Destination Wedding Brides- Marriage License

I know lots of people get legally married in the states before the DW and have a ceremony at the destination.

No, New York will not let you do this.

You cannot obtain a NY license and then get legally married in the Bahamas. The officiant/witnesses can only sign the license for the state in which the legal ceremony is taking place. We are getting legally married in FL before we go to Jamaica. We will be using the symbolic wedding ceremony in Jamaica as our "anniversary" date to celebrate. Obviously, if necessary, we will use the legal date if needed for legal reasons. It just seems easier this way instead of going through the process of getting legally married in Jamaica. It's also more expensive to get legally married in Jamaica since it is a different country that would be issuing the certificate/license.

Would you consider justice of the peace for legality sake before hand in NY?

DW bride here. We had our ceremony and reception in Shanghai with our family and friends. Then we got legally married in California with an officiant and our witnesses (BM, MOH, DH and I) the day after we got back to the states. Last minute we invited DH parents, long story, but I'm glad we did.

I joke with DH and tell him he has a small window to remember our anniversary.

We're getting married in Europe. We'll have the ceremony there but come back and sign the papers.

So it seems everyone is getting married in the states and having a "symbolic ceremony" in their DW places? We picked the date because it was very special to us, but I also don't want to have to worry myself sick about the legality of our marriage.

For anyone who has had the legal ceremony in the DW place, how difficult was it to get everything recognized in the states?

We may not have to discuss a justice of the peace or something similar beforehand. It wasn't something I really thought about since the DW package included the marriage license processing and everything! Has anyone had the legal marriage in the DW location? If so, any hiccups getting the paperwork sorted out in the states?

We did a ton of research on destinations for legal ceremony. I was adamant that I didn't want a separate legal ceremony here, as I didn't want my legal wedding date to be different than the date I would always treat as our wedding date. I found that Jamaica was the easiest and most cost effective to have a legal ceremony at my destination.

You will obtain your marriage license through your destination. Each location has different requirements. Most require you to be on-site a certain number of days prior to the ceremony (varies by location). Some require a blood test to be performed by them prior to ceremony. If your destination is not primary English, you will need to have to pay an additional cost for their certified translator to translate the documents to English so you can have it legal in the US.

Are you getting married at a resort? Most resorts have a wedding department that will assist with all of this for you.

@megl I feel the same way! I feel very strongly about having the legal date and wedding date be the same (it was my grandmother's birthday), but my nerves and the unknown are getting to me. My destination/venue does offer these services, and we did pay for premium wedding licensing services, so I should trust the process. But also am interested in what other folks are doing.

I'm getting legally married in Puerto Rico. Our wedding planner specializes in DWs so she'll be helping us complete the requirements step by step. It's very common to get married legally in your home state and have a symbolic ceremony afterwards. That's why our wedding planner asked us what we'd like. I researched a lot of officiants who help guide couples through the legal requirements as part of their package. That could be helpful. Get a local expert/vendor on your side.

I am getting legally married in St Lucia. I thought about getting legally married beforehand but ultimately decided that I needed the ceremony to be more than a symbolic commitment. Like some of the other ladies I really want for my wedding day to be both legal and symbolic.

You have to do what's right for you but you should tell your guests (if you're having them) whatever your plans are. Some folks feel pretty strongly about attending weddings that are more ceremonial than legal and it might change their opinion about attending. The wedding coordinator we are working with (from the resort - they do this all the time) has been very clear about our process. In our case we send (email or fax) our documents ahead of time so they can procure the license, then we were instructed to hand carry the originals so they can validate them upon our arrival in St Lucia. It all seems pretty straight forward but every island has different regulations (residency requirements, documents, etc).

Most people do a quick legal ceremony here in the US, then get married at the DW location. I know someone who got legally married in the DR and did a separate ceremony here in the US -- it was a HUGE hassle for her to change her name because her legal marriage was outside the country. It took her over a year and 1/2 to get it all straightened out!

I got legally married in Australia. Our celebrant told us what paperwork needed to be filed and when. It was a fairly easy process. When we returned from our honeymoon, our Australian marriage license was waiting for us. I had no issues with changing my name at the social security office, DMV, credit cards, etc.

I'm getting married in Jamaica did a lot of research and found it to be an easy process. To answer your question no you cannot get license in NY and use in Bahamas. Paperwork has to be done in Bahamas if you want to get married there. If not it seems a lot of people, get married in the US and then do symbolic ceremony at the DW.

I'm getting married in MD before we go on our DW

As others have said, we got legally married at home before heading to our destination wedding in Scotland. It gave us so much less to worry about. I completely understand being concerned about your ceremony in the Bahamas being less meaningful, I was a bit worried too. But it wasn't! We didn't get to say our vows to each other until our ceremony in Scotland, which made it so much more meaningful to us. I honestly can't even remember what day we got legally married because it didn't matter.

If you're set on getting legally married while in the Bahamas, then go for it! It sounds like you have some help through your venue. One of the couples we're working with this summer are getting legally married in Iceland and they've found that the biggest thing to watch out for is making sure to find out the deadlines for everything. They have to send their documents to Iceland in advance and then they have to go pick up the marriage license a few days before the ceremony. So give yourself plenty of time to get things taken care of so you don't have to stress, and make sure you're planning on being in the country long enough to pick up the license/paperwork!

If your ceremony is legal in the place where you get married, it will be recognized in the US. The only issue is that you may have a harder time showing that it was legal. For example, you may have to get the marriage certificate translated by an approved translator.

On the other hand, if you're not having a legal ceremony in the US, you need someone who knows the local rules for how to make sure that your ceremony is legal. For example, in Mexico, a religious ceremony is not recognized; you need to have a civil ceremony. You also have to have the parents of bride and groom sign the legal register of marriages. There may also be issues with what you need to get a marriage license--e.g., whether there is a waiting period, or even whether you need to be a legal resident of the country. (And you have to get the marriage license from where you're getting married, not from where you live.) Thus, most people find it simpler to have a brief civil ceremony at home, and just have a symbolic ceremony in the destination.

One thing to think about is where your license will be recorded if you ever need a copy of it. I didn't have a DW but if I did, I probably would have recorded the license at home first. One less thing to think about.

Hell, I had my celebration of marriage in PA, but got legally married in a small ceremony in NY. It made life easier. Its the norm to get married in the states before a DW and I wouldn't think anything of it.

I'd double check with the local authorities and maybe even the consulate of where you're going to be married. In this crazy day and age with ID issues you wouldn't want to get caught and not be able to get back to your own country. There are pretty strong rumblings that California will now require 2 forms ID to enter even from another state. Germany 1936?