Fiance Visa
 

My son is getting a fiance visa, so that his girlfriend from Europe can come back to NYC. They must be married within 90 days upon her return. Think they are just going to get married without family. And then renew their vowels in her country in 2 yrs.(after she gets permanent residency). But,if they do want the 4 of us(husband, daughter,son-in-law & me)to attend, we don't want to go to NYC. Is there a nicer setting in US for a simple ceremony that we could fly to & maybe make a vacation out of it? We live near Raleigh & daughter lives near Dulles Airport.
Thanks for any suggestions.

That question consonantly comes up on these boards.

There are literally hundreds of answers to your question depending on budget, type of vacation, and how far you want to go. Try Florida, the beaches are nice. Maybe Charleston, SC.

My son had mentioned Las Vegas, but my husband felt that would be corny & gaudy.

He then mentioned Miami. He's never been to those places. He's been to Vt.,Niagara falls,& Orlando.

They don't really have much money & since we just retired, either do we.

We just don't like the city. We would go there when we lived in NJ, but we're just not BIG city folks.

Thanks for writing.

Any other ides?

Am I the only one who thought this was a new type of credit card???

Nope :)

Is your son asking your opinion, or are you just hoping? You might want to come up with an option close to their apparent preference, which sounds like NYC, and suggest somewhere lovely in NY State or thereabouts.

Oops! I read he's considering a range of places. I'll go with the Charleston idea, unless we're talking sometime in the summer. When are you talking about?

If everything goes well at the consulat in Europe,probably before December is my guess as to when they will marry.

I think that my son wants to get her an engagement ring before she goes back in 3 weeks. But money is tight. My daughter suggested a friendship ring.

An engagement ring doesn;t have to be a diamond - in fact in europe they frequently use other stones. Mine is in fact a sapphire (my birhtstone and my favorite stone) - and at a time budgets were tight this got me a ring I liked much more than some diamond chip - at a reasonable price.

This is an odd question.

No offense I swear (it seems like I'm getting yelled at all the time for being rude and I honestly am not trying to be ugly) but your son is nice enough to want to include you and it seems like you are throwng up roadblocks.

Don't like the city, Vegas is too expensive, etc.

Could there possibly be an underlying reason for this? Maybe you don't really approve of this marriage?

I would tell your son to pick wherever he and his fiancee would like to get married and you and the rest of your immediate family will move heaven and earth to get there.

You don't want the fiancee down the road to become resentful.

Just my opinion and I am not trying to offend you.

Good luck and let us know how it works out.

Just read GoTravels response and I agree. The biggest hassle my wife and I had when planning our wedding and reception were the "requests" from her family, my family and friends. "You need to make sure they have coffee because your Uncle looks for coffee right away." "Why are you having it New York City, where are people going to park and people won't come..." "I know I wasn't invited with a guest, but two friends are coming in that weekend, can I bring them.?"

Getting married is stressful enough. Let them tell you what they are thinking and what they'd like to do. It is afterall about them.

Yes, Judy, I opened this to check out this new type of credit card!

If this is a serious thread...take them to Gatlinburg to get married. It's 2nd to Vegas in marriages...and, you can have a very nice wedding there or you can get one of the drive-thru $69.99 deals.

Just one thing to think about, since just about any place is bound to have some nice location for a small wedding:

When they go through the lengthy process of dealing with the INS for permanent residency, they are going to be required to come up with all sorts of documentation of the marriage, their life together, etc.

If they get married away from where they will live and where the INS office is located, they will either need to be careful to get everything they need and store it faithfully or get married close to home so that return trips to gov't offices are easy to make. Been through this when my (then) fiance was moving from Australia and it was nice that the county registrar was only a few miles away.

Good luck to them and here's wishing them a happy life together.

Couple of suggestions from someone looking for a credit card.

Inn at Little Washington, along the Skyline Drive, or Colonial Williamsburg, VA.

In NC I've been to several lovely weddings at the Fearrington House south of Chapel Hill. Also check for places in Hillsborough, NC. Quaint historic area.

Gaitlinburg does have a wedding industry. Also check for B&B's that have wedding packages. Also might want to post at the know website (either theknot.com or knot.com)

I apologize in advance, but the image of 2 lovers "renewing their vowels" is just too good to let pass by without comment. :-D

"O" honey, "I" love "U" more now that "I" did ten years ago.

Would this be an example of renewed vowels?

Hello Clifton!
I was so pleased to read your message. The kids have gone through so much paperwork/aggrevation, as you well know. Their petition for a fiance visa was approved recently here in the States. Now they have to wait on the consulat in Croatia, which will take time. The girlfriend is from Slovenia(beautiful country), for those who don't know, it's below Austria & formerly part of Yugoslavia. She returns to her home later this month, thus starting her long road of questions, medical tests, etc.
Anyway, I really appreciated your tips about the marriage location. I have worked hard with them to provide pictures, birth certificate, etc. to help prove that they have lived together over the last 2 yrs. They met while attending the University of Vienna, 2/01. They are very devoted to each other, but the entire process of getting her back here is very stressful. She wants a wedding like my daughter's, small & in the country(Paris, Virgina~Ashby Inn). But she wants it in 2 years, in her country. Can you blame her? It was difficult for my son to tell us that they will just go themselves to City hall to get the license. I don't know if they can get married there as well. All I know is that he is confused. He wants to make this special, even though our government is forcing him to do this quickly.
Did you marry the girl from Austalia? I hope so! If so, how long ago was it?
Nite!
NCPhyl

Although you may not be crazy about NYC, it does probably make sense for them to get married there. I think you could make a very nice celebration for them, and as there are only 6 of you in total, logistics should be easier to work out. You could have a nice vacation in NYC, IMO, seeing museums and plays. I would suggest the following:

1. Get married in Central Park and have a lunch or dinner at the Boathouse or one of the hotels near the park. For information on getting married in the Park, go to ww.centralparknyc.org. If you click on weddings on the left, you will get lots of information on where and how you can be married in the park.

The Boathouse
Park Drive North and E. 72nd St.
Central Park
New York, NY 10021
212-517-2233

Lovely restaurant on a small lake in the park with great green and city views.

Restaurants near the park include the Plaza, the Stanhope and the Mark. You could also consider the Crystal Room in Tavern on the Green, which is a lovely setting, although I have to say I am not crazy about the food.

2. Get married at City Hall in downtown NYC, and have a meal at one of the following:

River Café
1 Water Street
Brooklyn, New York 11201
Telephone (718) 522-5200
http://www.rivercafe.com/

Stunning views, great food.

Fraunces Tavern
54 Pearl Street
(Corner of Broad Street)
Tel: 212-968-1776: 212.797.1776
www.frauncestavern.com

In the Wall Street area, would be walkable from City Hall; a Revolutionary War-era restaurant and tavern (George Washington ate there) with very good food.

No, I couldn't blame her a bit for wanting the hearts and flowers version of the wedding at home where she grew up. I'm sure she'd always imagined it there. And I've seen photos of Slovenia! Going to the 'big' version is a major plus for you too! I'd love to go. They'll get through the INS stuff. The INS is more like a patch of really sticky goo than a wall. You can see the other side, it's just a pain to get there.

Yes, I did marry the girl (just around 5 yrs ago). I'm no fool. :) Best choice I ever made.

ncphyl,

My youngest brother married his Ukrainian girlfriend about five years ago. It was a stressful process for them as well. Your son and his fiance need to make sure they have everything in order. Get as much info as possible and go about this in a very methodical manner. Yes, it will take time. Expect that.

My brother and SIL married in a Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine (beautiful ceremony) and then they married in a civil ceremony here. Everything worked out fine.

Martha