Getting married abroad?

Quiet_thought

Hi all,
my fiance and I are considering a wedding abroad. A few friends have been to weddings like that and have been telling us that they work out cheaper than weddings in Ireland. So basically I'm just wondering if there is any truth to this?
Thanks

cowhands

We too thought briefly about this too when we got engaged. But when you factor in travellings, accomodation, shipping items over and the hassle you put on others we decided against it. There would be alot of our family members who wouldnt be able to make it over for us some elderly etc and we didnt want to celebrate our day without them.
So it probaby works out alot cheaper because the numbers are alot lower than having a wedding here.
But having said that you are most likely garanteed great weather which would be lovely!

Hotels in Ireland are doing some great deals at the moment and I think value is starting to come back plus suppliers are more willing to haggle here too. Im surpised by some of the deals Im after picking up to be honest.

But its your big day and everyone if different so do what you feel best.

Hellrazer

You`ll save over 50-70% getting married abroad.

We got married in Barbados.Price over here 11000 pounds at the time--we had it booked and all for here and were buying a house so we looked in to weddings abroad.

Barbados wedding including honeymoon about 4000 pounds and that included everything--Photos,videos,wedding ceremony,14 nights accommodation,flights etc.

We had a massive party the night before went for 200-250 people and had food,band,dj etc that cost us 500 pounds and was a brilliant night--kinda like a pre-wedding reception.

Hope this helps.

Quiet_thought

One of our reasons for doing it is that my fiance is french. All of his family would be travelling regardless of where we do it. My side of the family is quite small. After reading some of the threads here and seeing that people are doing Irish weddings for around or under €10000, I'm really just thinking there isn't that much of a saving to be made going abroad. Although, the weather would be a great bonus....I also like the idea of a big family holiday....ugh, even thinking about wedding plans is stressful!!

Quiet_thought

Thanks Hellrazer.
How many peolpe did you have at the wedding? Did you go through a travel agency or organise things yourself?

hunnymonster

we got married in the Algarve and it wasn't any cheaper than in Ireland.

Incy Wincy

we just got married in Malta and what we paid 3,000 for we should and would have paid 30,000 for back here for definite...see my thread called "just got married in Malta" for prices etc.....I know the cost of living in Malta is less than here and the wages are also less than here but quantity-wise what we got was unbelievable...and it was service with a huge smile in the hotel not like here where you run the possibility of sitting along a conveyor belt and all your missing is the protective glasses for when they slam the food down on the table in front of you.....that has been my experience of irish weddings to date.... :-(

barbiegirl

It really does depend on what you want. We got married in Italy because we love Italy and could have the type of wedding we wanted. 110 people came and we got a lot more for our money. We still saved and spent €32k (€13k of which was accomodation for 40 people for a week in a luxury villa) but would have spent closer to 80k for the same here.
You can spend as much or as little as you like whether abroad or in Ireland. For us we had our dream wedding :-)

driftykas

i got married in lanzarote and found a wedding planner on the reccomendation of people on boards.ie. it was amazing start to finish, but it really depends on how many people are going. our group was small, 14 adults and 3 kids, and everything cost E7500, that included accomodation for everyone in villas for the week. anyhow what we did then was have an evening reception in a hotel with dj and small buffet for 200 people the day we arrived home and that only cost 500, it was a great night and i got to wear my dress twice!!!

Cadyboo

It is far cheaper to get married abroad, firstly there wouldnt be hundreds of people going and food, flowers etc would be cheaper.
That being said it is great savings for the couple, however it is a very expensive wedding for the guests to attend.
I went to a wedding abroad a few years ago when there was a lot of money about and it was fabulous, it obviously incorporated our summer hols, however we have been invited to one next year in lanzarote and was checking prices last night and the cheapest is 780e each for a week. Then adding spends, outfits, wedding presents etc, it is going to be a very expensive wedding for us to attend!
With a lot of people out of work now I think it is hard for people to go to weddings abroad.

Supercell

In China its traditional to give the bride and groom a gift of money in a red envelope instead of a present. Its not uncommon to make a profit at a wedding, in fact the bigger the wedding the better! We are hoping ours will help towards the honeymoon afterwards

Judging by some of the wedding budget threads in this forum having a wedding in Lichtenstein or Monaco would be cheaper than Ireland, totally crazy figures being bandied about!