gettin married abroad

ladydriva

hiyas weve just got engaged and are lookin at gettin married abroad

anyone else done this and got ideas of where to go/no to go cost etc etc
were hopin close family and friends will be able to come and are thinkin of plannin it for 2/3 years time to give them time to save up for it

many thanx

Becles

Each country has it's own marriage rules, so you need to look at each individual country.

In Mexico, you both have to stay in the country for 4 days before the wedding. You also need to have various blood tests and the results have to be submitted in Spanish, so that's something you have to have done when you are there. You also have to get various paperwork authorised by a Consulate.

This was just told to me a bride getting married in the hotel we stayed at, and she said it was a bit of a hassle.

The marriages in the hotel were not very nice to be honest. They just stuck some fancy chairs and a floral decorated arch in the middle of the beach. The wedding party were sitting on the chairs in their smart clothes watching the ceremony, while you had people in beachwear either side sprawled out on sunloungers, and children playing in the sand/sea around them!

Spendless

I married in Florida. We had to produce our passports, fill in a form each, read through a booklet and then were asked if we wanted to go ahead with the ceremony or had we got one planned-which we had for the following day. We had a variety of venues to choose from which were all described in our holiday brochure.

marcus01293

Would need to check over here that you would still be married in the UK.

shelly

Becles wrote:

Each country has it's own marriage rules, so you need to look at each individual country.

In Mexico, you both have to stay in the country for 4 days before the wedding. You also need to have various blood tests and the results have to be submitted in Spanish, so that's something you have to have done when you are there. You also have to get various paperwork authorised by a Consulate.

This was just told to me a bride getting married in the hotel we stayed at, and she said it was a bit of a hassle.

The marriages in the hotel were not very nice to be honest. They just stuck some fancy chairs and a floral decorated arch in the middle of the beach. The wedding party were sitting on the chairs in their smart clothes watching the ceremony, while you had people in beachwear either side sprawled out on sunloungers, and children playing in the sand/sea around them!

Totally agree Becles. When we were on our honeymoon in Mexico there were weddings every other day. I didn't actually see the ceremonies but I know that when the wedding party had their meal after the ceremony they had to sit in the same restaurant as everyone else who was staying in the hotel. There was no seperate room for them, and as it was a buffet style menu everyday they had to just help themselves to their food, they had no waiter service at all, which for a wedding I'd have thought would be a nice touch. Maybe its just Mexico that IMO don't offer a good service for your hard earned £££. Having said that the hotel was excellent for a honeymoon or a holiday, maybe just not for a wedding

Cook_County

There is absolutely no requirement to get married in a tourist resort at package brochure prices.

I would investigate where the locals get married and the local rules.

For example (and this is a perfectly good spot) you can get married in Chicago (no blood test & only 1 days notice required) by a Judge for only US$30 (http://www.cookctyclerk.com/sub/marriage_licenses.asp). There are many great hotels & restaurants nearby where you could have a wedding lunch (booked before over the Internet).

Many other towns & cities will offer similar facilities. I'd encourage you to do your own research beyond the glossy brochures and magazines!

newleaf

We got married in Australia 2 years ago. I think we had to be in the country for about 3 days prior to the ceremony, which was performed by a registered 'celebrant', we wrote our own vows and had a non religious ceremony with just 2 witnesses - but obviously the choice is yours. You can choose your venue and it can all be organised online before you go. The marriage is legal in this country and there is no complicated rigmarole or language difficulty to negotiate. I recommend it! Great place for a honeymoon too.

ailuro2

We got married in LAs Vegas 5 years ago.Honeymooned in San Francisco.
Couldn't have been easier, bit of a panic when the clerk at the courthouse asked if we were cousins because our mothers coincidentally share the same maiden name.
It's also a great holiday destination, but not suitable for kids.IMHO,Grand Canyon nearby so eay for a holiday of a lifetime for all, but some cheaper packages are available for those with a smaller budget too.

janine

Hi and congratulations. We have just booked our wedding for next march in Cyprus. We wanted Greece originally but all the paperwork was going to be sooo much hassle whereas cyprus is less complicated!

We are having a civil ceremony in a town hall and are taking our 2 young nippers with us, staying in a 4* hotel and I'm really excited.

Cost wise it's not too bad so far £1300 + £269 for wedding package + £200 for wedding Licence + solicitors costs for a few documents. We're only in the provisional booking stage so can't really say much more than that.

Good luck with your planning.

bargainaholic

We got married at Couples in Jamaica 8 years ago, & it was fab.

We looked in to getting married in the UK, & decided that we could easily spend £15-20k on a wedding for 100 relatives we hadn't seen in years. To us that seemed a waste of money & effort, so we paid for the ones that mattered to us to come out to Jamaica for a fortnight and stayed in some lovely appartments called Sky Towers.

A couple of people were really reluctant to come. My FIL had never been abroad before, & didn't want to, but he had a whale of a time. Both sides of the family took it in turns to cook the evening meal for everyone, & they got to know each other well. Eight years on they all still talk about my wedding with fondness, & at family get togethers they have that time in common if little else.

We're looking forward to going back to Jamaica for our 10th anniversary, & seeing a bit more of the island. We had such a lovely all inclusive hotel that we didn't venture out much before.

You have to be in the country for 7 days before the wedding, & it is legally acceptable in the UK.

Petal_3

For Cyprus - try: https://www.lefkarama.com.cy - a small hotel run by a friend of mine. I hope to get married there....maybe!

~x~