legal wedding in nj

katrina · April 10, 2008

so, fi and i are planning our "paperwork" signing, but we have questions about witnesses and can't find an answer.

so for those married in nj- besides the witness needed for the marriage liscensce, do we need witnesses at the actual legal ceremony?

our parents know we're doing this, but as far as the little ceremony part we want it to be just the two of us. is this doable?

sorry if this doesn't make sense, i'm not all that familiar with this stuff as i haven't been married before hah

1elephant · April 10, 2008

nope, we had to have witnesses. they have to be on the marriage certificate.

we had my parents and sister, his parents, brother and bro's stupid-ass girlfriend. my sis and his bro were witnesses. needs to be someone who has known you for more than 6 months and can't think of a reason that you shouldn't be married.

we did NOT regard it as the real wedding date. we all went for lunch after and that was it. we wore our wedding bands that day and then took them off, and didn't tell too many people (tho now that we're married, it slips out more often).

where do you live? i can be your witness

DanielleNDerek · April 10, 2008

I'm so glad I saw this post. I'm debating on whether I should have a legal here in NJ or in Punta Cana. The witness thing is bugging me, too. I would rather it be just us. But I guess it can't. still undecided!

AmandaR · April 14, 2008

Depending on where in NJ you are you can always do the legal thing in PA - no witnesses required, but there is a 3 day waiting period - includes weekends.

plumsugar · April 14, 2008

My legal ceremony is next week!

You have to have 1 witness present when applying for the marriage license and 2 witnesses present at your legal ceremony in NJ.

To make things simple, we had my mom be the witness at the application signing. She's cool about not being at the civil ceremony because, like us, she doesnt consider it "The Wedding" . She was married in court as well so she knows the drill lol. The white dress and suits are where its at

For the civil ceremony, we will have my brother and FI's sister be our witnesses.