Pulaski

It sounds to me like he wants to get married in a court, perhaps because of the architecture/decor/setting.

passthekimchi

I hoped this too, but he has history with that particular courthouse and that's why he's so adamant haha

Jack8602

I got married in a courthouse 6 weeks ago in Fort Worth, Texas.

Here's how it went:

- Arrived during a monsoon with no on site parking, turned up looking like drowned rats.
- Found a ceiling fan and stood under that for 10 minutes prior to wedding.
- Went to the check in desk, and paid $100 - only accepted cash, always makes me laugh
- Told which courtroom we'd be in, waited outside for the people currently in there to leave
- Called in to the courtroom by the judge, he asked if we had rings, which we did.
- He asked where we met, how long we'd been together (This is when i thought that USCIS had secretly paid the judge to interview me ahead of time before my AOS)
- Brief exchanging of vows, a few photos taken, and we were done!

Judge said we were welcome to stay in the courthouse and take photos wherever we'd like. The Fort Worth courthouse is a pretty damned nice building, lots of marble and fancy pillars etc.

We had 12 guests, 10 of which sat in the seating - and the judge invited anyone who wanted to take photos up front to go stand near the front desk, two of our friends did.

Put in to perspective, neither of us wanted a fancy wedding, so this was perfect for us, i wore a nice shirt and tie - and my wife a nice simple dress.

when we walked back in to the foyer there was a couple who'd gone all out, i felt like i'd turned up to a Ritz hotel wearing a string vest.

She was in a traditional, big wedding dress, him suited up, 3 bridesmaids - about 15-20 guests.

We stayed for 20 mins, took some photos (which i hate having done) - and then we all went for BBQ!

Owen778

Bear in mind that the details of the rules, and the facilities available, will vary by state or even by county. You will probably need a marriage license, but they're generally simple to get.

We had a local judge marry us on the footbridge overlooking our house.

passthekimchi

That's a sweet story Jack Thanks for the step by step!

Thanks Owen too, I've got the marriage certificate process all sorted - that's the only part that doesn't make my head spin.. haha.

BEVS

You don't fancy Mike's idea then.

Nutmegger

Saves a fortune on the gown and the tuxedo rental!

scottyvisa

There were chairs for two guests in our courthouse wedding in Virginia! Luckily that was two more chairs than we needed :-). We stood the whole time, it took about 5 minutes, she yelled "Next please" as we were walking out the room.

passthekimchi

Oh gosh! Well, I'll hope for a slightly better experience, but whatever gets the job done I suppose

scottyvisa

It was the exact experience we were looking for! We just wanted the certificate for the AOS, the big (and expensive) wedding came later.

Twinkle0927

We had a wedding like that in WA. Remember that WA has a 3-day waiting period from issuing the license to getting married.

Here's what we did:
- I flew from the U.K. to San Francisco on the Tuesday with the intention of taking an onward flight up to Pasco but missed the flight. Flew up the next morning (Wednesday), The Husband picked me up at the airport and we went straight to the auditor's office to get the license.
- Found a woman who did weddings in her home and garden. She's an ordained minister of the church of something bizarre. It's all nonsense - anyone can be an "ordained minister" here.
- Booked a slot for 10.30 Saturday morning. Got two stainless steel rings and called a few friends to see if they were free on Saturday to be witnesses.
- Arrived at 10.30 to be told the couple before us were running late. We sat and waited. We paid $100 (cash only) for the ceremony. No receipt given.
- At 11 am as walked into her "wedding room". Us, minister and two witnesses. She said "repeat after me ..."
- It was over by 11.08 am - we had a picture taken in the room holding the marriage certificate (the ceremonial one) and there is a clock on the wall behind us that says 11.08. It felt fast but I didn't think it was quite that fast. We went to Red Robin. One witness went to work and the other went to do her grocery shopping.
- She gave us the signed marriage license and we hand-carried it to the auditor on Monday, paid $3 and got our marriage certificate.
- On Tuesday The Husband dropped me at the airport and I went back to the U.K.

mikelincs

here goes, and it's safe for families but still hidden as a spoiler.

Guindalf

I was working in a courthouse in Alabama scanning documents. We were on the second floor, so had to make regular use of the elevator to get more books (real estate filings - deeds) to scan.

One trip was delayed when the lift doors opened to reveal one of the clerks conducting a wedding...in the lift itself!