Quick relatively cheap wedding not requiring witnesses

UDP

Hi,

I am looking to get legally married to my GF of 8 years asap.

Its a long story but basically she is not Irish but is european and I am Irish. We plan to have a proper ceremony wedding in a few years time but for now we cannot afford anything (even small) nor are our families in a position to travel to the other partner's country for a ceremony. My GF is currently doing a 4 year masters at the moment (which is why we are holding off on a ceremony) and because she is not working we are losing out tax-wise due to not being married (to the tune of over €14k+ over the next 3/4 years).

We would prefer if we could get married without the need of having witnesses too if possible as we would ideally rather not tell anyone we are getting married as it would take away from a ceremony we plan to have in a few years time.

We are willing to travel to probably anywhere in europe (and possibly even further if it was worth it) if there was somewhere that allowed a quick legally recognised marriage that didnt require witnesses.

Anyone got any ideas of anywhere suitable?
Ideally would like to literally go in and sign a marriage cert and get going again (as we want as low key as possible until we get chance to have a proper ceremony with our families/friends).

Thanks for any help/advice.

Acoshla

I'm pretty sure you have to have at least one witness, but I think you can get anybody, a stranger, a staff member.

tinkerbell

You need two witnesses to get married.

Bride2012

It's true that you need two witnesses but it can be anyone. One couple I know had the taxi driver who drove them to the registry office and a woman from the street (gave them a few quid each).

TheDriver

being honest, civil marriage in Ireland is dead easy once you pay your 150 euro. Just pop in, sign the paperwork, set a date, march in with 2 witnesses and off you go.
Not sure how easy it is for your gf, she may have to get the letter off her embassy saying she is not married before or something.
You must state your witnesses at time of registering but it can be changed afterwards

Vegas is easiest option if you want total easy walk in wedding!

Sleepy

The tax thing really is a kick in the teeth tbh.

We're planning our wedding for next year on a very tight budget but if co-habiting couples received the same treatment from the Revenue Commissioners as they do from the Department of Social Protection, we'd have an extra three and a half grand to spend on the wedding. It's not a huge sum in the grand scheme of life but it'd certainly make a big difference to the wedding we could afford and since we've been living together nearly 4 years at this stage it'd actually pay for the entire wedding

Moonbeam

Gretna green?


Sleepy - we would have alot more money too.
We got married in Nov and our "wedding" is Feb 2013 :rolleyes:

Miaireland

You need witnesses however they do not need to be people who you would be inviting to your Wedding in a few years time.

Could you not ask a couple of people from your partners course or a couple of people from work.

UDP

Miaireland wrote: »

You need witnesses however they do not need to be people who you would be inviting to your Wedding in a few years time.

Could you not ask a couple of people from your partners course or a couple of people from work.

Was just thinking that I did not want relative strangers signed on the marriage certificate if at all possible - that why I would have liked if there was no need for witnesses in some european country so would go there to get married.

Since it looks like most places (at least those near Ireland) need witnesses then we will just get two good friends to be the witnesses.

Thanks anyone for the responses.

tinkerbell

UDP wrote: »

Was just thinking that I did not want relative strangers signed on the marriage certificate if at all possible - that why I would have liked if there was no need for witnesses in some european country so would go there to get married.

Since it looks like most places (at least those near Ireland) need witnesses then we will just get two good friends to be the witnesses.

Thanks anyone for the responses.

OP, think about it for a minute. How do you think a marriage could be legal if there's nobody to witness it? Legal documents need a witness. I doubt you'll find any place in Europe which would allow that. Surely if you're thinking of going to another European country you could use what you planned there to have a few friends or family celebrate with you here.

Ask 2 of your close friends to come with you (I don't like the idea of strangers either), they'll be delighted to help. I think though you should consider telling your parents, give them the option to come over (if they can't, well at least you asked). A marriage is a big deal, they might be hurt if you did it without telling them.

UDP

tinkerbell wrote: »

OP, think about it for a minute. How do you think a marriage could be legal if there's nobody to witness it? Legal documents need a witness.

My understanding is that in some part of the USA it witnesses are not required so I was looking to see if there was anywhere closer to home like there.

tinkerbell wrote: »

I doubt you'll find any place in Europe which would allow that. Surely if you're thinking of going to another European country you could use what you planned there to have a few friends or family celebrate with you here.

That is the plan in a few years time but the problem is we do not have the funds to do such a thing at the moment but at the same time we are losing out massively tax wise because of the unfair way the tax system is setup.

tinkerbell wrote: »

Ask 2 of your close friends to come with you (I don't like the idea of strangers either), they'll be delighted to help. I think though you should consider telling your parents, give them the option to come over (if they can't, well at least you asked). A marriage is a big deal, they might be hurt if you did it without telling them.

The problem is we have to keep those who know to basically just those who have to know i.e. the witnesses as otherwise it would take away from the ceremony we are planning to have in 3 years time.

Unfortunately there is no chance of my GF's parents travelling over at the moment and because her country's legal system is so complex we could not get married over there without a lot of hassle and a lot of travelling back and forward.

Looks like we will have to just do it here in a few months time.

Thanks everyone for the advice.

Acoshla

Just get strangers as the witnesses and none of your family will know?