Where to marry...US or England?

Hey Ya'll,
  I'm sure this has been posted somewhere before but I'm not finding it! 
  So, since you have been through this, which is easiest?  To marry my Brit in the US and move back to England, or to marry in England?
Thanks,
FreyasKitty 

It was easier for us to get married in the US.  We honeymooned in NYC since we were gonna have to go the consulate for my spousal visa anyway.   

Hi there, since it seems you're planning to settle in the UK, it's probably easier to marry in the US as Lola mentioned.  Your Brit bf won't need any kind of visa to come to the US and get married (unless you plan to settle in the US).  And of course, you'll have the luxury of planning a wedding in familiar territory.  Then you can also go back to the UK together with your spousal visa.
To marry in the UK (as I'm doing), you'll need to get a fiancée visa first before you leave the US, or at least entry clearance for marriage.  It costs about $494 and you'll be planning a wedding in a foreign place.
Good luck, whatever you decide!   

I think it really depends on your circumstances. I was already here on a student visa so I didn't need to return to the US for entry clearance. So marrying here was easier on us because of the visa issues....

Hey there!
  Thank you so much for all the info!  I was just trying to figure out the easiest way to go about this. 
Appreciate it!!!!
Lisa

I really need some advice here.

I came to the UK on a fiance visa thinking that I'll be marrying my british fiance in England. But now, I'm having different ideas thrown at me - it's really important to me to have my mom and dad see me marry. I just had a conversation with my mom where she was saying that maybe we can fly over and get married in Vegas, in one of the many casinos on the strip (i'm thinking bellagio but it is a bit pricey). But then there's the case of if my fiance wants his parents to see him get married, then we'd have to pay to fly them over... And hotel them.

Or we can go with marrying at a register's office or finding a venue (which is difficult because it's only going to be his parents seeing us marry, but I want somewhere elegant for pictures) and even though I want my mom and dad to see it, I don't know if it would be a waste to fly them over for just a tiny ceremony like that and dinner, as we'd have to pay for their plane tickets as well as my dad's mom's plane ticket (as she is also part of my immediate family household when I was in the US) and I don't know about hotel type stuff.

I always dreamed of having a wedding where lots of family came and a big reception, and all that, but due to my fiance not really knowing his family (as in he knows almost everyone's name but not really 'knowing' them except for his four aunts, and me only really having my mom and dad (and my grams and two aunts in different states) we literally have hardly any family to show up for it. Due to wanting to have money left to actually get a house with (as we live in a flat) we don't want to spend a whole lot on our wedding, though we probably will spend it on our honeymoon and I've just not looked at that yet. Plus it's him that will be paying for everything due to certain personal circumstances.

So, the thing is, i've been reading some posts here and it seems like that if I wanted to get married in the US, I should've done that and then got a spousal visa. But I've got a fiance visa and am in the UK. So, I don't even know if I can go back to the states, get married, and then come back with that visa. And if it's possible to do this, if I have to give notice to the registers office in vegas prior to getting married and how long that would take as that's more night's in a hotel.

I must sound like atight wad, and the thing is, me and fiance are barely really getting into the details about this and I've not really asked him how much is our max amount on our wedding.

And so, also, which one would seem a better idea due to all of what I just said? I came from california, so if we do decide to honeymoon there, we might be saving money if we'll be marrying in vegas. I've not seen any venues really great for pictures here in London. And I'm still dealing with the fact that I won't be getting the wedding I reallly want, but one without a reception or any wedding song or wedding first dance, etc.

So, the thing is, i've been reading some posts here and it seems like that if I wanted to get married in the US, I should've done that and then got a spousal visa. But I've got a fiance visa and am in the UK. So, I don't even know if I can go back to the states, get married, and then come back with that visa. And if it's possible to do this, if I have to give notice to the registers office in vegas prior to getting married and how long that would take as that's more night's in a hotel.

I doubt there is a rule that says you're not allowed to change your mind about where you get married. You should be able to go to the states and get married there. However, you'll need to apply for a spousal visa before returning to the UK. I can't imagine there being any problems with this. The only down side to this is that you've basically wasted money on the fiance visa.

I don't really have any advice for you. I think you have to decide what you want to do. I will say though that a lot of us didn't get the wedding of our dreams because of marrying someone from another country. It makes everything really difficult and expensive. I got married at a courthouse in the US. Not at all ideal. We do still hope to have a wedding ceremony sometime in the next year but with no definite plans yet I don't really see it happening.

Quite a few people had two weddings...one in the UK and one in the US...and not necessarily within a short period of time - that way they could have all the people they wanted at the weddings.  One of my friends and her fiance paid for the UK wedding and her parents paid for the US wedding, so it didn't change their costs too much...and it worked really well.  Best of luck!

Quite a few people had two weddings...one in the UK and one in the US...and not necessarily within a short period of time - that way they could have all the people they wanted at the weddings. One of my friends and her fiance paid for the UK wedding and her parents paid for the US wedding, so it didn't change their costs too much...and it worked really well. Best of luck!

That is what we did, actually we had three.  First one Registry, second big one in NY (Another Ceremony as well) and third a reception in the UK.  Worked out well for us.  Of course this was also before it was mandatory to have a fiance Visa in order to marry in the UK, so we only paid for the one FLR at the time.

NO ONE said you HAVE to pay for them to come to the states if they come. That is up to them. We are having our wedding in the states, my home town and some of his family can make, the important ones are scrimping and saving for it to come over and share in the good time.

Now, that said, you don't have to have a huge wedding. I have a friend that had 20 or 30 ppl I think. There is no rule on weddings. Check out www.theknot.com and you'll see there is a huge variety of weddings, nothing has to be a certain way, except the way you want it.

So, I suggest having it either in your hometown and asking those who can make it from the UK to come over, keep it small and that way it won't break your budget. OR have a destination wedding!!! Cheap and neutral. That way, you can have just your close family/friends and his in Mexico or the bahamas - do some research. We were going to do that b/c it was only going to cost under $1000 on top of the honeymoon cost, way affordable. I decided against it personally due to wanting a traditional wedding.

good luck and really sit and think about what YOU want and it will come to you.

That is what we did, actually we had three.  First one Registry, second big one in NY (Another Ceremony as well) and third a reception in the UK.  Worked out well for us.  Of course this was also before it was mandatory to have a fiance Visa in order to marry in the UK, so we only paid for the one FLR at the time.

we're def. having at least 2, the US civil ceremony (as small and as not-wedding-like as possible per both our wishes) - then a proper religious ceremony in the UK.  tbd is the location/date of the religious ceremony in the uk, whether we have a reception after, whether we have a US reception - and well hell, we might decide to do the whole shebang in somewhere foreing like fiji - we really havne't set anything in stone except the us civil ceremony.

more or less immigration is sort of forcing the whole marriage hand, and we're doing it properly on our own timetable when we have money and can do it how we want, it'll be more than a year down the line but it's what we want so whatever.

as my mom has said numerous times (keep in mind we have family in 4 countries - yes 4) - "get married hwen you want, where you want, and how you want - it's about pleasing you and no one else - so do it your way" - that's probably the best advice i can give. do what makes you happy, if it's the US - the US, if it's the UK - the UK.

(i'm giving people a >1 year notice that we'l be getting married, and telling everyone that they need to save for plane tickets - plenty of notice!)