Legal Ceremony Before or After?

[faithers81]

Hi girls! I am getting married at the Iberostar Del Mar in November. We are just having a blessing ceremony. I am trying to figure out if we should do the legal ceremony before or after Mexico. I kind of want to do after so that the first time we are saying our vows to each other is in Mexico. Any thoughts/advise?

[maymeliabride]

Don't know if you are planning on changing your name or not, but we decided to do it after to avoid any issues with getting a new passport inbetween the legal ceremony and the wedding. That was the practical reason, the other reason was that it took something away from the wedding with our friends and family, if we had been married before we even got to the resort.

[KatyKo]

Not sure if you have to do it before, but we are. Our ceremony in the DR is considered a "vow renewal" so we are having our legal ceremony before. So when we go to the DR and have the symbolic ceremony, our marriage will be legal and blessed.

 

We are not making a big deal about the legal ceremony at home, other than inviting our grandparents to watch since they can't make it to the DW. There are vows that have to be said at the legal ceremony, but you can have your own special vows that you say at the DW if that would make it more special to you.

 

Good luck!

[tylersgirl]

We are getting married before...I didn't even think of what to do about my passport. I am not legally changing my name until we get back.

[faithers81]

I am going to legally change my name when we get back. I guess I should contact the WC and see if it even matters. If it doesn't, we will do it after. It is a good idea to invite family members who cannot make it to the DW. Thanks!

[kiki317]

We're doing the legal cermony before we go. I will do all the name change stuff once we get back (i have enough to worry about planning a destination wedding!)

[leogurl]

I plan to do a legal ceremony before we go, and as others have said, worry about the name change things after returning. I don't think doing the legal ceremony before or after is really a big deal though. I think just doing whatever makes you feel good, you should do. Afterall, a piece of paper isn't what makes it special, it's whatever ceremony or symbolism you feel fits that makes the real difference.

[sandinmytoes]

Does anyone know if you can do a vow renewal if your not already legally married ? I wonder if these very religous countries allow that?

[Erika J]

We were originally going to do it before we left and fly to chicago so my grandparents could attend since they are too fragile to make it to Mex, but then my mom( who has been a PITA the entire time) wants to have a AHR for her friends only back in Chicago, so we decieded to make only one trip and do it after.

[Jen_S]

We are doing ours before but I am not changing my name until we return. We not treating our legal ceremony as anything special we are going to say the basic vows they provided us and have written our own vows for Mexico. Our town told us even if we did a legal ceremony in Mexico they would require us to do a legal ceremony here I have no idea why.