Country similar to the Maldives where we can legally get married?

blizeH

Hey guys,

Due to an ever growing list of reasons (personal preference, rather than anything huge), we've decided to get married abroad just the two of us.

We went to the Maldives a few years ago, and whilst there, we saw what seemed to be a wedding ceremony and both thought it was a great idea, but Maldivian weddings are not recognised by UK law, meaning we'd need to get 'married' both there and in the UK.

Are there any similar destinations we can go to which actually will be recognised in the UK please? The main priority for us would probably be amazing beaches and nice weather (but nothing crazily hot). Great snorkelling would be a huge bonus, and anywhere with lots of vegan friendly food would be nice too

Thanks!

TonyMMM

There is no list of countries whose marriages are recognised in the UK.

The general rule is that any marriage abroad is valid in the UK if it is done legally in that country - so if you don't want to have your actual wedding in the UK (before or after, as many do) you will need to find out what the legal requirements are for each place on your list and check you can comply with them.

Browntoa

You need to be a Maldivian to getmarried legally there, , you would have seen a blessing ceremony but you need to get married elsewhere.

http://www.marryabroad.co.uk/how-to-marry-in-maldives.shtml

Tammykitty

http://www.bridesabroad.tv/plan-your-wedding/can-i-legally-marry-abroad


Italy, France, Vegas, Cyprus seem to be options

blizeH

Thanks guys, it's a shame about the Maldivian marriage laws, as it'd be our number one destination by far

Has anyone here got married somewhere similar? I'm guessing other places near the Indian ocean would be nice, or the Caribbean etc?

Izadora

I'm getting married in Cuba in June.

So far we've only got the holiday part booked but, from what they said when we booked that, it's very easy to sort out the wedding and Virgin have representatives here who speak to the wedding planner at our resort so they'll just let us know what we need to provide and when and everything else will be done for us.

When are you planning on getting married? If you've got 6 months before you need to start organising everything I can let you know how ours went.

blizeH

Thank you, something like that sounds like it'd be great! We're hoping to get married in September I think, just because my girlfriends parents, and her grandparents got married on the same day, and I figured it would be nice to keep up the tradition

Cuba looks amazing by the way! Are you having a beach wedding? Hope you have an amazing time!

Izadora

Yes, it'll definitely be a beach wedding. Even if there's a monsoon that day and we end up looking like drowned rats...

If you decide to choose Cuba then let me know and if there's any help/advice I can give then I will.

Good luck with wherever you decide and that's a really sweet tradition to keep going.

blizeH

Better to be a drowned rat in Cuba on the beach than in the UK!

But yeah, Cuba really does look amazing, it's very much on our radar now, thanks again!

DomRavioli

There are speciality websites such as hitched.co.uk (others are available!) which have overseas wedding sections. You can't get married in France if you're not a french national, but companies such as Thomson do wedding packages to far flung places, even if just for ideas and inspiration.