Wedding Abroad - Where to Start?

Berty

We have always known we are to get married abroad, personal choice and we also attended one in Sorrento.

I have looked on this forum and of course googled it but I'm still overloaded by information.

Firstly it wouldn't be a big affair. Maybe ourselves and 20 people of modest incomes and a few with nothing but the social income.

Where would we even go? We had thought of Spain, Portugal and Italy but don't know where to even start looking.

Are travel agents like Topflight good to use or is it better to use a planner that you find online?

We thinking of 2014.

Any help, limited even, to get us off the ground floor with information is appreciated.

clint_silver

settle on a destination. lets say ibiza or lanzarote.

hit boards.ie, weddingsonline ie and everyones favorite google to get started to find out all you can about those destinations for weddings including whatever you legally need to get married in that country.

settle on a date as its the first thing the suppliers will ask you.

Narrow your list of suppliers. hotels. priests. food. entertainment. fly out to destination, visit all the suppliers and vet them. then book them. then send out invites ASAP. be prepared for many refusals if its foreign.

Alternatively, hire a local wedding planner to do it all for you. lots of recommendations on the forums for planners in each location.

Sleepy

I can't imagine there's many living on welfare who can afford to attend foreign weddings tbh.

We fancied the idea ourselves but as a family living on a fairly modest income, it just wasn't affordable for us to fly out and put-up our closest friends and family and there'd have been too many of them that wouldn't have been able to afford it if we'd put the costs of travel on them.

There was one in my extended family recently and the amount of sniping that went on about it behind the B&G's back was unreal.

If it's something you really, really want to do, I'd suggest looking at it as an elopement and arranging a party for the family and friends to celebrate with you when you get home.

barbiegirl

First pick somewhere that you can fly Ryan Air to. Then their needs to be a variety of accomodation for all price ranges, so a decent sized town or city. In Spain and Italy you won't need a civil ceremony as well as religious, either way you will need someone to advise on this area.

So then when you pick the area you start researching. What kind of a meal do you want, buffet in a garden or a sit down, will there be a DJ or a band. There are some hotels that have wedding planners who do it all, and other independent wedding planners. Pick what you need.

As soon as you have a date and veue booked send save the sate cards to peolple so they can start to plan. As much notice as you can give.

Be aware that your level of control compared to a local wedding is reduced as you have to trust the suppliers and planner. We got married in 2008 in Villa Baroncino in Umbria and it was fantastic. Today I think the wedding would be much smaller or just wouldn't happen abroad. Possibly look at Florence, Seville, Rome or Valencia.

Best of luck

Sleepy

barbiegirl wrote: »

As soon as you have a date and veue booked send save the sate cards to peolple so they can start to plan. As much notice as you can give.

While that will help, you'll also need to be prepared for some of those you're inviting to turn around and tell you they can't make it. Refusal rates for weddings in Ireland are running at about 25% at the moment so you'd have to allow for a much higher level than that on a foreign wedding.

30/40% of guests not being able to make it when you've invited 200 people is one thing, but when there's only 20-40 invited guests to begin with I think it'd impact on the day.

Prepare yourself (and your fiancée) for the possibility of some very close friends not being able to to attend (or claiming not to be able to because they aren't prepared to base their annual holiday around your plans) and try not to fall out with anyone over it. We've seen brides on here in the past who were very resentful that their friends weren't prepared to book flights, take time off work and pay for a week's accommodation to celebrate their wedding with them.

As I said, I love the idea of an Amalfi Coast wedding myself, I'm not knocking the idea itself but unless you're paying for everything from the flights to the drinks on the night and everything in between, there are complications to doing it and the logistics are the least significant of those my opinion. Even under "Lotto winners treating their friends and family" circumstances I referred to above, you'd still probably end up with someone bitching about some aspect of it (Great Auntie Mabel complaining that the local Parish Priest would have done a nicer mass etc. :rolleyes:).

robertxxx

Better to get a planner and for her/him do the work.

That's what we're doing.

Berty

We attended a wedding in Sorrento so the whole Italy thing is out for our family. Some won't afford it.

We are thinking Nerja in Spain as suggested by others but I have a big question where the Internet is very vague about.

What Documentation do we need?

The Department of Foreign Affairs lead you to believe that you only need to consult them but the information regarding the church is highly vague. One bit of information says we require

- Pre Marraige Course
- Bapitsmal Cert
- Confirmation Cert
- Proof of Freedom from Church

Also, information on Weddings abroad is pretty vague when it comes to the Internet.

lily09

Beer Baron wrote: »

We attended a wedding in Sorrento so the whole Italy thing is out for our family. Some won't afford it.

We are thinking Nerja in Spain as suggested by others but I have a big question where the Internet is very vague about.

What Documentation do we need?

The Department of Foreign Affairs lead you to believe that you only need to consult them but the information regarding the church is highly vague. One bit of information says we require

- Pre Marraige Course
- Bapitsmal Cert
- Confirmation Cert
- Proof of Freedom from Church

Also, information on Weddings abroad is pretty vague when it comes to the Internet.

Have you tried the weddings abroad forum on weddingsonline.ie, the brides on there have the info on everything you could possibly need and more than happy to share. Btw all the above documents are required for a wedding in Ireland so you would defo need them for abroad. Approach your local priest, they will usually be filling out the forms anyway.

cola99

Hi just a suggestion here but if you were thinking of Lanzarote. Then Anne Lineahan is the girl to contact, she is a wedding planner and also arranges the reception in her own place, the church,flowers for bride and bridesmaid, she also will contact you with what documentation you need to bring or forward onto her was there 3 years ago for my sisters wedding, she( Anne) arranged everything right down to hair and make-up and even bus for guests to church and reception. And book accomodation through Alfa-Rooms yourself and your flights yourself... much cheaper for guests no matter their income...# Hope this helps and best of luck... thinking of going there ourselves as only just got engaged and we would like to get married this year 2013 :-)

Berty

The problem with booking idividually for flights and rooms is that I can tell them the flight and hotel price today but when the first two people book they might be the last seats on Aer lingus or Ryanair at that price and they could soar much higher. Better to get a weeks package deal then the price is fixed and you have x amount of time to save for it. I counted that maybe between 18-23 people would be there including ourselves.

I will look into lanzarote. I've been told now she is interested in Mallorca as well. She is terrible for coming up with ideas.

Btw we're engaged years but ony getting around to it now. I'm going to get the engagemet ring fixed today which is costing a lot of money as well. Damn you world.

Gosub

My daughter is getting married here in Spain this year, near Marbella. The legal stuff here is a complete pain in the yaris (and she is a legal resident here). They are shooting into Gibraltar to do the legals, then having a blessing in Spain followed by the big do. The reception is being held in a local golf club. The facilities are fantastic!

There are a couple of planners available here but they are quite expensive.

In general, you can spend a small fortune on a wedding. But, if you're careful, it can be done quite reasonably.

PM me if I can help.

totallegend

Beer Baron wrote: »

We attended a wedding in Sorrento so the whole Italy thing is out for our family. Some won't afford it.

We are thinking Nerja in Spain as suggested by others but I have a big question where the Internet is very vague about.

What Documentation do we need?

The Department of Foreign Affairs lead you to believe that you only need to consult them but the information regarding the church is highly vague. One bit of information says we require

- Pre Marraige Course
- Bapitsmal Cert
- Confirmation Cert
- Proof of Freedom from Church

Also, information on Weddings abroad is pretty vague when it comes to the Internet.

I got married in Nerja last year, could not recommend it highly enough and all our guests loved it (well, they would say that I suppose).

However, when I say I got married in Nerja, I actually got legally married in Ireland before we went to Spain, just a civil thing with two witnesses and then had a ceremony and party in Spain. Took all the hassle out of faffing around with church requirements, but then a church wedding wasn't a big priority for us.

We used a wedding planner; added a bit to the initial cost but definitely recouped the value on what we saved by not having to go over to meet suppliers, deal with venue etc. We had about 90 people but for a smaller group, it might be feasible to just deal directly with a venue.

PM me if you want any details.

In terms of whether people can afford it or not, that's a tough one. Somewhere like the south of Spain will be warm from March onwards so try to pick a date that's not right in the middle of high season, that will keep the cost of flights and accomodation down. Keep an eye on Ryanair and Aer Lingus and if there's a sale or if prices drop, send an email around and tell people to book.

If you want a wedding abroad, go for it, you'll be surprised how enthusiastic your guests will be about it.

Berty

totallegend wrote: »

If you want a wedding abroad, go for it, you'll be surprised how enthusiastic your guests will be about it.

Ah no. We have engaged a while so they have been waiting long enough and they have always known it will be abroad. They all think we are going to be married in Cancun on our holiday this year so I'm hoping that by telling them about a wedding in the med area they might actually believe we are not eloping.

Glenn Coco

Hi, we're getting married in Spain next year. We've got a planner over there. The Wedding Journal show in The City West in a few weeks will have lots of suppliers for weddings abroad, our planner will be there. We're going with Bespoke Weddings (www.bespokeweddings.com), who work in partnership with Celebrations in Spain (www.celebrationsinspain.com). If you contact either they will give you all the info re documentation etc.
We have the venue, band, photographer and videographer booked ourselves, haven't really used our planner yet, but feel better knowing that we have someone over there that knows her stuff. PM me if you'd like any more details.

neemish

but the information regarding the church is highly vague. One bit of information says we require

- Pre Marraige Course
- Bapitsmal Cert
- Confirmation Cert
- Proof of Freedom from Church

[/QUOTE]


For the Church part - the process is as follows

1. Approach the priest in Parish where you are currently living.
2. Arrange to have your pre-nuptual papers filled in WITHIN 6 months of the Wedding date but go AS SOON as that date passes.
3. For this, you need
A new baptismal Cert (dated within 6 months of Marriage)
Confirmation Cert (dated within 6 months of Marriage)
A Letter of Freedom from EVERY Parish you have lived in since you turned 18 (Again, dated within 6 months of Marriage but you can be making up the list, getting contact details etc. This letter basically says that you have never married in the Church).
Pre-Marriage Course Certificate - these courses fill up early so make sure to book asap. There is no 6 month limit - can be done at any stage.
Obviously, your spouse will need the same documents.
4. When your papers are complete, the priest who fills them in sends them to the Bishop of your Diocese. They are looked at and they make sure they're ok.
5. They are then sent to the Bishop of the Diocese where you are getting married. Again,, looked at. This is where its important that all your letters etc are correct. Some countries on the Continent are much stricter than here.
The Bishop abroad then send them to the parish where you are getting married.


Phew! If people are vague its probably because its a complicated process at the best of times.
This is assuming that there are no problems (Are you both Catholic? Are you both Confirmed? Have either of you been married before either civilly or religiously? - in any of these cases it may take longer and there may be more paperwork involved)
What I would say is be proactive about your part in the process. Get your paperwork. Contact the priest. If he doesnt get in touch, contact him again.

Good luck and congratulation!

krissovo

I went to a wedding in Rome this year and its a great location, flights are cheap if booked well in advance and I rented a beautiful roof top terraced apartment near the Vatican (cheap area) for around €60 per night for 4 of us. We just bought from local super markets our food and booze for the majority of the stay for next to nothing. Also went for meals where the locals eat, 4 of us ate a fabulous 10 course meal with lots of wine (6 bottles) for €120.

Berty

A Mod of Survivalism, go figure.

For ourselves the cost is not terribly important so long as reasonable. We are not going back to Italy because people will want a holiday out of it and Italy can be terribly expensive. Eating out isn't but everything else is.

Nerja in Spain is getting praised highly by everybody we speak to, family or independent folk so that's winning right now.

I've just sent off a few e-mails to wedding planners in the region and we shall see what they come back with and what I can come up with by myself.

Weddingonline.ie forum had a review of an Irish girl getting married in Nerja and if I can simply steal her Itinerary then I'm set.

scudzilla

We got married on the Greek Island of Zakynthos in Sept 2009, best thing we ever did, the Wedding Planner, Athena, was just amazing.

We got all this :-

Location Package (Basic): Vardiola Restaurant:

Special Bride's bouquet
Matching buttonhole for the groom
1 bouquet for the bridesmaid
1 extra buttonhole
2 matching fresh flower arrangements on stands
Professional contemporary photographer for ceremony: 100 high resolution photos on a CD.
Decoration of reception consisting of: white linen covered chairs, round tables with white linen covers for the guests, long bridal table with white linen covers.
Welcome Drink for 20 Guest
Reception dinner (Menu B or C, ask us for details) for 20 people
Carafe house wine x 5 litres for the dinner
Coach transfer for up to 20 guests to/from wedding locations
Pre-wedding consultation with your wedding coordinator on arrival in Zante
Private wedding planner to drive you to/from Town hall to sign/receive Greek marriage certificate
Translation of all wedding papers including your final marriage license
License fees and legal costs
Registrar fees
Administration and ceremony fees
Wedding coordinator fees for ceremony and reception
Greek to English translator for the registrar's service
Provision of 2 witnesses (if necessary)
Your wedding gift: standard decorated bridal car.
This package can be adapted to the number of your guests and tailored to suit your requirements (extra persons - additional cost).
And also were married on a boat (a big one) just off Turtle Island, was a 3hr cruise, then went back on land and to the restaurant for the meal.

Whole thing set us back 4,000Euro!!!! We were the only couple to have the boat wedding that year, the next year they put price up to 5,000, still cheap though.

http://www.zakynthosweddings.com/zante-main.php

If you want any more info just ask and i'll send you a link to some pics

Berty

Thanks but I learned this morning that my sister is coming back from Australia are that time for a holiday and wants to tie it in with the wedding and Emirates fly into Madrid or Barcelona so handy for everybody involved.

So Spain it is and I have more or less decided on Nerja and have quotes from Planners already and will find out more in Citywest this weekend and more in the RDS at the end of the month.