Kat88

Hello

I have just been approved for my K1 Fiance Visa (yay!) and now we want to get going with planning the wedding.

For us it is very difficult as we are short of money due to unforseen circumstances. (Future mother in law is my sponsor but won't pay for an expensive wedding!).

We want to keep it small, but at the same time this is a once in a lifetime occasion. We were originally planning to just get married in the justice of the peace office, but my family and close friends want to come, so now we are looking at hiring what I call a Registrar to come to a venue to marry us.

Does anyone know how we would go about doing this and how much it would cost?

Many thanks in advance

Katie.

Noorah101

Cost will vary with where you are and who performs the ceremony. Google "getting married in (name of state or county)".

Rene

ian-mstm

Good for her... it's not her job!


How much depends on where and when.

I suggest you post any other non-immigration questions in the general USA forum.

Ian

Kat88

I wasn't saying it was her job by the way, I was making the point that she is sponsoring, to preempt any questions regarding how we are doing it without employment.

Also, this is the marriage based visa section, so I thought it was relevant. This forum is full of picky people!

Thanks for the first response though

ian-mstm

Correct - except your question had nothing whatsoever to do with visas.

Ian

ellie_gbr

As Rene said, the cost is going to vary enormously depending on where you are and what you want. Our officiant in Texas cost ~$350 but she was amazing and everyone commented on how wonderful the ceremony was.

If you are worried about the cost, why not just get married at the courthouse together and then rent a room at a local restaurant for your family and friends after.

Don't forget to check your local state laws about getting a marriage license (if there is a waiting period etc.) and how much it costs.

Owen778

We got married on the bridge over the creek next to our house, with close family only. The only required cost of the wedding was $100 o pay the officiant. The cost did add up, because we dressed up, paid for a stretch limo and dinner at a nice steakhouse, followed by a party for our US friends at home the next day, plus we had a big renewal of vows ceremony for UK friends and family the next summer.

My point, though, is that you can do this pretty cheaply if you need to. "Registrar" is a UK term, look for an officiant.

Noorah101

Ours cost $50 here in Arizona. We went to the courthouse, paid the JP, got married, and then my sister took us out to dinner.

Rene

civilservant

When you say a registrar, do you actually mean a Notary Public or similar?

Nutmegger

Sounds like my first -- went to the JP's office, took a stroll in the park, then had burgers at a diner with our two witnesses. Went for broke on the second, UK registrar's office, dinner at a nice restaurant with our nine guests!

N1cky

We got married in a meadow in Yosemite, I seem to remember it cost us around $200 for the registrar, and whatever the license cost, all together around $300. We didn't have any decorations or flowers... the fantastic scenery around was beautiful enough. We then sat outside the Awahnee, with a bottle of wine and signed all the paperwork. A couple of hours later we wandered down to the dining room and had a lovely meal and bottle of champers that the FIL paid for.

A stunning day, with the people we wanted to spend it with, and it cost virtually nothing... well until you consider we actually lived in the UK at the time, and then spent 3 weeks travelling around California as our honeymoon

Owen778

No. In this context, the nearest equivalent to a registrar is a wedding officiant in the US, though the two are different in many ways.

And Notary Public is a confusing term to someone who's never been resident in the US. Notaries exist in the UK, but they are used much more rarely, and much more expensive to use, because they are usually lawyers.

civilservant

The one that married my ex-wife and I cost $60. Cheap enough....

.... the divorce cost about 100 times that

Bob

Statistically, it's not.

That said, depending on the state, get a mate to do it. $50 for the faffage to legally be allowed to officiate a wedding for a one time event in MA I think it is and I'm sure other states do something similar.

Then just rent a hall or whatever for a reception do.

Colorado calling

The Knot is a useful forum for wedding ideas and discussions. Be warned - you can get carried away with things if you spend too long on there! Before you know it you're wanting firework displays and dancing ponies because everyone else seems to be having them.

My advice, for what it's worth, have the wedding you want and you can afford. A wedding is NOT worth getting into debt for. It is a big day and it's not a big day. We have both been married before so this time it was very simple. $40 ring, a nice red dress off eBay, an officiant who couldn't pronounce our last name, 2 witnesses and burgers at Red Robin. We didn't want a big wedding. We wanted to be husband and wife and I would have married him in a bin bag if that's all I had. One thing I learned from my first marriage - don't do what you think others expect you to do. Do what makes you both happy. Don't have the wedding you think others want to attend. Have the wedding that makes you happy.