Question Summary:
Do we need a legal marriage certificate during the Nikah ceremony in order for the Nikah to be valid?

Question Detail:

I would like to know if its possible to have a Nikah ceremony without the legal marriage contract. My fiancé, who is a recent converter to islam, and I would like to have the islamic Nikah first and then have a legal marriage ceremony once we have made enough money to afford it. I do understand that we will not be considered marred in the court of law but both of our parents and us feel that a Nikah would be best while we plan for a full legal wedding

Answer :

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
As-salāmu ‘alaykum wa-rahmatullāhi wa-barakātuh.
It is not necessary to include the legal marriage certificate during the Nikah ceremony in order for the Nikah to be valid, the legal marriage certificate may be acquired afterwards. You may thereafter have a marriage ceremony with the intention of it being a Walimah. Furthermore, the Walimah should be done in such a way that it is free from extravagance and lavish spending. Consider the following verse:
وَلَا تُسْرِفُوا إِنَّهُ لَا يُحِبُّ الْمُسْرِفِينَ 
Translation: …and do not be extravagant. Surely, He does not like the extravagant.
[6:141]
And Allah Ta’āla Knows Best
Fahad Abdul Wahab
Student Darul Iftaa
USA
Checked and Approved by,
Mufti Ebrahim Desai                                                                                                                                                                                                                
www.Daruliftaa.net