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What are the outdoor ceremony options in Ireland?

bytheglass

Hi all,
I have found THE PERFECT venue for an outdoor ceremony, albeit outdoors.
We have already set our date & booked it in with our local registrar, (we originally planned on a civil ceremony) but I understand the rules clearly state we cannot hold a civil ceremony outdoors.
The O/H suggested having the civil cermony on the registry office on another day but I would prefer our date to be... the real date! know what I mean?
So... do we go to the registry office in the morning of the wedding day & then organise a solemniser/humanist to come to the venue & perform the ceremony with our guests later in the day?
Or is there a more practical/better option that people have gone with? I would love to hear from personal experiences & include ball-park prices if you can.
Cheers.

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eyescreamcone

bytheglass wrote: »

Hi all,
I have found THE PERFECT venue for an outdoor ceremony, albeit outdoors.
We have already set our date & booked it in with our local registrar, (we originally planned on a civil ceremony) but I understand the rules clearly state we cannot hold a civil ceremony outdoors.
The O/H suggested having the civil cermony on the registry office on another day but I would prefer our date to be... the real date! know what I mean?
So... do we go to the registry office in the morning of the wedding day & then organise a solemniser/humanist to come to the venue & perform the ceremony with our guests later in the day?
Or is there a more practical/better option that people have gone with? I would love to hear from personal experiences & include ball-park prices if you can.
Cheers.

There are solemnisers who will do outdoor "legal" ceremonies for you.
First stop - Unitarian Church Stephens Green. They cater for all religions and none. Price around 500 yoyos.
But there are definitely other solemnisers around who will help.

lazygal

We are having a civil service the week before the big day to make things legal and have a trial run! We are then having a humanist service on the balcony of our venue. It was the easist way around the law for us.

mocmo

To answer your question very quickly, there is no one who will marry you legally outside. For a non-religious but legal wedding you need a registrar, they work for the HSE (Mon-Fri only) and will not carry out ceremonies outdoors. I don't know where your venue is but if there is a proper building there you might manage to get a registrar to marry you in that (legal ceremony should take max. 10 mins) followed directly by an alternative ceremony outside.

I have been through all of this stuff recently and we have ended up booking our civil bit one one day and a humanist ceremony for the next. I know what you mean about the 'real' date but I got to grips with it this way; if you think of a traditional wedding in a church, the meaningful bit is supposedly the mass / vows and the legal bit of signing the register comes afterwards. The legal bit is important but really in terms of how you feel for the other person and what you want to say / promise them in front of friends and family, the ceremony just needs to suit you and be formal enough to convey a sense of proper occasion. I have been to several Humanist weddings and they were beautiful, I have also been to several weddings in the Unitarian Church, they were also lovely but they are religious (very all encompassing mind you).

Figuring out what you can and cannot do with regards to getting married in Ireland is a minefield of confusing websites and unanswered phone calls to the registrar’s office. Best of luck!!

OFD

All of the above is true but there is one option for getting married outdoors legally:

http://spiritualceremonies.ie/

Tom Colton is a registered solemniser and does non-denominational "spiritual" ceremonies (very like humanist). Had a chat with him ages ago at a fair and found him very sound and it's legal.

Starting basic planning now myself so let me know how you get on

mocmo

True, Tom Colton is a legal solemniser but as a spiritualist he calls on those who have passed over to the spirit world to join the ceremony....I considered it but reckoned it would be a step too far for some of the older family members!!:D

fuddy1

I also considered Tom Colton, but for reason posted above had to say no. Trying to decide on a suitable ceremony as OH is atheist and has said no to a church. I ruled out spiritualist ceremony on my own though cos doesnt sit with anything i believe in. Looks like we'll have to decide between civil ceremony and humanist ceremony. One has to be indoors and the other isnt legal.....getting married in Ireland is a lot more head-wrecking than I anticipated!!

IrelandsMedium

Hi guys,
Just to clarify for you as spiritualists we believe if 2 people want to geth married then they should be allowed to get married the way they want too.

The only 2 peices we have to include in the ceremony is the legal piece, the rest is customised to suit the couple, so if you dont want to remember loved ones in your ceremony, then you dont have too. We have a number of ideas to include in your ceremony ring warming, untiy candle, rose ceremony, celtic hand fasting just to name a few.

It is the full legal ceremony 7 days a week indoors or outdoors

fuddy1

Ah didnt realise that spiritualist ceremonies could be that flexible, thought that welcoming dead relatives was an important part cos is part of their belief system/religion

westendgirlie

Hiya,

Our wedding still at dream planning stage whilst we save. What I really wanted was to get married at a "Mass Rock" near to home. It in the woods with no buildings. My parents house 5 mins walk away

Can my parish priest conduct a service here? Can we sign the register here too?

OFD

Hi Westendgirlie,

Sounds like a lovely idea but legally that won't be possible unfortunately. The priest will have to marry you in the church and then the register is signed. But you could ask him to do a blessing outside at the mass rock maybe?

westendgirlie

Thanks OFD

Might convince himsuggest that we should head to my hometown of London then. Least we'll have a greater choice of stunning venues

JDD

We had the same issue with our venue in the UK. We wanted an outdoor ceremony and didn't want it to be religious, but knew that the law in the UK states that the ceremony had to be held indoors.The hotel that we were getting married in had a licence for holding the ceremony indoors, but their rooms were too small to fit our guests. So we had a "humanist" ceremony outdoors first with my uncle who is a judge presiding. We did all the traditional elements, i.e. me walking down the aisle, the readings, the music, the exchange of rings and the vows during this ceremony in front of all our guests. Both my husband and I are atheist, so we didn't want any spiritual or religious element, which is why my uncle agreed to do it. We then made an announcement that the legal element and signing of the registrar would take place inside the hotel with just our parents present, and in the meantime drinks would be served for the rest of our guests on the lawn. We went inside and had a five minute ceremony with the registrar where we had to repeat our vows (you have to say a set of words to make it legal) and we signed the register with the mothers as witnesses and our photographer and videographer present. No-one really saw the difference between doing that, and say signing the register in the sacristy after a wedding mass. While I was worried about how it might work, it actually turned out really well in the end. We had a bit of hassle doing this, not least ensuring that the hotel received their civil ceremony licence in time for us to give notice to the registrar of our intent to get married, and then convincing the registrar to hold the legal ceremony after the humanist ceremony rather than before. They prefer to do it before any other ceremony as then they can leave and there's no implication of the civil ceremony being "mixed" into a religious or humanist ceremony. However once I told her that I really wanted to walk down the aisle and not see my husband before that point she relented and said that it was fine.

Bride2012

JDD wrote: »

. However once I told her that I really wanted to walk down the aisle and not see my husband before that point she relented and said that it was fine.

That sounds great. The walking down the aisle and having himself only see me then is what I want and am trying to work around it too. We're not religious and don't want a church but are toying with several alternatives now before booking anything.

ana_conda

I have to say that I think its such a shame that you can't just get married outside ...why does it have to be in an office or a church if have an official to over see the ceremony and all the correct paper work.

Its such a stupid rule. I hope you get something suitable sorted ...Good luck

inquisitive one

Hi, I am about to get married in a celtic handfasting ceremony - this can be done legally through the pagan federation of ireland outdoors - although I have opted not to go down the pagan route as it is not me & so have to have a civl ceremony also to legalise the marriage i am having this done a few days ahead of the handfasting ceremony & have only told my witnesses as I view this as the 'paperwork' bit & am classing my handfasting ceremony as the 'marriage', you can do both on the same day if you are luck enough to get the date, good luck with your planning

IrelandsMedium

I have performed this ceremony for some couples as part of a spiritual ceremony, I can do both the legal and the handfasting all in the same ceremony outdoors too.

I think it is wrong that the pagan federation do not have solemnisers but that burearacy for you

Tom

annersinoz

Hi, i must say this is the first that i have heard that you cannot get married outdoors in Ireland, how dissapointing is that. I live in Australia but because of family we have decided to get married back at home in Ireland. I thought i could bring a bit of "oz" to Ireland and get married outdoors but it looks like its not an option now!

bytheglass

The humanist ceremony is not legal & I'm just doing it to hold an outdoor ceremony in front of friends & family. It would take place a few days after the civil ceremony which is the legal part & will be done with just witnesses & will be a very small affair. Now I'm thinking why do I pay to have a humanist celebrant officiate it at all?
Should I get a good family friend who is a good public speaker?
I'm struggling to think of 'con's to this idea, but maybe Im not thinking straight, anyone any thoughts?

eyescreamcone

That seems like a brilliant idea.
Go for it.

Way too much red tape regarding venues, solemnisers etc in this country.

Is it true that the civil partnership ceremony for gay couples MUST be done in a registry office by a state registrar.

The whole thing should be opened up.
Let anybody register as a solemniser I say.
Have your wedding standing in the tide at Banna Beach.
Why not?
If that's what the couple want!!!

sin0city

So is it the case then that you could have an outdoor ceremony legally and, if the couple wanted, have nothing more than their vows...?

IrelandsMedium wrote: »

Hi guys,
Just to clarify for you as spiritualists we believe if 2 people want to geth married then they should be allowed to get married the way they want too.

The only 2 peices we have to include in the ceremony is the legal piece, the rest is customised to suit the couple, so if you dont want to remember loved ones in your ceremony, then you dont have too. We have a number of ideas to include in your ceremony ring warming, untiy candle, rose ceremony, celtic hand fasting just to name a few.

It is the full legal ceremony 7 days a week indoors or outdoors

IrelandsMedium

Sorry havent been on this in some time. In short the answer, you can get married outdoors legally doing your vows, is yes once you comply with the 2 legal requirements

1. Statutory declaration that there is no impediment to your marraige
2. That you take each other as husband and wife (the I do bit)

If thats the way you want to marry then as spiritualists thats the way we see it that you should be allowed to.

DixNeuf

But it's only legally binding as long as the celebrant is on the registered list though right, Tom?

I thought that anyone on the registered list had to be performing ceremonies on behalf of a religious organisation though, is that not correct?

It seems bizarre that there can be someone with a licence to marry on behalf of a religious group can perform non-religious ceremonies under that same licence.

Especially when non-religious organisations like the Humanists etc. don't seem to be allowed.

Oh, and as far as I know, the Pagan federation DO have registered solemnisers, but only perform ceremonies in line with their belief system.

IrelandsMedium

The solemniser must be on the registered list to perform legal ceremonies. The pagan federation where on to me a while ago as the gro where not recognising them, as far as I know they still have not got recognition which is wrong.

Spiritualism is a religion and all of our ceremonies are spiritual ceremonies, but non denominational there is a difference between non religious and non denominational. We don't connect with a god name belief, what ever name you use for your god then so be it, we believe there is a higher power higher source. We also believe that if 2 people wish to get married there should be none of the red tape that people run into with their ceremonies

I agree that the humanists should be able to perform ceremonies too.

DixNeuf wrote: »

But it's only legally binding as long as the celebrant is on the registered list though right, Tom?

I thought that anyone on the registered list had to be performing ceremonies on behalf of a religious organisation though, is that not correct?

It seems bizarre that there can be someone with a licence to marry on behalf of a religious group can perform non-religious ceremonies under that same licence.

Especially when non-religious organisations like the Humanists etc. don't seem to be allowed.

Oh, and as far as I know, the Pagan federation DO have registered solemnisers, but only perform ceremonies in line with their belief system.

eyescreamcone

We got married over the summer.
We had a Unitarian Church solemniser.

She was brilliant.
We wrote the ceremony ourselves and gave it to her.
She asked "can I use the word 'god' in the final words?"
I replied "No, we'd rather you didn't"
(there was no mention of a god throughout the ceremony)
She said "that's fine - I didn't want to offend anyone"

I could not speak more highly about the Unitarians.
They wanted to help us to have the ceremony we wanted.
Their inclusiveness and non judgemental tone suited us perfectly.

If I was doing it all again tomorrow I'd choose them again.

fuddy1

eyescreamcone wrote: »

We got married over the summer.
We had a Unitarian Church solemniser.

She was brilliant.
We wrote the ceremony ourselves and gave it to her.
She asked "can I use the word 'god' in the final words?"
I replied "No, we'd rather you didn't"
(there was no mention of a god throughout the ceremony)
She said "that's fine - I didn't want to offend anyone"

I could not speak more highly about the Unitarians.
They wanted to help us to have the ceremony we wanted.
Their inclusiveness and non judgemental tone suited us perfectly.

If I was doing it all again tomorrow I'd choose them again.

Have looked into the unitarian ministers myself, i feel they would be perfect from my point of view but OH is atheist and doesnt want GOD mentioned. I hadn't contacted the unitarian church as i was afraid of offending them if i asked for ceremony without God......can i ask who did you deal with? was it with the members of the church in stephens green? we'd like the wedding to be at our recption venue, wouldnt like to ask them to 'leave god out' if it was in their own church. any information you could give me would be a great help.....WHO is going to marry us seems to be our biggest stumbling block

kittex

westendgirlie wrote: »

Hiya,

Our wedding still at dream planning stage whilst we save. What I really wanted was to get married at a "Mass Rock" near to home. It in the woods with no buildings. My parents house 5 mins walk away

Can my parish priest conduct a service here? Can we sign the register here too?

We're getting married in his hometown of Glasgow for the same reason - such little choice here. Getting married in a stunning Victorian house, by a registrar for half the price of a church wedding in Dublin.

In Scotland you can legally be married anywhere by a Humanist celebrant, shame it it so arse ways for us in Eire.

Gatica

hopefully we can catch up with rest of the world one of these days soon and stop this backward nonsense of HSE indoor mon-fri registrars!

eyescreamcone

Gatica wrote: »

hopefully we can catch up with rest of the world one of these days soon and stop this backward nonsense of HSE indoor mon-fri registrars!

Remember it's only a few years since they allowed civil weddings to be done outside the registry office. Hotels etc

Gatica

I suppose... That's even more worrying then. Hopefully it won't be decades before we move with the times. Couple of years? :rolleyes: