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My (legal) husband and I had a small courthouse wedding ceremony, which was done entirely for practical reasons after my cancer diagnosis. Neither of us are as frum now as we were raised, but having a Jewish wedding ceremony and ketubah is very important to us. Is there any halachic reason why we couldn't now have a Jewish wedding ceremony?

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    Welcome to MiYodeya AthenaFlute. Great to have you learn with us!
    – mbloch
    Jan 19, 2019 at 18:26
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    Best wishes for your recovery!
    – Heshy
    Jan 20, 2019 at 15:12
  • I know lots of people who've done it.
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    Jan 20, 2019 at 20:18

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There is no reason not to have a Jewish wedding. On the contrary! There is a strong reason to have one, in order to live according to halacha with a kosher wedding and ketuba.

Note that, in many European countries (e.g., Switzerland, France), it is forbidden to have a Jewish wedding without first having a civil wedding. As such, all Jews first have a small wedding ceremony in front of civil authorities, and soon after that the real Jewish wedding.

With best wishes for a beautiful kosher wedding. Mazal tov!

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    In the general case as I originally thought from the title, could there an issue with making brachos, as per judaism.stackexchange.com/a/14148 that the civil ceremony might have been halachically valid? In the OP's case it seems that nobody had any daas that it should be halachically valid so you're definitely right.
    – Heshy
    Jan 20, 2019 at 15:16
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Actually, there is a reason not to have a Jewish wedding, although I hope it does not apply to you. If there is concern that there may eventually be a civil divorce, without a proper Get (Jewish divorce), then it is better that the original should not be binding according to Jewish Law. See Igros Moshe Even HaEzer I, Siman 74, where he argues on Rav Eliyahu Henkin, and in Even HaEzer II, Siman 19 he says the children from a subsequent marriage would be kosher.
(The question of whether a civil marriage needs a Jewish divorce is beyond the scope of this question)

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  • I assume I got down voted because I did not quote a source, so I added one.
    – arecaps
    Jan 21, 2019 at 4:08

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