Has anyone been married abroad?

lucyfrancinetaylor

Hi,

Was just looking for some advice. I am hoping to get married this summer but only have a 10k budget, so we are thinking of getting married abroad. We looked into Santorini but the quotes we were receiving were scarily high, 5k for a photographer because he has to travel over from the main land...So now I am looking at Turkey, but haven't got a clue where to start... has any been married there before and can recommend places? or been married abroad and can recommend a cheap lovely place where we can all have a great time?

Zathur

I used to work in Santorini as a holiday rep and it should cost nowhere near €5000 for a photographer. When I was there my company used the photographer form the photo developing store in Thira which cost around €450. I know Olympic Holidays let's you pre book pretty much everything before you go, so it is all paid upfront. You can choose what to book etc upfront, and if you choose to add any extras on it can be done in resort by your wedding rep.

My wife and I got married in Cyprus and it was a lot cheaper than doing it in the UK. We paid roughly £5000 which included holiday for 2 weeks, registrar performing ceremony at hotel. Meze for meal and beer, wine and water for our guests. I would recommend getting married abroad.

CompBunny

Hiya

£10k is a good budget!

Would you actively prefer to get married abroad instead of in the UK? Because if you are only getting married abroad because you think its cheaper, £10k can get you a lovely wedding in the UK!

People on here will be able to help better if you give a bit of info like how many guests you would like, if your budget would need to include a reception back in the UK etc...tell us as much as you can for the best replies

I know that a girl on here got married in Cyprus and posted some lovely pics.. I'll try and find the thread for you, she had also posted the name of the company that she used. Thought it might be of interest to you as its somewhere between Santorini and Turkey haha!

CompBunny

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4192525 - a forum member who got married in Cyprus

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/55357457#Comment_55357457 - a thread about getting married abroad, just one i remember reading with interest

lucyfrancinetaylor

Thanks Zathur, may revisit the Santorini plans...Can you recall if eating out and drink was relatively cheap or expensive? Someone said to me, the prices there are extortionate... probably just hearsay, well have my fingers crossed it was I had my heart set on having the ceremony
at Dana Villas and the reception at Agios Artemios, where everyone would stay for the week too..Would you recommend theses places or know of any others?
I think I would prefer to get married abroad. Last summer it rained nearly every other day and would hate it or even the stress of it might happening on my wedding day, so think abroad is a safer bet and will be able to get a lot more for our money (hopefully).
We would have roughly 30 guests and would like them to all be in the same hotel / villa as us... Love the look of Cyprus and France even more so, thanks for the links, that is my Sunday taken care off, researching St Paul's Bay Lindos and French castles xxxxx

Scotsbride

try lookig at places out of season

Zathur

It wasn't that expensive when I was there, however, we payed rep's prices for everything!

I don't know the Dana Villas but anything around Firostefani (Caldera area) is worth it as the views are out of the world. The wedding's that I organised had the ceremony at Santos Winery which was up on the hillside overlooking the sea and the volcano. If I had not got married in Cyprus it would have been Santorini for us.

Fira and Firostefani can be quite expensive for staying and eating. I would look at Kamari, Perissa or Perivolos. There are a range of hotels and apartments to suit all budgets and you are very close to the beach (take sandals for the beach as it is black volcanic sand and gets very warm)

If you want anymore information drop me a PM.

joho

We got married in Lindos, Rhodes, using a wedding planner there (Lindos Weddings) who were brilliant. £10k would be a massive budget there and a photographer probably won't even cost 1k - depending on what you want obviously. I think ours was about 750E for which we got loads of pics!!

If you google Lindos, St Pauls Chapel and Lindian weddings you will find loads of pictures and information. St Pauls Chapel is the most popular and can get busy, but there are several other chapels and venues in the resort. Lindos Weddings also have a facebook page with information.

Congratulations and enjoy your planning. Yiammas!

will-he-payitoff

We looked into getting married in Santorini, but the paperwork and the cost of it put us off. Were now going to the St Lucia for the same cost and no paperwork

nancmat

We got married in st lucia 10 days all inc at the rendevous 3k, it was amazing we paid extra for a steel band but well worth it.

dw85

nancmat wrote: »

We got married in st lucia 10 days all inc at the rendevous 3k, it was amazing we paid extra for a steel band but well worth it.

H2b and I are hoping to do similar (in the Caribbean). We've budgeted £3k for holiday/wedding and then £2.5-3k for a reception back home after. May I asked who you went with and was it a tour operator package?