Getting married abroad

silentsmile

I'm going to stick my beak in here - me and my boyfriend got engaged last November and after a month of wedding planning I was totally put off by the costs and the fuss involved. I think we're now looking to get married either with just the two of us or with a very limited number of people (no more than 10-15).

We want to do it on a budget as neither of us have vast amounts of cash to spend and we've got our flat and other things of importance.

I honestly have no idea where to start - we'd like somewhere picturesque, where we can combine a wedding and a honeymoon, with good food, good sights, relatively good weather and somewhere to relax - we don't want something busy and hectic as we don't get a lot of time off and want to chill out! (Vegas, for that reason, is out, although we love the idea!)

Does anyone have any recommendations? My way of thinking is that weddings are only going to get more expensive as time goes on and whilst my boyfriend says there is no rush, I'd like to think there is!

ironman1

Reading up on reviews I still think Cyprus is the best bet, for us anyway. I love going there on holiday and you can have the relaxing part and also the boozy bit not far away.

sezsez

Hi i was just wondering which hotel you stayed at, and who you book threw please thankyou

ironman1

We have got a few quotes and reckon we can get a two week stay and the Wedding for around £4-5000. Its hard because we have to pay for it all ourselves and at 24 living in London with hardly an amazing income it will be tough. We only got our first place and mortgage two years ago. Starting to wish I didn't overpay every month, should have put it in a savings account for the Wedding!

Anyone that got married abroad how did you sort out the eating side of things? We looked at it for our guests, which will be at least 30 and even a bbq buffet works out around 60euro a head!

ironman1

Also how much did it come to roughly for those who did it abroad... We've looked at it and it seems the wedding is about £2k/3k and then obviously the hotel and flights comes to about 2500 for a couple of weeks. Is this about right?

Although we are doing it cheaper than over here, we don't want it to be too 'cheap' for our guests!

joho

Hi ironman and silentsmile. Congratulations on your forthcoming weddings.

We are getting married in Lindos, Rhodes - because that is where we met. Its a great resort - has the right mix of quiet and lively, 2 great beaches, huge choice of restaurants and bars, but, I think it is a bit dearer than most other Greek resorts I've been to.

Weddings there mainly take place in the grounds of a chapel. There are 3 chapels but by far the most popular is at St Pauls Bay, which is just the other side of the Acropolis from Lindos town. At certain times of the year it can be busy and there may be up to 5/6 weddings a day, but I've been to a couple there and never run into another wedding party.

As for how much it costs - well, how long is a piece of string? It depends whether you have a champagne reception at the beach bar after the ceremony, or whether you get a boat transfer back to the main beach for a BBQ, or whether you take over an entire restaurant for the night and have a full sit down meal! There are so many options and extras available!

Friends of ours got married there about 3 years ago and I reckon it cost them about £5k to for 60 people (which is a big wedding party out there!) for a 4 course sit down meal in a restaurant. But, I think they're parents paid for the wine, not that that would have been a huge amount on top.

There's lots on information if you just google Lindos and weddings, and there are several wedding organisers who will book the registrar and sort your paperwork etc. Theres also lots of reviews on places like TripAdvisor. Tour operators such as Thomson also do weddign packages.

Whilst it might be cheaper for you, it obviously isn't going to be cheaper for your guests - so be prepared for some grumbles from people who don't necessarily want to take a weeks holiday at the time you want or in the place you want (which is absolutely fair enough, but it is your wedding).

Hope this helps.

ironman1

Thanks for your post. We are going to the travel agents Friday to hopefully book up and get our deposit down.

We have chosen Cyprus. The food bit seems the costly part. We will only have about 25 guests but it still works out around £2k+ just for a buffet. That would mean it costs more than the Wedding itself and the hotel for a couple of weeks.

We will have to think of something there as we don't have loads saved up and still have mortgage and bills to pay. We can do it but things like the food are putting us a bit over our budget!