To lurkers attempting to plan a PPD, please note. If you have to try "really hard" when planning more than your actual wedding ceremony, realize it is NOT worth it. You fool no one, including yourself.
Your wedding sounds awesome! Congratulations!
This x100. We were tying ourselves up in knots trying to decide what was most important, whether it was the legal ceremony or the "fun" ceremony, and trying to figure out what we could do to make both ceremonies special...in the end it was just too much money, time, and effort spent on something that in the end wasn't going to work out the way we wanted...as noted a few times Disney weddings are HELLA EXPENSIVE, if you're going to spend that much it needs to be worth it, you know? Again I'm not knocking the separation of the legal/formal ceremonies, I know that can be a cultural thing and I don't want to be insensitive, it's just that for us it didn't feel right and I am all about ditching the parts of a wedding that aren't right for you, or don't feel "worth it" to you.
It’s not cultural- some countries have it where only state performed ceremonies are legal. Therefore if you want a religious ceremony you plan it separately. However, at least from every European experience I’ve had with this, the legal ceremony is done the day before the religious ceremony. And usually only has the parents. It’s not 2 ceremonies because some people didn’t see the first one, or 2 ceremonies because their first wedding wasn’t grand enough, or they need a benefit of being married now but are waiting to have a fake big party later (classic PPD excuses).
I think you've come up with a good solution, since you were never comfortable with the idea of having two ceremonies. But as you correctly note, people in other countries have two ceremonies all the time. The civil ceremony makes the marriage legal in the eyes of the state, and the church ceremony makes it legal in the eyes of God. Many devout people, especially Catholics, consider both ceremonies real and don't feel like they are play-acting with the second ceremony.
I think you've come up with a good solution, since you were never comfortable with the idea of having two ceremonies. But as you correctly note, people in other countries have two ceremonies all the time. The civil ceremony makes the marriage legal in the eyes of the state, and the church ceremony makes it legal in the eyes of God. Many devout people, especially Catholics, consider both ceremonies real and don't feel like they are play-acting with the second ceremony.
I grew up Catholic. Although it can happen, in my 60 plus years of life, I have yet to know of any Catholic that had 2 ceremonies. In the Catholic Church, the Sacrament of Marriage is also recognized as the legal marriage.
There may be Catholics who married civilly and then have a convalidation ceremony years later. But no Catholic needs to have two ceremonies to be legally wed.
@MobKaz, European countries recognize only the civil ceremony at the town hall. So even Catholics must do this first. In fact, priests there cannot legally do the wedding in the church until after the town hall ceremony. Grace Kelly's two ceremonies are probably the example most Americans know about.
In the eyes of the state, the civil ceremony is binding. In the eyes of the Catholic church, it's the church ceremony.
But in the US, we recognize church weddings as binding, so there is no need to have two ceremonies.
Re: Disney cruise wedding?
There may be Catholics who married civilly and then have a convalidation ceremony years later. But no Catholic needs to have two ceremonies to be legally wed.
In the eyes of the state, the civil ceremony is binding. In the eyes of the Catholic church, it's the church ceremony.
But in the US, we recognize church weddings as binding, so there is no need to have two ceremonies.