the resort not consider our ceremony "our wedding" so we don't get any perks?

Neen- we just did that! We got legally married on Christmas Eve in Fairfax, VA and then went to a cute Italian restaurant afterward to have a bottle of champagne and some lunch! It was perfect and although we have a month before we leave for Mexico, we consider Mexico to be the "wedding' and won't put on our wedding bands until Cancun. Hooray! Congrats and have a great wedding..it's soo soon and it will be amazing!