Help and Advice Please!

Dear all,

Thank you for all your comments on my last post, they really do help. I just have a few questions for you all...... maybe you can help or advise me of the best course of action!

Jonathan and I are planning to get married when I go over in May, I need to know whether or not I need to inform anyone of this before I travel and also, how do I get a marriage lisence?! Can I just go into the county office and pick one up? I want to have all my bases (legal and otherwise) covered so that everything runs smoothly.

We want to have the ceremony on the beach and I'm currently searching through lists and lists of ministers to perform it but am still undecided. If any of you can recommend anyone in particular (for the area of southern California) or a beach that is just perfect then I'd appreciate it!
I have just over 6 weeks to plan........ thanks in advance.

If any of you can think of anything that might help then please let me know.   

Many thanks,
Katherine

Here's a link to state-by-state marriage license requirements:  http://www.1800bride2b.com/articles/marriagelaws_chart.htm

Looks like there's no waiting period or blood test, you theoretically you can go get your license up to the day of your wedding.  You might want to check on the requirements for foreign spouses, though.  We had to get an affidavit notarised stating that DH was foreign and didn't have a SSN, which added an extra day to our process.  We had to show our passports and birth certificates (and I showed my drivers license as well) in North Carolina.

You don't have to inform the US that you're going over for your wedding.  Since you and your fiance won't be living there after the wedding, there's no need to secure a fiance visa.

I'm assuming you're the UK half of the couple -- when you enter the US, you have the option of saying that you're entering to get married or you can say you're visiting friends, etc.  If you do admit that you're getting married, you might have to show proof of the wedding (church booking, honeymoon plans, etc.) and your return ticket to the UK.  It's also a good idea to have proof that you'll be applying for a spousal visa for your fiance before returning to the UK.