When I lived in Italy, I had a friend that got married. First there was a civil ceremony at the "town hall", followed by a Catholic Church wedding.

The civil ceremony was the legal wedding.

The church wedding was the "accepted" wedding ( Italy was 98% Roman Catholic at the time).

With the separation of church and state in the US, I'm surprised we haven't arrived at the legal and religious weddings situation yet. This issue may cause it.

With celebs like Brittney and their 24 hour weddings (if that) how more screwed up can the institution of marriage get. If 2 people are deeply and truly committed to each other and want to commit their lives to each other, more power to them.