Anyone get married abroad?

evansmummy

We got married abroad. We went for Florida as family wanted to visit there and we'd already been plenty before. In fact the year before our wedding we went to check out venues. We plumped for Cypress Grove which is a colonial style private estate. It was lovely. We're not big on being the centre of attention so this was perfect for us. We liased with the wedding co-ordinator here in the UK and two days before the big day we went to the venue to choose flowers and type of photos we wanted. It was totally stress free. Perfect! We tagged our honeymoon onto it - Miami, Key West and New York. We treated ourselves to 5 star hotels all the way and it cost about a fifth of big wedding in the UK. Then we had a reception for family and friends when we got home.

NEH

fluffnutter wrote: »

I agree but arguing that UK weddings are just as expensive as weddings abroad doesn't make either OK!

The bottom line for me? My guests were kind enough to come to my wedding and help me celebrate my day (evening really - didn't get married until 6pm). There's no way I'd expect them to shell out on my behalf! I didn't want presents, I laid on transport and made sure all booze was free for everyone, all evening.

I think people lose sight of the impact their 'special day' has on others and believe they've got carte blanche to expect hundreds of pounds spent on hen dos in Amsterdam, stag weekends in Vegas, specific frocks because Bridezilla doesn't want to be upstaged, expensive presents or (even worse) a cash contribution to the honeymoon (surely the rudest request ever??), accommodation in the quaint country hotel in the middle of nowhere unless you're prepared to stay sober and drive 300 miles home at 1 o'clock in the morning, etc. etc.

Whether you marry abroad or here in the UK, not considering your guests in the blind pursuit of your own 'perfect' experience is rude.

You assume we didn't consider guests at all which you don't know.

Some people don't have guests to consider or want to do things privately rather than having a huge show of it.

I did says some weddings in Europe are cheaper, not everyone has guests that live on the doorstop in this country, you're lucky if you do these days. I know some of my family would still have had to fly to my wedding even if I did have it in this country and "internal" flights can cost more than a international one.

At the end of the day guests have a choice nobody expects them to come whether its in this country or not. If they come that's a bonus and their effort/company is appreciated. Not everyone expect wedding gifts either. It isn't all about grab grab grab...

p-pincher

HI

We got married in New York in Dec 2010. We were going anyway so we decided to get married there at the Manhattan Marriage bureau (its moved from the city hall). Really easy to organise, cheap ($60) and its one of my favourite places on earth x

meritaten

my sis got married in The Dominican Republic and she said it was like a fairytale. It was a second marraige for her - her first was very traditional.
She said that it all went very smoothly and the video is lovely - tho the 'registrar' had a bit of trouble with her welsh name! kept calling her Ryan (her name is Rhian).
they became friendly with another couple out there for thier wedding and were witnessess for them - and they returned the favour.
then had a big party on return from wedding/honeymoon and showed the video.
brilliant!

piglet74

p-pincher wrote: »

HI

We got married in New York in Dec 2010. We were going anyway so we decided to get married there at the Manhattan Marriage bureau (its moved from the city hall). Really easy to organise, cheap ($60) and its one of my favourite places on earth x

i can 2nd that, i did the same, in 2007. was so easy to organise, you had to be there 24 hours beforehand, just the 2 of us went, with another couple (he was always going to be our best man anyways). had 5 days in NYC, 4 in Phildelphia, 3 in Washington, come home, had a reception for 200, and the whole thing, wedding, dress, suit, holiday, spending money, reception, cake, etc come to £5k

fluffnutter

NEH wrote: »

You assume we didn't consider guests at all which you don't know.

Not in the least, NEH. My comment wasn't aimed at you. I just quoted part of your post because it said something interesting about the price of weddings in the UK, and was a springboard for my musings. Sorry if I've annoyed you.

NEH

fluffnutter wrote: »

Not in the least, NEH. My comment wasn't aimed at you. I just quoted part of your post because it said something interesting about the price of weddings in the UK, and was a springboard for my musings. Sorry if I've annoyed you.

Tis fine

Thing is if we had wanted more guests there ours are scattered to the four winds in this country I don't know who we would have had to consider first! :rotfl:

saucyb86

We wanted a road trip and there were to many family issues to cover getting married at home and then having a road trip so we combined the two No one was invited lol. We went to LA first then travelled to Vegas stayed there 4 days and got married on the 3rd day so we had time to get our wedding licence and get comfortable. We had the best day and amazing pictures. we married outdoors at 5pm at the Valley Of Fire just after a massive thunderstorm so the red rocks were sparkling red like fire. Amazing place. we had our wedding breakfast at Maccy D's then onto the cheesecake factory, we watched the beligio fountains and had a day to remember. on our return we had an american themed party for all our guests.

cloudy11

We got married in Italy 3 years ago and it was fantastic. We had eight guests only and they were more than happy to pay to attend (and we would have been completely understanding if they couldn't- it was an invite, not a summons for goodness sake!).

I have been to weddings 3/ 4 hours in the UK away that cost me more than it cost our guests. We all live close to an airport and a 2/3 hour flight meant they only needed to stay for one or two nights if they wanted to.

We are very private, non religious people who wanted to get married in the evening, outside with an amazing view and somewhere warm! Going abroad was the perfect solution for us and we had an amazing time. It was also really cheap (under £700 for all of the official stuff including outfits and photographer). If we had had the wedding in the UK we would have absolutely hated it.

I also organised everything over the internet without even visiting the place beforehand. It just didn't enter into my mind that it would go wrong (I am super relaxed though!). It was a brilliant day and everything went perfectly.

As long as you don't 'expect' people to attend, do what you want! It's your day. Is my cousin amazingly inconsiderate for inviting me to her wedding in Scotland (6+ hours away?!). I find that attitude very odd- go or don't go- don't be offended at the location!

geoffky

Check out Aruba but keep the place to yourself..I do not want riff raff ruining the lovely place.