Legality in the U.S.

[ksk336801]

I'm getting married in Costa Rica this December and wondered if anyone knows the date the marriage will be legal here in the U.S. I know we won't get our copy of the marriage certificate for a few months after the ceremony, but I didn't know if the certificate we get will have the date of marriage as the date of our actual ceremony. This may seem like a weird question, but we bought a house this year and need to be married by 12/31/09 in order to take advantage of the new home buyers' tax credit! Thanks.