Symbolic wedding

We are planning to be married before we travel also. I was told that the ceremony will be exactly the same, only without the paper work! I am nervous though! Being married before won't change anything about our travel arrangements, right? It's a fun little secret!

Nobody has to know if you get married before you go, it can be you guys little secret. Nobody will probably even ask so I wouldn't tell!

This has actually been the hot topic for me and my FI. It has lead to several heated discussions, but in the end all we want is simplicity. He is all for doing the "legal" part here in the States. Obviously this would mean we wouldn't say a word to anyone attending.

My heart drops knowing that we are beginning our marriage with a big secret to both of our families. However reading a previous post, it still the spiritual and vow commital that you still get to do.

I guess I would be EXTREMELY nervous of someone finding out while they were down there. But if the resort can pull it off and make it look real then, I guess I'll consider it :|

This is more difficult then picking a resort....

I wouldn't worry about anyone finding out, but I wouldn't announce it either. I mean it is a huge hassel getting stuff translated and for insurance reasons you probably want to be recognized as being legally married. If people do find out I would just explain this to them. Also I am having my TA find out if we have to be married before we go or if we can marry once we return from our wedding in the DR so our 1st time we say our vows will be at our wedding in the DR. That is also an option if the WC at the resort bend and dont require a copy of your marriage license for the symbolic ceremony.

what papers do they need to do a non-legal ceremony

We just decided to skip the civil ceremony in DR last week. We are eloping and never intended to have guests, but since we're doing the legal marriage here now we're still keeping it quiet so no one feels like we excluded them from something. The symbolic ceremony in DR will be our wedding - the legal part beforehand will just be cheaper/easier paperwork as far as we're concerned.

i think it probably varies from resort to resort, you would have to check with your WC... some may ask you to bring a copy of your marriage license (also for honeymoon sutie) and some may require nothing at all. either way it is SO much easier than doing the full civil ceremony down there. definitely a personal preference though! i admire the women who have been able to coordinate all of that!

Thanks for all of the information. I think I am going to go this route as well.

The way I see it, more couples are opting to sign the papers in their country and do a wedding somewhere else. Sometimes the documents and translation is just too much hassle and unnecessary costs.