Do you think we can find someone to marry us on Dec 31st?

  We are getting engaged "the right way" in August and want to marry Dec 31st. I asked him when we were on a picnic in London the day after the royal wedding and he said yes! But he said we had to do it "properly in August" (when I am back) with a ring and him asking me.

Not sure about using a chapel, we are thinking a small intimate setting like my sister's house in TX with family. Do you think it will be hard to find someone to wed us with 7 months to go?

If you're doing it in the US, it shouldn't be a problem in most states to get a friend or family member ordained by the Universal Life Church online and perform the wedding for you!

Blah, blah, boring practical stuff--consider maybe getting married AFTER midnight so you'll be married in 2012. As a US citizen resident in the US for most of the year, marrying a non-resident alien at the very end of the year could potentially complicate your taxes unnecessarily. Just something to think about.

Thanks for the info. I'll let my tax guy worry about that whole date issue. Sadly, we are on a tight time-frame as he has to get his boys back to the UK to start school the next week.

Hmmmm. May have to look into that Church idea. Wonder if I could talk my sister into it!

My brother got married in Kentucky on December 31st with no problem that I know of. I think it might actually be a popular day to get married.

Also, nothing says you can't have a ceremony one day then sign the certificate the following week.  That gives you your 31 Dec wedding and the 2012 tax advantages.

If you're doing it in the US, it shouldn't be a problem in most states to get a friend or family member ordained by the Universal Life Church online and perform the wedding for you! 

Just an FYI on this. Some states are funny about who is eligible to marry people and the validity of people ordained online. When we were married in PA, the clergy who married us had to have an actual church. We didn't have to be married IN their church, they just had to actually be the minister of a church.