I think if people point that out, that the Church has always used its discretion when it comes to marrying people (the prior divorce is a good example) then this should be considered no problem at all.

And you know, a lot of European countries do that, you have a civil wedding AND if you want, you get a religious one, or at least that is how it was explained to me when I lived in Germany. The church wasn't enough. You HAD to have a civil something.