Marrying abroad

renowen

Hi I hope someone can help me.

Me anf my partner have spoken about getting married but I have always been wary of weddings due to my family being total ******* and the thought of arranging table plans and having them all in one place give me nightmares.
But then partner suggested having it somewhere 'far away' so majority of them wont be there!
The more i think about it the more i like it, but have no idea what this entails and how much its going to cost?!

Does anyone have any experience of this?
I know thompson do wedding deals - are these any good? Is it cheaper to go down the package route or the DIY way?

Any advice greatly apreciated, thanks

lottee

All the major tour ops offer wedding packages tbh. You pick a destination, & most hotels will have various wedding packages available (for different budgets). Once booked, you will receive a pack from the wedding dept, which will advise you of all the documents etc that you will need to provide. Once in resort, you will be met with a wedding co-ordinator, who will finalise things & more importantly be there to help & organise anything you may need.
Personally, unless you have family in the country you decide on, I would use a tour operator. I was lucky as my parents live in Oz, so they pretty much sorted everything - from flowers to the Celebrant, so I didn't book a package. But I couldn't imagine doing it if they weren't there to sort most things for me. I'm sure others will have experiences though.
Pop into an agent & pick up some brochures, there will be loads of places to choose from, so dependant on your budget - it could be Cyprus or maybe the Caribbean !
Loads of people come in & see us, & say exactly what you have said above about families!
Good Luck!

Sus1e

One of my friends got married in Cyprus last year and the whole do came to less than £3000 (They didn't pay for flights or hotels for guests etc).

I got married at about the same time and my big church wedding in the UK (large families on both sides) came to £10,000 not including the Honeymoon.

This should give you some ideas on Costs.

If you want a full breakdown of the costs for my wedding PM me and I will send you them.

newmoneysaver_2

I got married in the carribean last year - and i loved every minute of it. Hubby has a hughe family, were as mine is fairly small. We just took a few close people with us. It was so easy to arrange - book a holiday add a wedding package, send off your documents and get married! Everything is arranged for you!

As posted above, get loads of brochures decide on a location and hotels - then compare the packages offered by tthe tour ops - different operators offer different packages. Some include video, photos, massages, breakfast, flowers, cakes etc.. We went for a package which included wedding!, cake brides flowers, button holes (groom & best man), photographs, breakfast in bed day after wedding or his'n'hers massages. We wnt for the massages and had them in the afternoon after the wedding so we got some us time away from the rest of the family. We paid extra for a dvd and extra flower for for bridesmaids etc...

I loved it and would do it all over again (not that i'll ever have too!) We have got gorgeous photographs from on the beach and the most wonderful memories. We threw a hugh party when we got home, so everyone was happy with not falling out over table settings, cars etc and I got to wear my dress twice!

Oops, this has turn out to be a long post, but if I have missed anything and you have any question just let me know.

PS. Congratulations!

Twopints

I got married abroad, in the Caribbean, and loved it! I did not want a church wedding and the only alternative then (1994) was Registry Office. Had a big booze up on our return for family and friends. Strangely, most people seemed fairly relieved that they could go to the reception without having to attend the wedding :rolleyes:

I would just caution that some hotels tend to operate like a production line - check how many other wedding would be held on the same day. Also you may need witnesses - we had family with us; but we acted as witnesses for a couple we met on the transfer from airport to hotel!

tigertiger_3

I also got married abroad a few years ago, the package hol plus wedding package came to about £4000 for 2 adults 2 children, we had to pay extra for flowers, hair, and photos ( about £200).
You can make it then what you like (i had dress etc bridesmaids suits for the men...which all added up!) a lot of the others there kept it quite simple.
Guests paid for themselves
Party on return optional. For myself it wasn't a cheaper alternative but the weather, place, a great holiday rolled in was fab and would recommend it, just choose your destination carefully lots of research ....oh another thing to consider is the documentation required in some countries ( like dom rep, mexico , cuba) you have to have them translated into spanish , verified at the foreign embassy etc which adds up to a few hundred pounds and is a bit of hassle, good luck let us know!

jmarko

if you want a hot wedding, the ideas are above. if you want a completely different wedding, iceland! we got married in iceland. the paperwork was a doddle. the people are amazingly friendly. the place is lovely. can't recommend it highly enough! if you'd like more details, pm me and i'll sort some!

whatever you choose, i hope you have a great time!

dianadors

I got married locally and didnt invite all my relatives. We booked a restaurant that could only hold 22 of us so that it really restricted numbers. We invited very close relatives ie Mums, Das and sister and best friends. We got married in church - had a meal, then went away afterwards. I loved it. You can also get married in other parts of this country now that are far enough away. This looks lovely and very special:

http://www.bluehayes.co.uk/site/specialoccasion.asp

nearlyrich

We got married on holiday in New Orleans, just sorted out the paperwork in the morning paid $25 and we were married in the afternoon. No stress no expensive do for people you don't want but feel you have to invite.

belfastgirl23

Italy is also a wedding favourite and worth considering. Close enough that those you want to be there can come without it costing them an arm and a leg but far enough that you don't end up with a load of relatives you don't want. There are plenty of package deals both for travel and for weddings.

jbbonce

I got married in Vegas in 2005. The whole thing, including 5 days accom, flights, wedding, flowers, outfits etc cost £1000. We were able to have our wedding broadcast live over the internet as we didn't invite anyone to come with us.

That price was before i was a MSE. Looking back, I think i could do the same thing for £800 now.

One thing to bare in mind though, is that your wedding present haul is likely to be depressingly small if you don't get married from home. I think we got about 5 or 6 presents in total