With This Proxy, I Thee Wed
Aug 10, 2009 Wedding Planning InstituteOne of our favorite sources for all things marital is the nationwide team of experts employed by the Examiner.com. An article this week by San Francisco Examiner wedding and marriage expert Elizabeth Oakes opened our eyes to a type of wedding most people training to become a Certified Wedding Planner would never dream of planning; a ceremony  with one or both of the betrothed missing.
The Bride and (a lifesize picture of) The Groom
 A proxy marriage, in which either the bride or groom is not physically present at the ceremony, is apparently legal in at least five states. In 2003, a Russian Air Force Colonel married his fiancée via satellite video while he orbited the Earth on the International Space Station and she was surrounded by 200 guests at the Space Center in Houston, Texas.
While California, Texas, Kansas, and Colorado allow one stand-in participant, Montana stands out with the dubious double proxy marriage law. Another 2003 wedding featured an Army Private stationed in Iraq and his Italian fiancée in a ceremony in Kalispell that neither attended.
As with many customs and laws, proxy marriages did not originate with the needs of American servicemen and Russian cosmonauts. Legal in Mexico and Paraguay, marriage by proxy was a common practice for European nobility. Napoleon Bonaparte married the Archduchess of Austria, Marie Louise, by proxy in an effort to legitimize his empire and produce an heir.
Destination Wedding Venue
 In the late 15th century, the Tudor monarchy sought to correct a legitimacy problem of its own by arranging for the marriage of two-year-old Arthur, Prince of Wales, and three-year-old Spanish princess Catherine of Aragon as part of the Treaty of Medina Del Campo. When the young couple was 12 and 13, they were formally wed by proxy.
Should you have the occasion to plan a wedding ceremony a spouse or two short of a couple, know that you are partaking in a long-held and seldom used tradition that has seen vows spoken from space, in a warzone, and in royal courts throughout history. Challenge your clients to do more than just phone theirs in.
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October 18th, 2009 at 6:12 am
I wouldn’t recommend this to anyone because of the law differences in the US between states.
November 12th, 2009 at 7:28 pm
I live in Houston, TX and never heard of proxy weddings! I would like to find out how many have been performed in our area. I think it was a great idea to have a full sized picture of the groom on hand for pictures!
November 25th, 2009 at 6:31 am
I enjoyed your article. I have never experienced a proxy wedding but I did plan a wedding for a bride who’s sister was in Iraq. They setup a video feed on the stage of the auditorium facing the bridal party so that her sister actually did get to be at the wedding. It was very cool.
December 30th, 2009 at 11:31 am
I found this to be very interesting. I did not
know that could be done certain states.