Eloping And Still Having A Wedding?

My daughter is getting married in Vegas next weekend for the same reason, before her "husband to be" heads for Iraq. We will have a "renewal of vows" and a reception when he returns home. Everything will be like a "regular" wedding except for the invitations will be worded differently and the service will also be different. I would suggest that you consider telling the relatives and explain why you did what you did. I would think that they would understand.

Interesting situation. I`m not an expert on this, but I do know that once you`re married -- you`re legally married and you can`t `redo` a marriage certificate. You also have to have a valid reason to get an annulment and wanting to keep the original marriage a secret from your family doesn`t count as valid.

My advice to you is this -- come clean with your family. Tell them you got married already and why you did it. Then start planning a renewal of your vows for the spring and do the `wedding` again.

Good luck.

Marcia- My husband and I were married quickly before we went to Iraq and now are planning a wedding for August. What are you doing differently for the renewal of vows? I`d like some ideas to make this special.

Jaclyn, contact me at mmtdct@bellsouth.net. My daughter has a few ideas she has been thinking about for the "renewal" of vows. She returns home from Vegas on Wednesday.

My brother in law and his wife did this. He was to be stationed in Hawaii and the only way the Navy would pay for her move is if they were married for 6 mths. They got married here in WI in the court house in March, then came here in Sept and had a huge Cathloic wedding. Every one knew why the did it, basically because of the Navy. I think even the priest new why they did it. Its like a renewal of vows. Your not really getting "remarried" just renewal. I would suggest go ahead with normal wedding plans. Have the big reception and dance. After its all over no one really cares. Remember its for you not for them!

Thanks for the advice. And thanks, Lindsey. That helps a lot. I think I will talk to the parents and get everything straightened out. It won`t be easy, but I`ll relieve some tension and plan a guilt free wedding like we want. Thanks to the military we will have the funds to pay for it.
Thanks again

I am having a destination wedding (hawaii) and having a reception here with a vow renewal as well any great ideas you get I would love it if you could pass them on thanks naomi

Hey!! We are doing the same exact thing! I am so glad to see someone else do this, I was starting to feel crazy for my thoughts on this. I am eloping in Rhode Island with my fiance in the Navy in a few weeks and then we are having a real wedding later. Good Luck!
April

Lily, its not really that uncommon. I did it - eloped and had the wedding a few weeks later!

Some states like Michigan have what is called sealed marriages or something to that effect where nobody, not even the press can find out about your marriage. You can get a new certificate, just go to any Christian book store or wedding store. You can discuss the arrangement with your officiant about such things. My fiance and I were going to do the same thing but changed our minds.

Not to sound like a b**ch or anything but when my fiance and I talked to a few different branches of military recruiters we were told that we were NOT allowed to get married just for the sole purpose of joining the military but yet everybody is hurrying yp and getting married before their men get sent overseas or while there are on r&r, wouldn`t that be about the same?

Brandy, how would they find out what the reason is for ur marriage? (i am not saying this in a rude manner, just curious on how they can distinguish that...)

They could never prove it, they told me so much s*%t as to why I couldn`t join the military and I am leaving this summer for basic. It is all in there job discription on how to get "the best of the best" and the Army`s theory is " If we wanted you to have a wife, we`d issue you one."
Their reaon is THEY ARE CHEAP! IF you get married before you go in, they have to pay more money and since we have 2 kids that is more money! That is all it is about, MONEY!
I am all for the ones getting married before war or during r&r, you never know if you will ever get that chance again!

Right. It is nobody`s business if you eloped. My minister also did not say anything, he kept it a secret, as we asked him to.

My fiance and I were planning on having a wedding next year, but now we`re expecting a baby girl and want to get married during his vacation in May. We want to elope, but can`t find any information out there on states that allow this. We had been planning on getting married in Boston (just the officiant, the two of us, and our dog) but then I read that to get a marriage license in MA, you actually have to go there and apply in person, even if you live out of state. We live in PA and there is no way we can take a trip up there beforehand. Sometime between May 24th and May 26th is when we`re hoping to take our vows. If anyone has any suggestions on an easier way to get a marriage license in one of the states between PA and MA (we are driving through NY, CT, and RI) please let me know. Also, we were hoping we could take our vows in a nice public place, but don`t know if we need a permit or something to that effect. There`s not a lot of information out there on this sort of thing, so any help would be much apprecitaed! Thanks.