Courthouse wedding then big celebration

Hi! We got married at the courthouse. We will be having a small vow reaffirmation and a celebration of marriage this year in November. Not super traditional, but I did wear a gown and bring a bouquet to the courthouse. It was a simple civil ceremony, and we went out to dinner afterward with our parents.

We just did a dinner party celebration at a local restaurant. The only "wedding" thing we did was cut a cake.

Yep- we got married at the courthouse July 1 2016 we had already planned our wedding and left deposits for July 1, 2017 and my work decided that after August 1 2016 our benefits would be changing and no longer acknowledge step children or free college education benefit unless they are grandfathered in before Aug 1. So my husband and i decided it was best for our family and our sons and we decided to tell our families and they all agreed it was smart thing to do. We were very honest with everyone and all our guests know we got married 7/1/16 and guess what no one had a problem with it and they are all excited to celebrate with us this year! People get really crazy about this subject but Celia usually has the best advice and no one really cares what day you are signing the marriage license. I don't see the point in lying to your guests- i wasn't embarrassed that i married my husband so i felt no reason to lie! I was super excited! Good luck

We are obviously, not a courthouse but we do plenty of couples who are getting married bigger later and plenty who are already married when they come to us for their big family celebrations.

I think this is a highly personal decision (though I'd tell your parents). It can be based, thank you Drumpf, on gay couples who are freaked out, people with visas who are freaked out, people with health insurance who are freaked out, or impending military deployment.

I agree with Lauren; no one really cares when your license was signed except for six people who pop up here, but your life is not their life. I have literally had one family member ask me about the license in roughly 1500 weddings......

Why do you ask?

Thanks for the input...The reason is We orginally picked 8/18/18 ,but my FH said he didn't want to wait that long to marry me. We kept it small and intimate because of short notice & saving for a home. I just want to celebrate with family and friends that will not be able to be at the courthouse so I decided to keep my day in 2018 ,I just wanted to know if anyone else went this route...and did you just do a reception or have a actual renewing of vows and reception??

Why don't you just hire an officiant and get a private room at a local restaurant? You can have everything there and you can still invite everyone.

Kills 2 birds with one stone!

This is way after this was posted but I am doing the big ceremony and reception after we were legally wed at the Judicial Branch office (which was the in the same room as the DMV). He's in the military and he told me after we got engaged that we'd have to be legally married right away and it makes more sense to do it that way. So a week later, we were legally binded at the Judicial office but never were officiated and did not go to the courthouse. I haven't changed my name and we don't have the rings yet either. I didn't want it this way but I did it for him. So about 6 months later, we're doing a ceremony with an actual officiate in front of family, friends and although it's not in a church, God as well (I'm religious, he's not religious). I see it as, yes the government considers us married, but under God, we are not, but that's my opinion on it. Then we'll have a big reception after. My mom and close friends are still throwing a bridal shower and a bachelorette because they want to. I feel weird about technically being legally married already but a lot of people don't know that we are. Only close friends, family, and of course the military. We haven't been properly officiated, just signed the documents at the Judicial office. I've been reading that "it's not ok" and "not proper etiquette" to have a ceremony after legally being wed. But my personal opinion is that it is ok and a lot of people do it that way. My best friend is doing the same thing because he's from a different country. So he'll visit, they'll get married at the courthouse, then she'll still have all of the pre-wedding parties like bridal and bachelorette, then have a real ceremony and reception.

In a ceremony with an officiate or a church, I believe not only is it being married legally but under God too, there are multiple parts to it.

My other friend who recently got married told me that being legally wed at a courthouse or in the office is really only getting the paperwork, legal part out of the way (as she signed it after instead of before).

View Quoted Comment I absolutely love this idea

Im on the same boat. What did you do as far as the ceremony before the reception? We’re getting married by civil court tomorrow but next year we wanted to have a small ceremony before the reception with his uncle- a pastor giving us the blessing before the eyes of God.



I just didn’t know if this was normal or what other people have done before.

Im doing the same thing , I kept going back in forth . But im also trying to have another baby and i want to be married first why wait when you are established and been engaged for 4 years , Im super excited to start a new JOURNEY in my life called MARRIAGE ! Yall wish me good luck! 12/31/19 💖