Mexican Legal Ceremony

I have no idea, but I can tell you what I tell everyone else who calls me about getting married in a foreign country; do your legal ceremony here. If you're planning on living here, having an original license that is issued here makes EVERYTHING easier down the road.

I recommend doing the legal ceremony here. So many fees, they require blood tests that you have to pay for. You also have to there a certain number of days before. It is my understanding that the ceremony isn't that long.

I don't know about Mexico, but in Brazil, it's very quick and simple. Basically the judge asks for your marriage liscense, asks if you both take each other as husband and wife, then pronounced you married and signs your documents. As far as where you do the legal ceremony, there are reasons to have it there depending on what kind of wedding you're having in the Us, if any, where you will live, and why you want to be married legally in Mexico. It might be important to your SOs family, as some cultures don't accept marriages in other cultures as valid. It might be a way of including family that can't travel to the US. It would be a lot simpler if you were legally married where you intend to live, but marriage isn't about simple.

We looked into doing a legal ceremony in Mexico. The info I found said that we would have to be in the country 4 full business days before the ceremony (saturday, Sunday, legal holidays and the day your flight arrives do not count in these days), blood tests are required, and the ceremony would be performed in Spanish and translated I to English. If you have a resort or other location that you are looking at, I would ask them to verify all of the requirements before you make your decision.

Found them

Copy of the passport and tourist card ( its issued at the airport)

Divorce papers if applicable

Blood test for HIV and Health Certificate must be done in mexico within 7 days before the wedding

4 witnesses must be over 18 and be present for the ceremony in order to sign the marriage certificate (we need their passport copies only)

Completed application form ( we can fill that out for you)

the ceremony can be performed both in english or spanish

Once Legally married, you will receive a certificate, but the legal act called Acta de Matrimonio, will be send to Chetumal the capital of the State in order to be annotated.

Once we receive the authorized copy we will send it to you via DHL to your home address. which can then be taken to your civil registry to file the marriage.

Usually takes 1 month maximum.

The ceremony takes about 20 minutes maximum.

As a couple your are obligated to be 4 working days in mexico before the wedding date.

COSTS (note this prices might be different in the hotel) its anything from $650 usd or more covering the following:

CIVIL CEREMONY

TRANSPORTATION

APOSTILLA (seal)

TRANSLATION (ONLY FOR FOREIGNERS)

BLOOD TEST (FOR THE COUPLE AND THEY COME TO YOUR HOTEL FOR THIS)

COSTS FOR DHL

Hope this helps!!

Or very similar to what Nicole said lol

I strongly disagree about doing your legal ceremony here. If you want a destination wedding you owe it to your guests to make that your actual wedding. I would be beyond annoyed if I wasted my days off and hundreds or even thousands of dollars flying to another country to watch someone play dress up and put on a little play. Your wedding day is the day you get legally married. If getting legally married abroad is too much hassle, scrap the destination wedding and get married locally.

Sorry St Paul. It is vastly easier to get married here and have a wedding license in English that originates here.

If you have a problem 'wasting' days off and flying to another country to celebrate with your friends, you can just say no, because ultimately your approval is less important than their legality and their ability to have a immediately useable license. For the record? No one has ever asked me to see a wedding license at a wedding. Apparently it means more to you than to 99% of the population.

I have done couples who THOUGHT they were legally married in other countries and then found out that they weren't. Big problem. Very big problem.

In many, many countries your legal wedding comes first, then the spiritual one. It's really not that uncommon.

Totally agree that it's easier! That's one of about a thousand reasons that I would never do a destination wedding myself--too much headache when you might as well just do it where you are.

But that is no excuse for deceiving your guests and staging a fake wedding in an exotic destination. You pick one or the other. Want to get married in Mexico? Cool! Good for you! But there are certain requirements and hoops to jump through to make that possible. Prefer not to have to jump through those hoops? Also cool! Good for you! Get married where you don't have to bother with all of that. But your wedding day is the day on which you go from being legally single to legally married. Anything else is pageant.

From what I know you have to send over your birth certificates over to get translated and get a blood test and arriving a couple of days earlier. So we decided to have the legal ceremony here and a symbolic ceremony in Mexico.

I wouldn't call that dress up

StPaul, I have never gone to any wedding wondering if the couple had legal ceremony. Ever, even when I've gone to several destination weddings. Guess it's a matter of opinion

Yeah. Whatever. What arrogance, honestly.

It's not a fake wedding; it's a symbolic ceremony in a beautiful setting that presumably is being enjoyed by the couple's nearest and dearest.

I don't honestly get why this is such a stick in the craw for people. I think you should just grill the couple the next time you get an invitation if their order of progression doesn't meet your standards. Because guess what?

Lots of couples in the US, getting married in the US get married first. They just don't feel the need to tell you.

The requirements for legal marriage in Mexico vary by state. You'll need to look up the ones in the state that you'll be visiting.

@StPaulGal as someone who is choosing to have a symbolic ceremony in Mexico then return to my hometown and sign the legal paperwork, I find your comment extremely insulting. I will not be "playing dress up and putting on a little play." I will be saying vows and committing myself to a life with someone I love in front of our family and friends. That is done through the words that we say and the meaning behind them. Not by signing a piece of paper. And, no one said anything about anyone deceiving guests. OP asked about the legal requirements. That's it. I have been completely honest with my guests and they know our plans for the wedding. If they don't agree with it, they will not come. But, several have already booked their trip and are completely understanding of our reasoning. People are there to celebrate with the couple and show their support.

So I wanted my grandmother to be at my wedding. She lives in the UK and can't travel. There is no feasible way for us to get legally married in the UK. So you know what we did, we told everyone the truth, had a elopement here and will have a beautiful commitment ceremony my grandmother can attend in March. I believe you're celebrating the commitment, however the couple chooses to celebrate that, not the glorious new tax status