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Beginner May 2025 Cardiff

Two-part Wedding

David, 15 August, 2024 at 19:12 Posted on Planning 0 1

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Hey folks
I've been planning to propose to my girlfriend for a few months but been put off by the details
She's from Vietnam and has been in the UK for a little over a year on a student visa and living with me for 5 monthsWe want to get married to eventually go for spouse visa then British citizenship so there is a timing element that I'm unsure how to deal withCan we get married quickly at a registrars office (purely for the certificate) then have an unofficial wedding at a venue with friends family catering and all the bells and whistles.Will the big wedding count? Will it have to be officiated? Can we make the 2nd, larger, wedding look like it's our "real" wedding ceremony?Hope that makes sense
Any advice or suggestions will be much appreciated

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Latest activity by Bernatskyi, 19 September, 2026 at 09:44

Beginner September 2026 Essex
Bernatskyi · 19 September, 2026 at 09:44
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You can have the legal marriage at a register office and then hold a larger celebration with family and friends afterwards. The second celebration does not itself create another legal marriage—the legal marriage is the one registered through the official ceremony.

However, because your fiancée is in the UK on a Student visa and you are planning to rely on the marriage for a future spouse visa, it is important that the marriage is genuine. The Home Office specifically considers whether a relationship is genuine when assessing immigration applications, and sham-marriage concerns can lead to immigration consequences.

There is therefore nothing inherently wrong with having a simple legal ceremony followed by a larger wedding celebration, but I would avoid presenting the second event as a separate legal marriage if it isn’t one.

https://consultantlm.uk/consultant-article/british-citizenship-in-2026-full-requirements-and-how-to-qualify
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