Getting married at the courthouse?

I have pretty much the same plan (and feelings) as you. I was in the middle of planning of my wedding when I realized it was way out of budget & rather pointless as a large number of our friends & family live 2-3 states away. Also, like you, things like health insurance & other benefits are too needed to wait the 2+ years it would take to save up for my "dream wedding". I have a hard time trying to justify a courthouse wedding's romance but I do think it is kind of romantic in the sense that just being married to someone you love so much is all that matters-not needing the foof & frill, just each other. I also plan on having a casual celebration of our love/marriage & vow reading at some point in the future.

By law, all marriages require you to say vows. That's why you have an officiant (be it a judge or a pastor) there with you. He/she is there to ascertain that you are there of your own free will, and that no one has kidnapped you or coerced you into getting married for untoward reasons. Therefore, yes, you will have the same legal vows as if you were in a quaint little church in Mayberry USA. However, no it won't be a romantic venue for your vows, unless you consider being together no matter where you are, romantic.

Which leads me to my point. If you're not going to have a big party afterward (of course you can save that party for whenever/wherever you want - I have no problem with that - Celebrate your marriage a million times, for all I care, maybe we all should!!!) why not find a sweet little church or park or wooded area and hire an officiant to marry you there? It won't cost that much, if any, more than getting married IN the courthouse. You just have to plan ahead more. It would be infinitely more romantic than the courthouse.

There are a lot cheaper options than a courthouse wedding.

You could have a friend or family member get ordained online and perform the ceremony at one of you homes or a public park. A small budget doesn't have to prevent you from getting married, or force you to have a wedding in a courthouse if you don't want to.

My sister in law and brother got a court house wedding because he was going to be deployed. You were right not to call it "romantic". The judge came in and talked about how important Marriage is and etc., he did allow them to read their vows, and then he did the classic "Do you, ... take ... to be your lawfully wedded wife?"

It was a lot shorter than the classic wedding, too. From about 3, 4 hours to a good 20 minutes if that.

My opinion is that you might as well go for it. You probably should've gone for it before, considering all of the benefits you get for being legally married. Who is to say that you can't go back and have a traditional wedding at a later date?

I say yes, go ahead and get married at the courthouse. And when ever you move back you can have a get together to celebrate with your family, but don't have a wedding ceremony.

It's either one or the other. A courthouse wedding or a traditional wedding ceremony. You can't have both. That's tacky.

Like I always say....Get yourselves to Vegas.

It's Quick & it's FUN.

Just DO it!

IF you are happy with it then go for it -weddings are just expensive parties but a marriage is for lifetime┄

As long as consent is not vitiated, your children will be blessed by God and they won't be blessed if there was no consent.

go ahead and do it

peace

OH...its serious..