hoping to get married abroad, cheap but nice advice needed please

sezsez

Hello myself and my partner have been looking into getting married for afew years now , but i would not like a big wedding with all the trimming, i would hate it, thats why we have not done it yet, wouldnt like to be centre of attension, (horriable) anyway we have 3 children and are hoping to book a holiday about feb next year , so thought we might as well get married while we are there, if we get married here it would have to be big which i wouldnt like , and we couldnt aford holiday:( as well, so thought it would be better to spend our money on the kids having a lovely holiday and get married while we are there, not really bothered about anyone coming, if they cant aford it ect, we both just really want to get married as cheap :money:as we can. we would rather spend money on the kids enjoying themselfs,:rotfl: after all its not all about money its happiness,:A i think we are looking at cyrus, not really sure, i was wondering if anyone has done this before, and if they had any ideas of how much this cost or the :beer:best place to marry, ive looked threw travel agents and they charge about a thousand to get married , then there also the cost of the holiday on top of that:eek:, but our family wouldnt really be there maybe just my sister and her husband and kids for witness, if needed, thats it so wouldnt need a big package, just wondering if theres anyway i could arrange wedding myself direct with hotel or chruch, and how i go about it , if anyones done this before on here , i would be really greatfull for advice thankyou

Horace

Organising a wedding abroad and approaching the hotel and church directly is not easy..there are rules in some countries about you being resident there beforehand (sometimes about 3 days), churches tend to be more orthodox than the UK especially catholic ones plus there is the language barrier to consider.

There is a company in Gran Canaria that organises credit crunch weddings which are still fab - Gran Canaria is a beautiful place, warm all year round, on the same time zone as us and 4hrs away on the plane. https://www.celebrationsgc.com - this firm is run by an English guy and all his staff are English speakers. Using a wedding planner abroad often means that you get the best deal - they know the suppliers and will usually vet them to ensure that they are best for their clients...a good planner will pass on the discounts they receive to their clients.

kr15snw

We're getting married in australia and have booked it ourself via a celebrant and the venue. But I think this is only easily done because they have practically no rules on who can get married, and they speak English!!

Have a look at some of the package companies and if you want it to be just you 2 and the kids then they should be able to twist the package so you don't have to have lots of other people there

sal-ad_daze

I know people will get bored of me banging on but Gibraltar!!
It's British, I think you only have to register a day or so before the wedding and it's as cheap as you like!
You can fly into Gibraltar airport itself or use the budget airlines to fly into Malaga. There are hotels and apartments in Gibraltar but it's probably cheaper to stay in Spain.
You can marry at the registry office, churches etc., historic buildings, hotels, the top of the rock and the botanical gardens.
You can have your reception as formal or as informal as you like, hotels, restaurants, wine bars etc.
Perfick (unless you want a beach wedding!lol)!!!!

Edited to add a linky

kr15snw

Sal: Don't worry we're not bored yet, I bet people are bored about my Australian wedding though:P

ncv2

Vegas?
I think NYC is pretty easy, I don't think there are many wait days between getting the license and getting married. But don't quote be as marriage is a state issue not a federal issue, so I know for my state, which is not NY.

Maybe FL is you have kids you could do Disney for a few days as well as the beach. I would stay on the Atlantic side at this point though not the Gulf. :-/

If you are thinking of the US join theknot.com and go to the message boards under community, then find the city in which you may get married. The ladies will be able to point you in the right direction if you give them the number of people and budget.

sezsez

Hi thanks for all the replys, and advice gibraltar sounds wonderfull, gran canaria also sounds good thinking of marrying in feb so might be warmer there. i am also thinking cyprus, going travel agents this wk end , not sure if we would need witness or if we could just go as a family without anyone else. just really want to take my dress , kids hubby to be and get marry on the beach, my sister and her family may also be coming as well as she was going to book a holiday around same date. just wondered also if i could book directly with there town hall for someone to come out and marry us on the beach, or would i need a wedding planner to arrange this ? and how much there charge , if anyone knows pls thankyou :j

lulubelle-32

We are getting married in Florida, we have planned it ourselves and booked the venue, officiant and everything else seperately. Its been pretty straight forward and easy planning so far. You can get the marriage licence on the day of the wedding if you want to. We know Florida very well so it was an easy choice for us and Disney on the doorstep is a bonus!

joho

Sezsez, this is an answer I gave to someone else with a similar question:

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 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 wedding 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).

Horace

If you look on the https://www.celebrationsgc.com website you will see that they organise credit crunch weddings for you too. Just drop them an email and they will give you a no obligation quotation.

Mands

sezsez wrote: »

anyway we have 3 children and are hoping to book a holiday about feb next year ,

You mentioned that you might want to get married in Cyprus. It isn't hot all year round and February is really the most variable month. Some days might be quite warm out of the wind, other days will be cloudy and cold and wet.

Looking through my notes from this year at the start of February there was a real chance of snow. Then the temperature dropped and it started raining, lots. People tend to wear jeans and sweaters (and scarves and gloves) early in the year.

You would stand a much better chance of decent weather if you were in late March or April. Early May would probably be absolutely gorgeous with blue skies and gentle breezes and sea that was just about warm enough to swim in.

There was a thread over on the Overseas holidays board earlier this year that talked about weddings that might be useful:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2223595

I'd be surprised if it was possible to arrange everything for much less than 500€. You'd need a co-ordinator to deal with the paperwork and arrange the licence. Many of the hotels would be able to arrange a service in their grounds, or in a chapel in the grounds, or overlooking the beach or the sea. You would need two adult witnesses but if you are traveling with just your children then the co-ordinator should be able to provide those for you.

This site might help with some of your planning. I've no connection with them, they were just high up the list on googling for weddings in Cyprus.

Best of luck with your planning,
Mands