Civil ceremony before non-religious vow renewal

Hi all, first post in this group. I am getting married to my partner of 7 years and we’re beyond excited.


Our idea is to have a legal ceremony in a few months (March 2024) here in the US before our big wedding day in spring 2025 in Mexico.
PROBLEM: since we’re splitting the events, I don’t want the big wedding to feel like it’s missing key elements of a wedding ceremony since we’re not having a religious ceremony and the legal stuff is happening before.
CONTEXT/REASONING:1) Legal ceremony is being held ASAP because my fiancé is on a visa and we need his Green Card (GC) process to happen soon. This way he will be able to travel to Mexico next year. His work visa is expiring end of this year (6th year) so he won’t be able to use it next year to travel so he needs to step into the GC process.2) We want the legal ceremony to be small, but to still be a celebration for our core loved ones. We don’t just want to pop into city hall and just do it quickly. 3) We want to get married in Mexico because I’m from there and I want to invite my entire family (big family). His family is from Venezuela and would have an easier time traveling to Mexico too. Also it’s cheaper for a big wedding party.
QUESTION: since the Mexico wedding won’t be religious, will having a small civil celebration as we’re planning (not just going to city hall) in the end take away from our bigger wedding? If we get legally married, trade rings, do vows beforehand—- that’s essentially the core of what the big wedding is too without religion. How can I ensure our big wedding also feels robust and special, like a real wedding? I don’t want it to feel like a made-up ceremony with me playing dress up.
WRAP UP: Thanks in advance for your unfiltered thoughts. Happy to also be told I’m overthinking this and to just do whatever we want. Just don’t want to feel like I’m spending money in something that might better be condensed into 1 event.