We too are going to be married at the JP RIGHT before we leave for Mexico. We are going to go with just a few family members to witness and we aren't telling anyone else. We just figured with the extra money it costs, run around, blood tests, and the fact that pretty much the only that will be there that is related to me will be my dad and that isn't for the whole time and if something happened to me, then my husband (legally by the time we are in Cancun) would be able to sign for me on things or make decisions. Then it would be done and when we did the religious ceremony on the beach, we would actually BE married and not have to do it when we came back and we could celebrate as the actual married couple we are at the point. Just for us, it seems like the easiest way to go, but I understand not wanting to do it beforehand too because we had the same exact worries as other people I have read about.