6 Legal Steps to Prepare for Your Wedding

Calvin P Floyd

4.1k Reads

Updated: 6 Jul, 2023

Table of Contents

Plan together on the legal basics and keep communication open so you both feel seen as you sign contracts and decide on insurance.
Clarify your values and create last-name, will/estate plans as a team to deepen trust and show care for each other's future.
Discuss finances early and build a mutual plan, including prenups if needed, so you both feel secure and emotionally connected.

Wedding planning is undoubtedly stressful for everyone involved. But, it is also a lot of fun as you prepare for what will certainly be the most exciting day of your life up to that point when you tie the knot with your soul mate.

But, we’re going to discuss some of the more boring, legal aspects of wedding planning in this article. Also, it is important to fully understand that each and every one of these steps is crucial to ensuring that you are fully prepared for anything and everything to happen on the day of your wedding.

We’re very lucky to have partnered up with the reputable, Florida-based Musca Law to help us out with the finer details of these 6 important legal steps.

So, the following are a few tips that every couple should consider as they prepare for their big day, and you’ll probably be surprised how many legal to-do’s there are needed to ensure everything goes smoothly when you both say “I do.”

Ensure your vendors have signed contracts

This is a really important aspect of planning a wedding, and you’ll always want every vendor to sign a legitimate, legal contract if they are to be a part of your wedding.

This is something that you should do whenever you work with any vendor, and this contract will give you the guarantee you need so they’ll hold your date and live up to your arrangement based on their legal responsibilities.

You may not be able to get a wedding cake if your baker, all of a sudden, doesn’t show up, but you’ll at least have yourself legally covered in this type of no-show situation.

Wedding liability insurance

Consider taking wedding liability insurance A lot of wedding venues will require you to get liability insurance in order for them to officially lease out their space for your special day, and this will cover anything from a guest slipping on liquid or hurting themselves in any way.

No one ever expects a wedding guest to sue them, but liability insurance will ultimately have you covered in any type of these tricky legal situations.

Wedding insurance is a thing, and it’s a smart purchase for engaged couples to consider, no matter how big or small your wedding is set up to be. There is also an option to simply add liability insurance onto your home insurance in these situations as well.

But it will be up to you what you want to go with.

Also, don’t forget to have your engagement ring insured as well if you haven’t already done so!

Decide if you’re taking a new last name, or not

It is really easy to legally change your last name these days, and you can even use a site called ‘HitchSwitch’ to help you out throughout this process to make things even easier.

Of course, you’ll have to make the decision as to whether or not you want to take your spouse’s last name and maybe turn your maiden name into your middle name, or hyphenate your last name.

There are quite a few options for couples in terms of their last name, and some couples these days, even decide to change their last name altogether when they get married.

Recommended – Online Pre Marriage Course

Marriage license

Some couples overlook this crucial legal step, but it’s important to know that you won’t technically be legally married unless you receive this license in the proper timely manner.

A lot of people mistake the differences between marriage licenses and certificates. So we’ll briefly go over that right here. Marriage licenses will ultimately give a couple the authorization they need that states you are both eligible to become married, and your certificate simply states you have become legally married.

Each state will be different. But, it’s relatively easy to look up all the exact documents and legal material a couple needs in order to receive a marriage license. But you should always be looking into this with plenty of time to spare because there are specific time frames that typically must be met in order to receive your marriage license before your wedding day.

Update your will/estate plans

You are going to have to include your spouse on all of your legal documentation once you are married. This documentation includes things like your living will, Power of Attorney documents, your trust, and so many other legal documents oriented around family life.

Even if you’ve never had a will, your engagement is a great time to begin the creation of one so you are both prepared to legally combine your lives after your wedding.

Discuss prenups

Discuss prenups carefully Prenuptial agreements get a bad reputation as something that’s only needed in the case that a couple gets divorced, but this is not true and that’s only a simple aspect of these types of agreements.

Prenups will also allow couples to fully disclose their financial situations before getting married, which ultimately helps a couple create a financial management plan that works for both of them.

Finances are the least romantic aspect of getting married.

But it’s always a good thing to know what you’re getting yourself into financially when tying the knot with someone, and these agreements help make a couple’s finances more transparent from the get-go.

Helpful?

Take Our Pre-Marriage Course

Continue exploring this topic

Hi, I'm your relationship guide. What's on your mind?

YOU COULD START WITH

Share this article on

Share this article on

Calvin P. Floyd

Calvin P. Floyd has over fifteen years of experience in the field of law. He specializes in writing articles legal and law related topics on his blog. He is presently working at muscalaw, a reputable presence in the legal issue.