Celebration of Marriage

Just have a big party/celebration of marriage in April. An officiant isn't necessary.

I don't see why you can't call it a wedding. People get their marriage licenses before destination weddings.

I believe this is UO but I think you can still call it a 'wedding' - I do not see why people care that you are married before that actual day as long as you are upfront about it.

And I think you can just work with your officiant, they can still perform a ceremony you just won't have to sign the license, say specific words, etc.

With that time gap, I would just have the reception and maybe a few more speeches thrown in, and you two could do some sort of unity action or read vows to each other at the reception venue without somebody presiding over it. You'll save money that way, and it would be easier and less stressful!

So you don't need an officiant, but if you want one, just hire one as you usually would. Discuss with them the wording. Interview some just as you would if you weren't married.

I was under the impression is was rude (maybe not the correct word) to call it a wedding if you were already married- since it'll be a several month gap. We won't consider ourselves to be married until after the actual ceremony/reception with our family. We just need the license for legal/financial reasons in November. I guess my main question is do we still hire an officiant and just let them know the situation? Or can we have anyone do it?

I think if it's already official, you could save the money and have a friend or family member do it? But I think it's up to you!

My husband and I got married in April 2017, and will be having our wedding in Oct 2018. He's deployed so we just wanted to put things in place if anything were to happen. We are calling our oct 2018 date our wedding & will celebrate that as our wedding date.

If you're already married anyone can perform the ceremony. We are having a friend of mine officiate in Oct 2018. He's officiated 5 other weddings and is willing to make that our wedding gift. If you want a legit officiant you just find one the way you'd normally find one.

We are definitely going to consider the April date our wedding day, but still wanted to do the ring exchange, vows, etc. Thank you, guys!!

So we did this. We went to town hall, got the paperwork, went home, had someone that was registered as officiant, she signed said do you take each other and so on. I went back to town hall and had the paperwork processed. We haven't told anyone but did it for out of state reason. I think this is a by state thing. I know In Rhode Island we needed someone that has a license.

Still call it a wedding. People don't need to know you're already "legally married." I've known people that have done this. Technically, your ceremony will be a "symbolic ceremony." (Not a "legal ceremony") and anyone can perform the ceremony.

A friend had her whole wedding a year after she had been legally married, but no one knew that except close friends/family!

I live in a small county in TN so they don't even do courthouse ceremonies at my local courthouse. you just come in with a witness and sign the papers with a judge and then leave lol

Some couples choose to skip vows and ring exchange when they 'just make it legal.' Then later, with relatives and friends, they have a ceremony where they do the vows and ring exchange.

I have done ceremonies both ways -- 'just make it legal' and 'it's already legal.'

If you're already legally married, you don't need an officiant to make it legal, but an officiant can act as the MC, saying what you'd like him/her to say and making sure everything flows nicely,

You can do whatever you want. And call it whatever you want. If you want a ceremony? Find an officiant and have them write one for you. Tell who you want to tell and move forward.

Do tell your parents, and hire a real pro officiant who can put something beautiful together for you.

Do the same as you would when it comes up in April, just without the signing and filing of the certificate.

I'm not sure what your religious beliefs are but I was raised Catholic so this reminds me of a vow renewal. I'm sure you can do a vow renewal with or without religion!

Don't lie to people about being legally married, whatever you do.

It's not lying. And in 1500 weddings, only one person has ever asked me about the legality of the wedding they'd witnessed.

I was also a DW bride. We did something similar. I recommend, if you plan on recreating a ceremony (your 1st btw because you said you are only signing papers in November and there is no actual ceremony) hire an officiant. I think you and your FS will really miss out on the ceremony part if you don't hire a pro. Officiants can create something special for both you and your guests whether you are married yet or not.

H & I had a beautiful courthouse wedding last December. We decided to do so so that we could cut our guest list in half without the guilt, because we'll already be married! We are having a "marriage celebration" and we will be renewing our vows in a personalized ceremony. We hired an officiant who will be writing our ceremony for us. We missed out on that aspect as we just had a probate judge read from a script in a civil ceremony in court. We are very excited, because we get the benefit of a beautiful ceremony at a third of the cost since all of the paperwork is done and she essentially just has to show up and read.

That said, though I am not referring to our celebration as a wedding, it certainly is essentially a wedding. We will be walking down the aisle, I'll be in my dress, my sister and bff will be standing with me, we will have a ceremony, then cocktail hour, and then a seated dinner. We'll have a DJ & open bar, etc. Just with our nearest and dearest - literally, our immediate family only aside from my best friend and her boyfriend.