Weddingbee boards

All of those are good ideas- it just comes down to your own personal choice.

We're having a civil ceremony and reception in my hometown in April, then two months later a religious ceremony and reception in his hometown in Italy.

It sounds a bit mad, but really, it seems to be working out for the best. This way means that almost all our families will get to "see" us married in a ceremony- especially important as if we'd had only one there would have been so many people who could not have traveled internationally.

I was worried that some guests might feel slighted if they were part of the "re-inactment", but we've heard nothing like that. People are just excited they get to celebrate with us.

MZ- two things that have helped was making our events different and distinct from each other. Our civil wedding will be very intimate, in a small chaple, officiated by a long-time acquaintance, and the reception following will be very lively, with lots of music and dancing. Our religious ceremony will be more somber and "structured" (it's a traditional Catholic mass), and the reception following will be a large lunch- tons of food, but not a lot of music/dancing. This has mentally helped me separate the two- the first I consider a promise made to my FI in front of friends and family, in a way that celebrates us as a unique and special couple. The second is a more traditional style- an affirmation of our commitment witnessed by those present in the church with us.

Really, think of it as getting the best of both worlds. You don't have to narrow down all your planning decisions to one thing- you get two! Focus on how you can make the ceremonies/receptions different and you will start to think of them as two different things completely.

I'm having two weddings per say.  The first will be in a courthouse with immediate family and 2 friends who live in the area (de facto photographers!).  The second will be a short ceremony with a friend officiating and reception.  Then we have a UK reception.  Oof.

I totally plan on wearing my wedding dress as many times as possible, two if not three times.  Might as well get mileage out of it!  My sister is planning on going to all three celebrations, while my other friends are trying to figure out how to come to the US and UK receptions.  Celebrating happiness is always a good thing!

Talk to your fiance and see what his opinions are.  Would he feel uncomfortable about getting "married" again?  Does he like the idea of a religious blessing?  How uncomfortable do you feel about being given away again?  It's up to you and I'm sure you have time to decide.

@marsting87-- yes our "2nd" ceremony/reception will be formal and I'll be wearing the dress again.

I'm using the same dress but I'll have different veils (fingertip length for the civil/cathedral length for the mass), jewelry (sparkly for the first, more demure for the second), and shoes- after seeing my FSIL's wedding shoes I realized one pair (mine are ivory and suseptible to dirt) would not look so hot the second time around... I'll also be doing my hair and make-up differently.... just anything I can think of to make them really feel like two seperate events.