Poll~ Legal vs. symbolic ceremony?

I was just curious what everyone chose to do and why.

I chose a symbolic ceremony for the following reasons:

1. steve doesn't do needles...he will literally pass out.

2. i can get my blood taken without passing out BUT because my veins are so small i bruise really badly.

3. steve has really great health insurance w/dental as well and he really wanted me on his plan so i didn't have to pay anymore out of pocket so we actually did the legal stuff 2 months before the real wedding...but we didnt feel married at that time.

I'm really not sure why, it just seems easier to get the legal aspect done here in the States.

There isn't a both option. We did our own ceremony, with a friend playing the minister's role and then afterwards stepped to the side to sign the paperwork. The judge didn't say anything to us, but sign here and put your thumb print here. Best of both worlds! And the needle wasn't so bad. The guy came to the Baja weddings office and it was over in 5 minutes.

To us, the thing that matters most is what is in your hearts and in your intentions. Standing up in front of family and friends and saying our vows is when we will "become married" no matter when we sign the papers.

Not to get too political on this board, but if we only cared about couples who could legally marry in this country, we would be leaving out a lot of loving, committed couples who, because they are gay, are not allowed to get married under the law.

And that is the end of my political talk. Just having one of those days, I guess

Were having a legal wedding in Cabo, since our wedding is so small we wanted it to be the actual thing.

We are undecided at this point. We really wanted to have the Cabo ceremony be the "real" thing, but like Tammy, I have really good insurance and Jeff is going to be having surgery early next year and we've thought about making it legal earlier so he can be on mine. Not sure yet, like Janet said, it's what's in our hearts that really counts to us- we already feel "married" and committed to eachother.

We did the U.S. marriage in the courthouse last week, and I'll be honest with you, BEFORE we did that, I was a bit bummed. I wanted Cabo to be the "real thing" and I thought it would take away from my Cabo experience. I was worried for nothing!! Once in a while, Tim and I will look at each other and go... wow, legally we're married! BUT... we know that until we are up infront of our family and close friends and say the vows to each other, it won't be a done deal in our minds. I can't stress enough how much the symbolism of saying those vows infront of the people you love carry SO MUCH MORE weight than signing papers. I don't know why I was bummed or worried... it is so clear now!