Symbolic/spiritual ceremony question

[amdecker]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NaM Our resort needs our marriage certificate to prove we are actually married. Since we are doing symbloic, they don't want to lose money on blood tests and ministers fee...therefore they need proof of our union. This is why I said it depends on your resort because I'm sure some don't require it at all, ours did.

Humm, interesting. That was not something I even asked the hotel, but I'm pretty sure they don't need anything. At least, they didn't say they needed anything. I am getting married sometime beforehand. (Honestly, I should probably get on that, I haven't really looked into it yet and the wedding is less than a month away). I think we are just going to celebrate our wedding day in Cancun. Mainly because that is where we are exchanging rings and saying vows in front of the fam.

[jrprice24]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nmoreau We are going to do the symbolic ceremony and then get married once we get back. Our resort hasn't asked for any kind of proof or anything on the symbolic marriage. We are actually debating coming back home thru Vegas and having a private just the 2 of us legal ceremony at a chapel there.... just to make the legal part more fun! I was trying to locate a minister down there to make the ceremony more personal and she actually recommend that I don't get legally married in Mexico as she has seen it to be very hard for brides to obtain additional certified copies of their marriage for various reasons. So that is something to think about down the road too.....

We are also getting married at Sandos. I talked with Paola and the resort does not require us to have a certificate for the wedding.

Either way we do it I think the Mexico ceremony will be the one that feels real. I just had such a bad reaction from the people being in the wedding that I don't want want their opinions and thoughts to change about the wedding. Although, we are considering doing it before we go b/c then we can have the '09 tax break

Does anyone know- is there really much of a tax break? We are getting married Jan 7th so we could do either year. Just wondering

[queena427]

Hi Everyone. To follow up, I received this from my TA when asked if I could do the legal ceremony at home after the symbolic ceremony in Mexico:

 

"You would need to get married before you arrive and then do a symbolic ceremony there. They will want a copy of your marriage license for the symbolic ceremony.

 

So you would either need to get married before arrival in Mexico or while you are in Mexico."

[pebbles]

I was thinking of having mine before we go to Mexico too but having it afterwards is sounding even better after reading everyone's comments. I'm going to confirm with my WC vs my TA....

My WC sent me the different types of symbolic ceremonies offered:

- Symbolic wedding ceremony performed by a Christian Minister (spiritual)

- Symbolic wedding ceremony performed be a Justice of the Peace (as a legal one, with out be legal)

- Symbolic wedding ceremony performed by a Shaman (Mayan ceremony)

 

My FI and I haven't decided on which one yet.

 

Happy planning!

Sabrina

[Meyer2010]

Quote:

Originally Posted by pebbles Hey everyone, Does anyone know any info on Symbolic ceremonies in Maya Riviera? I have a few questions and any help would be appreciated. 1) Do you still need blood tests when you get there? 2) Do you still need all your legal papers (i.e certification of birth certificate, etc) 3) Is it like a regular ceremony (i.e exchange of vows) but just not legal? 4) Do you still need to wait the 3 days? I'm asking because my FI and I are having a Catholic wedding back home but we are still having the wedding and reception in the Maya Riviera. Thanks, Sabrina

Hello Sabrina!

We are also having the symbolic ceremony. We were told we don't need any paperwork. Just our passports. We will be getting legally married in our hometown when we arrive back in Michigan. We agreed that we would celebrate our "symbolic" wedding day as our anniversary.

Good Luck and Happy Planning!!

~ Erica

[ktk]

Anyone know about cost of symbolic ceremony? I think I may be "eloping" and getting legally married here beforehand, but would like to have a ceremony for us two on a beach! I'd like to avoid these set $799 or whatever packages that include a multitude of things I don't need!

 

I need an officiant, some photos, a bouquet, and we are happy to eat at 1 of the restaurants at the resort...

[Destination Scout]

Where are you wanting to have your ceremony? I have a great officiant in Tulum for $500. But a package of $799 that includes photos and flowers is a good price, but you may not be happy with the quality of your photos. I'm not sure what you have in mind though.

[amdecker]

Just an FYI...

 

I just got back from our wedding in Cancun (symoblic ceremony) at the Riu Palace Las Americas. It went so well! The officiant was fantastic. She said the nicest things and at the end, had us sign a document (a certificate that is not official but looked like it was). Those in our party that didn't know it wasn't legal were none the wiser.

 

I wish I knew the name of the officiant, she was fantastic and I didn't get a chance to thank her.

 

We didn't have to show anything and aren't getting legally hitched until later on. But to us, its just paperwork. We will always consider that day our wedding day.

[ChelseaRose]

We are having a symbolic ceremony and nobody has mentioned that we may need a copy of our marriage certificate. We were planning on having it done legally in the US for a variety of both bureacratic and personal reasons.

 

I think any brides that are curious about what documentation they need should check in with their hotel WC and their TA beforehand. This will dictate whether or not you have a choice to get legally married before or after the spiritual ceremony. Typically, by getting married legally in the US, it tends to save you hundreds of dollars!! Make sure you understand the full cost if you are thinking about having a legal ceremony in Mexico!

[Meyer2010]

Quote:

Originally Posted by amdecker Just an FYI... I just got back from our wedding in Cancun (symoblic ceremony) at the Riu Palace Las Americas. It went so well! The officiant was fantastic. She said the nicest things and at the end, had us sign a document (a certificate that is not official but looked like it was). Those in our party that didn't know it wasn't legal were none the wiser. I wish I knew the name of the officiant, she was fantastic and I didn't get a chance to thank her. We didn't have to show anything and aren't getting legally hitched until later on. But to us, its just paperwork. We will always consider that day our wedding day.

Congrats on your wedding!!

I'm glad your officiant was good! I worry about ours. Our $399 symbolic ceremony fee will be waived but we do have to pay $300 for an "officiant" to marry us. We could of had a hotel staff member do it but we figured our guests would think it was fake. So we opted for the "officiant", I hope our guests won't be able to tell.

Your "officiant" didn't mention "Renewal of vows" right? That is my worst fear, if they slip up and our guests find out! Yikes!