Getting married abroad...any advice?

Lalaladybird

We want to get married abroad next year, anytime, anyplace :rotfl:but just as cheaply as possible without it being tacky. A beach wedding appeals to us both.... I like the thought of the maldives but that's not cheap :rolleyes: I really haven't got a clue how to organise any of this but can't wait to be a mrs. I'd appreciate any advice:o

HotLips_2

Hi,
Hubby and I got married abroad and I would highly recommend it!!! We went to Cuba and it was wonderful. It was just me and him so there was nobody else that we had to try to keep happy. When we arrived at our resort we arranged to see our wedding co-ordinator the next day. At this meeting we were given about 3 options for each part of the wedding, cake, food, location, flowers etc. This made the whole thing so simple as your choice was limited slightly although they were able to accomodate most requests. They also had very good priced photo packages, we paid about $200 (4 years ago) for the wedding to be filmed and put onto DVD & VHS, plus loads of photos in an albumn. If having your wedding abroad, please think about what the weather should be like at the time you intend to travel as you don't want to have it during the rainy season!!!

Good luck!!

wubbue_2

i got married in cuba too! compared to the rest of the caribbean it was reasonably priced but be prepared for it not to be quite as luxurious either. i didn't find that a problem cos i went to cuba to experience the culture etc but i did overhear other brits moaning that "it's not as good as jamaica, i'm never coming back here again!"

it's so simple to organise a wedding abroad. i booked ours through the travel agent then went through the details with the co-ordinator at the hotel when we arrived. no good for bride-zillas as you don't have much choice and you may find that they don't give you quite what you requested (when the white flowers i asked for turned up they were a gorgeous peachy orange instead!) so just go with the flow and enjoy the big day!

hotlips has a point about choosing the time of year to go - we had our wedding on the beach in september just as a hurricane was coming in! we had time for a quick wedding meal then spent our wedding night packing to move inland! wouldn't change it for anything tho it was a proper adventure :-)

Horace

It will also pay you to check with the Foreign Office and the British Embassy in which ever country you choose because some countries marriage certificates won't be recognised over here e.g. Thailand springs immediately to mind.

brightonman123

why not go to Formentera (off Ibiza, itself off Spain..)

do a deal with the local press for an exclusive(?!) newspaper/magazine deal, and top up the tan while saying I do..

then back on the 6 o'clock ferry, and into town to get orf yer head on sangriaaaaa!

homeaway

Just an idea but have you thought about going to a travel agent and looking at the wedding packages that they offer? Some hotels have wedding planners who would be very happy to assist you even if you dont go through the package route and organise the hotel privately. It might work out cheaper to book flights and hotel seperately. Once you have decided on a destination then check out what paperwork you need to get married as it does vary greatly from country to country. The best place to do this is the foreign office. Another idea is that you could get married in the Uk quietly and have a blessing or something of that sort on the beach? That way the paperwork is easy. Do what makes you happy

Monks_habit

Just to let you know, you can't get married in the Maldives, they only do renewal of vows.

I'm getting married in Sri Lanka and then of to the Maldives, week in one and a week in the other.

I'm doing this in March / April which is the high season at approx cost of £6000 all inclusive.

Out of season can be approx £2000 cheaper.

This is just me and my future wife, (sod everyone else ha ha)

My theory is that the average wedding costs approx £18,000, this is from your bog standard registry office to your celebs in Ok and Hello!

Even if you are more realistic and half that figure (£9,000) my wedding is still £3000 cheaper than the average wedding in this country.

piglet74

i got married in New York last year, i woudl highly recommend going away to anyone,

http://www.health.state.ny.us/vital_records/married.htm

GemmaB78

OH and I are planning on Vegas. We intend to embrace the vulgarity in all it's glory!!! Then to be followed by a couple of weeks driving around California. No hassle. No stress. Perfect!

amac_3

I got married in Jamaica earlier this year and loved it! I would def recommend going abroad to get married. Check out the website below, its got loads of great tips and advice for destination brides!

http://bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/

Happy planning!

jakejenson

I got married in Cyprus 3 years ago. I booked the holiday through work (as I was a travel agent at the time) then I booked the wedding through a company I found on the internet called MedWeds. I was abit worried about booking the wedding through an internet company as apposed to through the tour operator but i'm really glad I did as it was alot more personal. For example when you book your wedding through a tour operator you book your holiday then request the day you want to get married then it takes a couple of days/weeks for them to confirm the date, but this date is never 100% also the time you wanna get married is just a 'request'. However MedWeds managed to guarantee us a date & time straight away. Their prices for all the extras i.e. flowers, horse & carriage worked out cheaper than the tour operators.

Your best bet is to ask at your local travel agents for a few wedding brochures to see the options available. Also check the legal requirements for the countries you are interested in as some are more strict than others (these are normally printed in the back of the wedding brochures)