What did you do for your wedding?
 

So with the whole K1 visa situation, the thought of what I'd do for my wedding has troubled me. My fiance and I have come to the conclusion that a 'city hall' wedding is probably the best option, and my mum who's in England probably won't be able to attend.
What did everyone else do??
:wub:

Re: What did you do for your wedding?
 

We applied for the UK equivalent of a K-1 to bring my USC fiancee to the UK a couple of years ago. We did exactly what you're thinking about - small city hall wedding with just a few close friends and family. Fortunately her mum and several friends flew over for it. Then we had a big reception afterwards.

We're (hopefully) moving to the states later this year so we're planning to throw another big reception-type party over there for all the American folks who couldn't make it to the UK.

Re: What did you do for your wedding?
 

My now-husband came to the USA on a K-1 visa in 2004. Two weeks after his arrival, we were at the admin offices for his SSN application (about 4:00 pm). It happened to be the same building as the marriage license application, so we did that as well. Saw a sign that it was possible to get married the same day, so made a 5:30 appointment for that day. Rushed home to get the cash to pay the JP, called my sister and best friend to see if they could be witnesses, and rushed back to the courthouse to get married. He was wearing a red Nike T-shirt and jeans. I was wearing brown slacks and a blouse. My sister had professional clothing on, as she can right from work. My best friend had exercise wear on, as she dresses that way for her work, and she happened to have a break between clients to come to my wedding. :) We didn't take any pictures, and we never had the "fancy party" later, either. It was awesome, very special day! I will never forget it.

Rene

Re: What did you do for your wedding?
 

Rented a cabin in the mountains by a river (it slept about 12, a few stayed at near by hotels) for the weekend. Small with 19 people total. Set up seats on the deck, put up a canopy or two. good job too, as the heavens opened up in what had been a beautiful day, right as the ceremony started. Only religious officials could conduct ceremonies outside of City Hall in my state, but the one we hired did a good job of keeping it pretty much secular (checked web sites out of local clergy before hiring) he was oepn to word changes on his standard spiel (which he had on the web page)

It was a great weekend, family and friends, drinking in the hot tub, going for walks to local waterfalls. A couple of thousand dollars all in, mostly on cabin rental.

Re: What did you do for your wedding?
 

Do the ceremony where ever is most convenient and then have a showy ceremony to please whoever you want to please where they can get to it...

Re: What did you do for your wedding?
 

We had an an engagement/leaving party in Scotland and then got married in City Hall and had a small party here. Unfortunately my mother in law was at both!

Re: What did you do for your wedding?
 

Two weddings, one quick city hall wedding with parents and siblings only followed 6 months later by the big fat Jewish one.

Be careful, depending on the state and/or the officiant a ceremony that resembles a wedding is still a wedding and requires a license. Ergo I have two marriage certificates. Only the first one counts as far as USCIS cares.

Re: What did you do for your wedding?
 

We had a lovely, casual Sunday afternoon gathering of 10-12 at a friend's home. Dress was casual. We visited and drank coffee. The guys had to see the end of a NFL playoff game. Then we gathered on the lush patio to have the "ceremony". The officiant was a district judge I knew since childhood. He doesn't perform weddings normally, so I wrote him a script including the vows we had written. No bouquets, music, chairs, or bridesmaids...just close friends circled around while we spoke from our hearts. Then we cut our tiny wedding cake and did traditional wedding toasts.

My friends were so special in helping throw this together just days after POE. They brought real china plates/cups and crystal champagne flutes to give it a special occasion flair. One had 8 bottles of champagne left from another party so brought that. One made champagne punch in a fancy punch bowl. The host had lots of beer. All I paid for was the cake. I loved how it all came together as a happy gathering with close friends and required little effort on my part.

We had nobody from the UK. Offended his sis a bit, but we told her it was crazy to spend money to come see a 10 minute wedding ceremony. Besides, we didn't want to be stuck entertaining a housefull of guests before or after. We had just been with them at a family going away do.

Re: What did you do for your wedding?
 

Engagement party in Scotland, too.

Got married in a chapel garden near Gatlinburg - just outside the Smoky Mountain National Park. Family and friends came over and made a holiday out of it by renting cabins. We stayed for a week, so our 'honeymoon' was spent with family and friends, but given that I had just left them all behind, it was pretty apt. Was fun.

Re: What did you do for your wedding?
 

We had a nice size wedding (about 70 people) planned for the tail end of the 90 days when DH (then DF) was scheduled to arrive. As the time got nearer, we both thought it would be more beneficial for us to do a quickie wedding, not only to start the I-485 paperwork, but to get him added to my medical benefits as my spouse. The judge who married us used to be my supervisor, she was more than happy to marry us twice!

The family still doesn't know that we were married before the big day. We've been celebrating our January anniversary and have to remember to celebrate our March anniversary too since we still have family and friends ask us what we're doing for our anniversary... :rofl:

Re: What did you do for your wedding?
 

So did we! In Townsend, TN... Heartland Little River Wedding Chapel. Lovely place! :)

Ian

Re: What did you do for your wedding?
 

We "eloped" to NYC. Our families knew we were getting married, as we had originally had a full wedding planned in Scotland that we had to scrap 2 months before the ceremony due to visa problems.

My husband, a UKC, and I arranged for a non-denominational celebrant to marry us on the beach at Coney Island, with my best friend from high school, who happens to live in NYC, as the witness. The next day, we met up with an amateur/student photographer and had the most amazing (and inexpensive!) photos taken of us in our hotel and in Central Park. We stayed a few more days in NYC for our honeymoon.

After we returned to my home, my mum threw us a very small friends and family party with approximately 15 people. Very nice and casual, basically a BBQ. Perfect for my laid back family.

My husband then returned to Scotland, and a few months later I visited. During this visit, we held what was supposed to be a small "family" party at the local community hall. This "small" party ended up being 50-60 people with a full buffet!!!! My mother-in-law was in charge, and she was happy with the whole affair, and in the end, so was I.


We then had ANOTHER party while I was still in Scotland, where we rented out the local golf courses club house for an evening and had a friend's band play. This party was mainly for our friends in Scotland. Had an absolutely AMAZING time with about 60-80 people. Very casual and very fun! We enjoyed being able to let loose and not have to worry about the party being overly formal.

The funny thing is, originally we had planned to go off on our own and marry in Ireland with no one else there. We were talked into a big wedding by his mum, which was fine. After the wedding got cancelled, I wanted nothing to do with any receptions, but we basically ended up having three!!!:blink:

Re: What did you do for your wedding?
 

Married in our t shirts and jeans at the county jail.

Re: What did you do for your wedding?
 

Ah, ours was Chapel at the Park - was lovely too.

Not sure of the spam rules on here, so won't post a link, though the website address is rather obvious if anyone wants a peek.

Would recommend it to anyone reading who is looking for somewhere in that area.

Re: What did you do for your wedding?
 

We got married in a church across the street from the house we had rented in TN. The minister's name was Lonnie, his wife's name was Bonnie, and his daughter's name was Connie, and they were the only ones there. My parents and eldest daughter looked after the kids, all 6 of them, back in WV. That was 33 years ago.