I once knew a couple who got married then had a wedding. I found this to be very odd and I felt that they must be doing something that others do not do. However recently I came across an article that discussed secret marriages.
In the article, there was also a forum section where couples could ask questions. One question asked what the officiate should do at the wedding is the couple was already married. It also stated that no one knew the couple had previously already married.
The question reminded of the couple that I knew. In this case the couple wanted to run off and get married in Vegas. However they also wanted to be married in front of friends and family. In addition there was timing issue in which the woman could not take off from work for a few months.
The couple decided to take the weekend to Vegas and get married. Several months later they had a wedding and a honeymoon when the wife was off from work.
The situation described above was not a secret. However some couples do keep their wedding and marriage a secret.
While most people cannot wait to announce their engagement and wedding, there are several reasons why a couple may choose not to make their marriage public.
Ex spouses: In some cases couples keep their marriage a secret because they fear a negative reaction from an ex spouse.
Family issues: Some couples may not announce their marriage because one or both sets of parents are against the marriage.
Children: When one or both of the mates have children, they may keep the marriage a secret because they are afraid the children will not understand or will be upset.
Government: In fact some couples try to hide their marriage because they do not want money to stop coming in due to having to list the new family income of the partner. The money may be coming in from child support, alimony, food stamps, or other government funding.