A commitment ceremony is often very similar to many other kinds of weddings. The difference is that rather than being a legally binding ceremony, it is simply a public affirmation of a couple's commitment to one another. Before gay marriage was legal in the U. A commitment ceremony may be religious or secular, formal and traditional or loose and unstructured.
Couples who have commitment ceremonies should not say they are married, especially not on any official forms, and most especially not if they live in common-law states. Here are some of the most frequent questions people ask us about commitment ceremonies:. Can we do that? A few ideas you might find helpful:. Anyone in the U. When people legally marry, they can change their names without a court order.