You just got engaged! Congratulations.
This is such an exciting time in your lives. You’ve decided that you want a destination wedding and it looks like Mexico will fit a lot of your dreams and needs— like good flight schedules, great all inclusive resorts, beautiful beaches and reasonable pricing for your guests.
Beach side wedding gazebo
The Destination Wedding Team at My Vacation Lady will spend a good amount of time talking (and listening) to you to see what your dream destination wedding will look like and we’ll be able to guide you through the entire process. You’ll have a lot more to think about but one of the things to consider is the type of ceremony.
There are actually 3 kinds of wedding ceremonies in Mexico:
- civil
- religious
- symbolic
What is a Civil Wedding Ceremony?
This is the only LEGAL type of marriage ceremony in Mexico and the only one that will be recognized in the United States upon your return. This is an official event conducted in by a Judge and can take place on a beach, on the resort grounds or wedding gazebo. There is legal paperwork that must be submitted and Mexican law requires a Health Certificate for all civil wedding ceremonies. Blood tests are required and they can be taken at the resort.
What is a Religious Wedding Ceremony?
If you would like to get married in a church in Mexico, we can help to arrange this as well. You can have a Catholic ceremony (and there are some Chapels that would be recognized by the Catholic Church). In order to be recognized back home, you would need this to be in conjunction with a civil (legal) ceremony, as well. There are a number of different requirements required like, baptismal certificates, PRE CANA lessons, along with a letter from your priest authorizing that the wedding celebration can be held outside of your local parish and must be certified by the archdioceses.
What is a Symbolic Ceremony?
This is the type of ceremony that most of My Vacation Lady’s destination wedding couples will do for a number of reasons like not needing to get blood work done and not needing a translation of wedding documents.
This ceremony is not recognized as legal in Mexico or in the U.S. so our couples will have a small, private legal or church wedding back home and then celebrate with their friends and family in Mexico. It is typically performed by a non-denominational officiant. It will be as lovely as the civil or religious ceremony but will be like renewing wedding vows rather than a legal ceremony. Your true wedding date will be the date that you married back home.
Which one do you think is right for you? Let the Destination Wedding Team at My Vacation Lady help you figure out the best options for you.
