Symbolic ceremony brides

[calicat]

Are you getting legally married before or after your symbolic ceremony?  I'd prefer to come home after the honeymoon and then go to the courthouse so that the symbolic ceremony is the first time we ever say our vows to eachother.  But does anyone know if there is an advantage to getting legally  married before going to Mexico?  Is anyone else going to the courthouse after their symbolic ceremony?

[Norma83]

Hi Calicat -

 

My husband and I got married in May and had a symbolic ceremony.  We actually applied for our marriage license a week before we left for our wedding.  We took our marriage license with us to Mexico and ask the priest to sign our marriage license.  He signed and when we came back we went to the clerk's office and filed it.  We said our vows only once.  The thing we did at the courthouse was apply for the license and then filed it.  We filed it with no issues.  I do know that you need to comply with the laws of your State and in Texas (where we live), a symbolic ceremony counts as your ceremony and is not legally binding, which is why you need to file your marriage license to make it legal.  Our marriage license is from the State of Texas and on it, it shows that we were married in Mexico on May 5th, and the clerk signed and filed it.  I double checked and our license is recorded that we're legally married.  Each county is slightly different so you may want to call the clerk and be sure that you comply with the laws of your state. 

 

I hope this helps!

[calicat]

Thank you!  I'm from California and I think the license says you have to be married in California - but I'll double check that to be sure. 

 

I know there have been threads about this subject before and it seemed like personal preference if someone did the legal portion before or after Mexico.  I'm just wondering if there is some benefit to doing it before (because I'd prefer to handle it after!).  The only benefit of doing it first that I can see is that when we are traveling on the honeymoon, I'd legally be his wife if we came into any trouble. 
 

[safety75]

I'm getting married in Mexico but plan to "legalize" it in US. At first I wanted to do it before but now I'm thinking after for the same reasons mentioned. I don't want to do it before and then it lessen the significance of the ceremony.

[Pucca]

I see how you might want to legalize your marriage after your ceremony in Mexico. However, we did it prior to going because we wanted to be legally married for our trip abroad in the event something happened. Not only that but we didn't want to come back and have to deal with the paperwork; it was better for us to get it out of the way prior to heading to Mexico. Also, it felt weird to us if we came back from all the wedding stuff and had to go and legalize it like the wedding in Mexico didn't really count. We wrote our own vows for the wedding in Mexico while the legal ceremony was a five-minute deal where we just repeated after the judge; so the legal ceremony didn't really feel like the real thing anyway because there was no bouquet, no wedding dress, no audience (just two witnesses), no personal vows, and no music. And it truly didn't lessen the significance of the actual wedding in Mexico which will be forever remembered as one of the best days of my life. Some people do the legal ceremony as close as they can to the real wedding but we did ours a month in advance. But whatever you decide, it is a personal decision and you should choose what is appropriate for you and your situation.

[RNtoBe]

We will be having a symbolic ceremony in Cabo and will be legally married the day before we leave. There were too many extras to get it legally done in Mexico and the added cost of about $600. The fact that they still take blood in Mexico is a bit too sketchy for me. Our ceremony at home is very hush, hush and will be simple. 

[catgirl]

Originally Posted by RNtoBe 

 

We will be having a symbolic ceremony in Cabo and will be legally married the day before we leave. There were too many extras to get it legally done in Mexico and the added cost of about $600. The fact that they still take blood in Mexico is a bit too sketchy for me. Our ceremony at home is very hush, hush and will be simple. 

 

 

We are doing the same thing for our wedding in Mexico, symbolic ceremony with a friend officiating it and doing the legal part in Cali 6 days before the wedding.  

 

Neither one of us liked the idea of having blood drawn in Mexico and we have a friend officiating/taking care of the legal piece for us.  Plus, we are also not arriving 4 days prior to the Mexico wedding date.