The Perfect Outfit For Your Civil Ceremony

Hi everyone and happy 2020! I cannot believe February is almost coming to an end – I have so much to share with you all.

Brian and I had our civil ceremony on Valentine’s Day and it was exactly how we wanted it to be – intimate, filled with happy tears, lots of laughter and of course, food! Our families don’t get together too often so when they do it is always such a special time.

So – why did we have our Civil Ceremony months prior to our big wedding day? Well, Brian and I’s first date was Valentine’s Day in 2011 and we wanted to mark our 9 year anniversary by getting married on the same day because …why not be extra cheesy if the opportunity presents itself right?

Why did we have a Civil Ceremony at all? Since our wedding will be in Israel, there were some complications with religion due to the fact that Brian is not Jewish and in Israel, interfaith marriages can’t be performed or in other words, will not be legally recognized. If we were to skip the Civil Ceremony in the U.S and go to our wedding in Israel not married yet, we would have left to our honeymoon STILL not married by the law which was a weird thought for us.

How did we go around the complications? Well first, we knew we had to get legally married here in America prior to our wedding in Israel. We kept it intimate with only our immediate families. Second, we found a reformed rabbi for our wedding in Israel as an orthodox Rabbi would not participate in an interfaith ceremony. Lastly, in order not to feel married yet until the Israel wedding, we did not exchange our vows at our civil ceremony, nor did I put Brian’s wedding band on him. Since I have chosen two wedding bands, he used one of mine for our civil, and the other will be for the big day! We are also holding off with changing my last name and calling each other husband and wife, so honestly – I’m not feeling too married right about now! Please be assured that you if you are facing the same issue and are worried that the civil ceremony will take anything away from your big day – it will not!

Okay – now onto the fun part of this post, my outfit for the Civil Ceremony! I did not want anything too grand and so I went to Bridal Reflections and tried on a few different options from designer Maggie Sottero (her pieces are to die for). I ended up choosing the Milan Jumpsuit as I loved that it was more laid back, comfy, and that I could wear it again during our honeymoon or pretty much plenty of other occasions.

*Photography by Steffon John

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I did however want to show you the rest of the options I tried on just in case you needed some bridal inspiration for an outfit to wear to your Civil Ceremony – hope this helps!

Vintage Wedding Gown for an Urban Street Wedding: Ettia by Maggie Sottero

Cocktail Reception Wedding Gown: Carmella by Maggie Sottero

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Rustic Elopement Wedding Dress: Mildred by Rebecca Ingram

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Simple Sleeved Wedding Gown with Accessories: Olyssia by Maggie Sottero

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Fit-and-flare Wedding Dress With The Dreamiest Open Back Details: Barrington by Sottero & Midgley

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You can read more about each style on the Maggie Sottero blog here or check out their website here and Instagram here.

I’ll be sharing more about our wedding bands from Brilliant Earth as well as all the gifts we gave to our wedding party soon! In the meantime, feel free to read more about why we chose Brilliant Earth here , why we chose to get married in Israel here, or for some more bridal-wear inspo you can go here.

Lots of love, Libby <3