Thinking of getting married abroad

rocky raccoon

My fiancé and I are considering getting married abroad later this year and are wondering if anyone has any advice on Irish companies arranging foreign weddings, ones to avoid, etc.? What countries are good value for money? We are considering France, Portugal, North Spain, Italy, Malta and numbers will be in the region of up to 30. My main concern is asking friends and family to pay for expensive flights as we know that times are hard. Attendance would be their wedding gift to us. We would like to have a memorable trip for everyone, for the right reasons, and one that won’t break the bank. Advice anyone?

Libby029

I am going to tell you the truth, while I can understand completely people wanting to get married abroad, it can put massive pressure on people to attend weddings abroad. My best friend asked me to be maid of honour for her wedding, and then told me she was getting married abroad, and my heart completely sank.. yes both me and my fiance work, but we have two small children in full time childcare and we haven't a spare penny... so i can't imagine if perhaps someone is out of work relying on one wage coming into the house how they are surviving.
I think if you know that the people you want to attend have the finances to go then go ahead, or if you are willing to still go ahead with your wedding abroad and be prepared to do it without perhaps good friends or family there, then definitely enjoy every moment. But now more than ever people just don't have money like they used to, and i doubt u want ur wedding to be something that people have sleepless nights over, just cause they don't want to disappoint you.

pwurple

Honestly I agree that foreign weddings only make sense if one of the members is from that part of the world. It is a big request to ask 30 people to arrange their holidays around your plans. Not everyone is comfortable travelling either. People with animals who need care while they or away, or anyone with health issues or responsibilities here (looking after older relatives or children).

A foreign wedding is more time too, very hard to fit it into a weekend without taking time off work. Weekday weddings already annoy people due to losing their very limited holiday time on it.

I know foreign weddings are beautiful, and the weather can be so much nicer, and it's something different, and the meals and drinks can be much cheaper for the couple. But for the guests you are multiplying the expense by about 5 in my experience.

Take a wedding in ireland for a couple when you are strapped for cash. You can drive there, not stay, not drink, use previously worn dress and suit, give a pressie (of say 100-200 euro) and drive home. No days off needed.

Now, instead you need two flights, somwhere to stay, maybe car hire, meals there etc. and noone is going to show up with no gift, they will still do that. Time off work. You're taking most of 1000 per couple.

The only way I would do it, is if I were able to pay for the flights and hire a villa or something for them as well. I know a couple who did that. It was a second marriage, and they were older, had more savings and could afford it.

Peregrinus

I would have thought that the main reason for having a foreign wedding was to limit the numbers who you would be expected to invite, or who would be expected to come. It's a mechanism for having a very small wedding - close family and very close friends only - without giving offence.

rocky raccoon

We have been going for almost seven years and from the begining we said we would get married abroad. I definetly understand how tight things are these days and although I will invite them, I know and understand that my friends would not be able to attend and I will accept their reasons. We would look to pay for renting a few houses/villas for family members in order to keep costs lower for people travelling. It would add to our costs. Where would we get the best value for our money? We haven't yet decided that the foreign thing is what we will do although going abroad would certainly help overcome some issues in having a home wedding.