Community› Wedding Discussion Boards› 40-Plus Brides
40-Plus Brides
New Discussion

Getting married by a JP

katzintownkatzintown
First Comment
in 40-Plus Brides
Hi there, 

This is not my first wedding, and my fiance and I really can't afford the wedding we 'want' right now, but we have some very close family from out of the country coming in, so we figured we'd do a small, intimate Ceremony in front of a JP, and have a quiet dinner with close family/friends and once we move, to the state my family lives in, then we will have a vow renewal ceremony, with our family/friends that can't make it to this ceremony.

Here is my question ........

WHAT do I wear ??  lol 

I already did the big white church wedding, princess gown.  This time, for the JP ceremony, is it considered inappropriate to wear something semi-casual, and save the formal dress for the vow renewal ceremony. 

Thank you all this looks like a great place, and one I'm going to keep since we are planning to renew our vows next summer. Innocent
Report Reply to Post

Re: Getting married by a JP

  • Lisa50Lisa50 member
    5 Love Its Combo Breaker First Comment
    IMHO, your attire should reflect the importance and setting of the occasion.  Your personal preferences should guide your decision, not someone else's tradition. If this wedding is as important as the wedding to your first husband and you think a white dress is what a bride "should" wear, then why wouldn't you wear one this time? 

    You only marry this man once -- wear a white dress, if you think this is right.  Don't cheat yourself out of it because you're not in a church.  A wedding ceremony performed by a Justice of the Peace is a wedding, indeed.

    FWIW, I wore a dusk blue, floor length dress for my wedding last year.  I wore a light pink, floor length dress in my 1992 wedding.  After wearing a poufy white dress and veil for my first Holy Communion in second grade, I knew that once in a lifetime in an outfit like that was quite enough for me.  LOL!
    Report Reply
  • katzintownkatzintown
    First Comment
    Thanks everyone !!


    I am getting mixed reviews depending on who I talk to .. lol 

    Some people say no white .. some say all white .. 

    You guys are great, I'm going to look at options todayCool
    Report Reply
  • Lisa50Lisa50 member
    5 Love Its Combo Breaker First Comment
    edited June 2012
    In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_40-plus-brides_getting-married-by-a-jp?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special Topic Wedding BoardsForum:69dea60c-2319-4015-8380-4a5cc0f18476Discussion:816fd02b-4046-4924-ab70-3b6558664e29Post:f895a511-a56a-47df-a1c4-29d7b4ed117f">Re: Getting married by a JP</a>:
    [QUOTE]In Response to Re: Getting married by a JP : And really beautiful custom-made floral shoes.  She looked gorgeous!!
    Posted by LucyHC[/QUOTE]

    I love those shoes.  I just wore them to work on Thursday -- with a suit I bought to match the shoes.  Love them, love them, love them!!
    Report Reply
  • Marrin713Marrin713 member
    5 Love Its Combo Breaker First Comment First Anniversary
    I got married at the courthouse in July 2010.  I wore a nice outfit from Chico's - a pair of skimmers and a pretty sleeveless tank that was fancified up a little with geegaws.  I also wore some higher heeled sandals.  We saw people there anywhere from a white ballgown to Cubs t-shirts.  Those were the extremes, but I'd say that the majority of the women were in summer dresses and the men in golf shirts and khaki's.
    Report Reply
  • katzintownkatzintown
    First Comment
    In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_40-plus-brides_getting-married-by-a-jp?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special%20Topic%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:69dea60c-2319-4015-8380-4a5cc0f18476Discussion:816fd02b-4046-4924-ab70-3b6558664e29Post:979313ac-dad0-4611-9e5e-f9cff8d37f2d">Re: Getting married by a JP</a>:
    [QUOTE]I got married at the courthouse in July 2010.  I wore a nice outfit from Chico's - a pair of skimmers and a pretty sleeveless tank that was fancified up a little with geegaws.  I also wore some higher heeled sandals.  We saw people there anywhere from a white ballgown to Cubs t-shirts.  Those were the extremes, but I'd say that the majority of the women were in summer dresses and the men in golf shirts and khaki's.
    Posted by Marrin713[/QUOTE]

    <div>
    </div><div>Thank you so much !!  My BFF who is one of the people that are standing up for us, thinks I should be semi formal, because after all it is a wedding.  My other BFF who is single, never married says .. "it's a wedding, wear white' ... 

    I am a bigger girl, who has lost 100lbs in the last year, thanks to my new life, and I can't find exactly what I want.  I'm afraid of being too dressed, so thought of a nicer floor length sun dress, but my BFF says it's not appropriate.  

    Argh, and I thought this would be 100 times easier .. thank GOD for Ebay ;)

    I can't imagine what the vow renewal ceremony next year will be like, that's when EVERYONE will be there .. including attendents and family ...

    Back to looking at dresses ............. oh, and we haven't even LOOKED at rings yet .. lol .. guys have no clue .. we are getting married in 2 wks .. and we have no rings (facepalm)</div>
    Report Reply
  • Marrin713Marrin713 member
    5 Love Its Combo Breaker First Comment First Anniversary
    Katz, seriously at the courthouse you will see everything from t-shirts to Kleinfeld's.  Anything goes, so just be you and just be comfortable.  What sort of place are you having dinner at?  Will you go straight there from the JP?  Our courthouse only did weddings on Friday mornings.  We had a lot of out of towners come in for the whole weekend so our "affair" was totally a weekend shindig.  We had SO many people come to the courthouse which amazed me because it was a. a Friday late morning and b. there is no preset time for the ceremony itself.  You go sign in, show them the paperwork etc and then wait.  Then you get called in groups and go to another area where the ceremonies take place behind closed doors.  So it was cool that all these people took time out of their schedules, navigated the huge municipal complex and all got there on time to see us get married.  Anyway, after pics at a local park with whomever wanted to come, H and I hosted a BBQ at our home.  Our actual reception (we called it the celebration) was on Sunday.  Broke a few etiquettes along the way tho Embarassed not intentionally but we had to work with what we had.
    Report Reply
  • Kristin789Kristin789 member
    5 Love Its First Anniversary Combo Breaker First Comment
    Off-white or "winter white" sparkly cocktail suit.

    For examples, see Carrie Bradshaw's courthouse wedding suit at the end of the first "Sex and the City" movie and see the Mother of the Bride's suit in the Steve Martin remake of "Father Of The Bride."
    Report Reply
  • patience brepatience bre member
    First Comment
    Well hello something in common lol. I'm doing the same thing. I want a memerable experience this time. I had the big wedding with all that jazz lol. This time we both want something very small, just the JP and us hah LOL He is so serious telling me he don't need anyone but me. What matters to him is I marry him and vow to be with him forever. As far as a dress, I'm going with a fintage style dress and it will not be in white. So we are eloping and having a reception the next day to celebrate with family and friends. It's very costly to do a wedding but we have the support of our families with the cost for our reception. Plus this dress I'm buying this time I will wear again and he will do the same with his tux or suit. He said every year of our anniversary we wear our outfis and celebrate. This will be a our tradition of our love for each other. I hope this helps. keep me up to date on what your doing okay. Take care and stay forever blessed.       
    Report Reply
  • patience brepatience bre member
    First Comment
     I want a memorable experience this time I meant to say lol A spelling error lol
    Report Reply
This discussion has been closed.
Choose Another Board
Search Boards