Weddingbee boards

Nothing's more important than your fiance's health.  I think you most definitely should do it.  Plus, in times of terrible economy, you don't want to risk getting into debt or spending more than you need to. 

Haha welcome to the life of many military brides- the benefits of being married while in the military are undeniable, and I know TONS of other girls who got married legally long before the wedding came along (try to plan a big wedding when there's a chance at any moment they could be called away and BAM all of your deposits are gone)- by the time our wedding day arrives, we will be days from our 3 year anniversary of being married- a grand total of about 3 people know this- and let me tell ya- I don't regret it for a minute. There are times when you have to take the more logical route, and I can't tell you how romantic it was going down to the courthouse with just him and I and telling eachother we wanted to spend the rest of our lives together, even if know one else was apprised of this. We didn't even get engaged publically until over a year later. So yah- I'd say definitely go for it- keep it to yourselves, it will just be a love filled memory for you two, and one that will obviously benefit you.

We got married legally because I have a serious medical condition and needed health insurance. Our "real wedding" with friends and family will be a little more than a year since legally getting married. I think it's a good idea. Even if anyone did find out, they'd understand.

I'm not sure what the laws/regulations are in VA, but we've done something similar and may do it again later this year.

We currently live together and my hubby to be (who was BF) at the time has dental insurance and vision insurance though my work as a "domestic partner" (the proof we needed was a bill w/ both our names and our lease).

We're getting married in August, but both finish residency (and hence our current jobs) in June/July - he has a position lined up already and I don't, so we're now thinking of getting legally married before we finish residency so I can pick up his health insurance in case I have some lag time between finding a job.

 good luck, i'm sure you'll both make the right desicion.

Do what's right for you!  That day in August will still be special whether you are already married or not.

My husband and I got married in February for insurance reasons, though we have a huge June wedding planned (have planned since December 2007). We went to the Fairfax court house to pick up our certificate, scheduled with an officiant (VA is strange that you can't just get married in the court house directly though it's nice that you don't have a waiting period), and got married. The ceremony was 5 minutes of watching the officiant fill out the paperwork and then 5 minutes of exchanging vows. I'm not sure if we had to do the exchange of vows for legal purposes or what, but we were paying the officiant $50 anyway. The next business day I returned the certificate to the courthouse (the officiant recommended that this is the fastest way to get copies--they'll do it right there for you), and filled out the insurance change paperwork. We told our parents, some relatives, and close friends, and everyone agreed that it was the best thing to do. (The other thing that's interesting about getting married in VA is that you don't need other witnesses besides the officiant, so none of them came.) It felt more like paperwork than a significant milestone, which we're totally fine with because we're still looking forward our June wedding. Life got in the way of the date we originally planned to start our lives as husband and wife; it's funny like that.

I'm happy to hear that things are better and that you've found a solution which suits you.