Offbeat Weddings

Courthouse Wedding

So my boyfriend and I have been dating for 8 years.. we have a 6 year old daughter and another due in Feb, less than a month now. We have been talking about getting married for a long time but he just never proposed. So I did! Now he wanted to get a ring and then we can start planning a wedding. My Mom has been fighting cancer for over a year now and it has come back once again. She has decided that she will not do any treatments this time. So with her health not doing so good I want to have a fast wedding. So with little time to plan and not able to get too much money around we are going to have a Courthouse ceremony and reception at a restaurant in town. I have never been inside our courthouse so I'm not sure how it looks. I'm planning on having a photographer so that we can have pictures to remember this special day. Yeah its not going to be my "dream wedding" but just to be able to have my Mom there is going to make it all worth it. In the end it will be the same. I'll be married to the love of my life and was able to share our special day with our family's and friends. I do have my wedding dress because we got engaged a few years back but broke it off. So because I already have a wedding dress I'm going to wear it to the ceremony and find a small simple dress for the reception. Yeah not most people are going to agree to wear a big wedding dress or have my groom wear a tux to a courthouse wedding but its my wedding day and I'll wear what I want. So please no bad comments on that. But if you have been there and had a courthouse wedding or are going to but have helpful tips to make it more special please let me know. Thanks!

Re: Courthouse Wedding

  • Oh sweetie you're not going to get bad comments on this board. :)  Congrats to you, and so sorry about your mom.  Mine is going through chemo now, so I feel your pain there.
    Many couples do courthouse weddings and smaller, more casual receptions.  My aunt had a lovely courthouse wedding and then a nice picnic type reception at an outdoor venue.  A cousin of mine skipped the courthouse and did the whole wedding/reception at a restaurant-we took up one side of the restaurant, and the other side was full of patrons.  Both were low key but lovely. 
    Good luck to you, I'm sure it'll be a wonderful day.
  • By the way-you can wear whatever the heck you want.  Enjoy it.
  • In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-theme-boards_offbeat-weddings_courthouse-wedding-1?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding Theme BoardsForum:43453af6-2ee4-412a-99fb-cbb447240911Discussion:8e3078b3-afac-44d1-9f3d-1c531d5a614aPost:2acf167a-bbc3-42c4-b318-2a3ff0c14a6d">Courthouse Wedding</a>:
    [QUOTE]  I do have my wedding dress because we got engaged a few years back but broke it off. So because I already have a wedding dress I'm going to wear it to the ceremony and find a small simple dress for the reception. Yeah not most people are going to agree to wear a big wedding dress or have my groom wear a tux to a courthouse wedding but its my wedding day and I'll wear what I want. So please no bad comments on that. But if you have been there and had a courthouse wedding or are going to but have helpful tips to make it more special please let me know. Thanks!
    Posted by Meagan2011[/QUOTE]

    This is actually quite common at the court house where I am from! I used to work next doot and loved watching poeple come out on my lunch break! And I don't see how anyone anywhere wold have a problem with a bride wearing a wedding dress or groom a tux!
     Also a lot of B&G's invite people along to the court house so you can do that too if you wanted. i've seen just couples, to a handful of people to a crowd of people.
    I also don't see why you wouldn't wear your dress to the reception? I was having lunch the other day at a city restaurant and the back room was being used as for a wedding reception and the bride had on a lovely tea length gown.
    Make your wedding everything that you want within your budget. The great thing about a restaurant reeption is you can save on decor especially flowers but also gives you the option to include those things if you want them!
  • I agree with PP, wear what you want :) I don't see why anyone would take issue with what you're wearing!
    You definitely won't get negative comments on this board :)
  • I'm very sorry to hear about your mom. I think she'll be so happy to be able to see your wedding. And I agree with PP, wear whatever you want. A friend of mine had a courthouse wedding recently with just her and her H. She wore Doc Martens and a flowered sundress, but HAD to have a veil, LOL. The pictures were so fun and so very "them." 
  • So sorry to hear about your mom.  You can definitely do whatever you want to make it special and how you want it.  I don't know about where you live, but there are a lot of B&Bs in CT that specialize in elopement packages/small weddings.  If you want to do something other than the court house, you could look into that. 

    A friend of mine actually just got a JP, 2 witnesses and went to a park and got married there, then out to dinner for her wedding.  Many restaurants have private rooms so you could do the courthouse and then dinner/lunch, etc.  I think as long as the time is available, you can pull it off in a short amount of time.

    Good luck!!
  • So glad I came across this post. I am getting married May 25, 2012 and will be getting married in the JOP office in Providence, RI and I have a wedding gown that a friend gave to me. I was unsure if it was too much for the type of ceremony I will have. I WILL be wearing my wedding gown as it is my special day and my husband to be will wear a tux. Thanks for posting that and I'm so very very sorry to hear about your mother.
  • So crazy my fiance and I just decieded on a courthouse wedding. Finance are strapped we have two little children can't afford to spend lots of money on a big wedding. I was wondering if you ladies had any ideas on how to make it special at a courthouse.
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