Getting married overseas

[ParrotsForLife]

DP and I have been floating the idea of getting married abroad. Just him, me and the two kids.
Essentially we’re after a sunny family holiday where we get married while we’re out there. Maybe Portugal, Spain, Greece, somewhere warm and affordable.
I’ve had a google but a lot of the main travel operators want me to call them. And I’m lazy. And don’t want to get pressure sold things.
Has anyone else done this? Any hints or tips? Thanks

First thing - check the countries you are considering, the marriage may not be valid in the UK even if it a EU country

www.gov.uk/marriage-abroad

Eg Spain, one of you must be a Spanish national and laws vary from district to district

www.gov.uk/marriage-abroad/y/spain/uk/opposite_sex

Portugal - hideously complicated - my cousin just married a Portuguese chap

www.gov.uk/marriage-abroad/y/portugal/uk/partner_british/same_sex

Haha well that’s Portugal off the list then! To be fair we’ve only been thinking about it and not looking too seriously.
Thanks for the link though, will be useful!

I used to work in the wedding industry in Cyprus. It's very easy to arrange it all yourself without the need for reps or holiday companies, especially if you aren't wanting an elaborate reception. It's very common here and the registry office will happily arrange witnesses if you don't have 2

I got married in cyprus through one of the Villa companies who put me in touch with a wedding coordinator (not a fancy affair either). She took care of all the work including cars, carriage, restaurant, photographer, hair and nails. We send the suits and dresses over by DHL directly from Moss Bros. There are plenty of links to let you know what you have to do by when and it was painless. One day for wedding sandwiched in a two week breaks. Simple, lovely, photos on the beach and surpassingly cheap. No hassle from relatives either.

Cyprus would work. Warm and sunny. Holiday place.
We literally just want the marriage. We’d go out for a nice tea as a family afterwards, no reception, no fancy dresses, just us getting wed.

HI
I got married in Cyprus 3 years ago on the beach. it cost us 650 euros for the ceremony as in paperwork, the priest and documentation. I found a wedding planner on facebook who skyped me so I didn't need to keep going out there who was great. As I had a no frills, just us on the beach wedding and the spot we picked was permitted for weddings (it was by a shipwreck with a beautiful canope with wedding décor, an aisle, decorated chairs for guests (even though we had none), music... it was so easy to arrange. Altogether with my dress, flights, hotel, wedding planner, photographer and service it cost £2200. we stayed in cyprus for 3 weeks after the ceremony as a honeymoon. I am a make up artist so I did my own hair/mu etc but the wedding planner can source anything for you. I highly recommend Cyprus.

We came across plenty who have done this. You can contact the town hall yourself once you have identified an area. It costs around £500 in fees. You can book a photographer independently if you wish. Failing that you can use an independent rep. I advise steering well clear of the well known companies who will be looking to add extras at every turn

I used to be a wedding planner in Cyprus, it is very easy to get married there as you don't have to get your documents translated into Greek and the marriage certificate is also issued in English.

I would recommend contacting an independent wedding planner rather than a tour operator as they can arrange a town hall wedding (some lovely outdoor venues) which costs around 300 euros; a tour operator will push a hotel wedding which are pricey as the registrars from the town halls charge a big fee just to visit the hotel.

Most independent planners offer a 'package' which includes their fee, a bridal bouquet, wedding car and a basic photography package which is perfect for a small group like yours.

Right ok. So Cyprus sounds interesting and not too complicated to arrange. Will send a few messages to some planners to get ballpark prices.
The tour operators do seem to want to do the big wedding, which just isn’t us at all.

I can recommended some good independent planners for the east coast (id recommend highly the east coast for DC as lots more to do, beaches are a million times nicer) we are actually here on holiday just now

Peyia town hall near Paphos is lovely OP.

I will reiterate though that it's really not needed. Planner is more for party etc. What you want can very easily be done by you. There is also a Facebook page for Cyprus brides past and present who can give you a wealth of current advice and recommendations

I agree with booboo66, you can contact the town halls directly who will advise you on the paperwork and procedure.

Ah right. Good to know I can do without a planner.
So essentially I could just book a holiday and book the marriage direct with the town hall? As long as dates matched up of course.

I used Stella Virdi at Saffron Weddings who is in Paphos. I got married at the Edro shipwreck at the sea caves in Peyia. highly recommend, her website has lots of packages.

Yes it really is that easy. You need to attend an appointment 2-3 days before the wedding and present your paperwork, you sign some forms and they issue a 'Special Marriage Licence'. After the wedding they send everything to the British High Commission in Cyprus and your marriage is registered in the UK so you don't have to do anything on your return.

Banging. I’m after an easy life, a nice holiday and a marriage. I’ll float Cyprus to DP. Along with average temperatures 😂

Thanks for all the info and advice! It’s much easier than wading through google!

just saw you're not keen on a wedding planner, I agree it can be quite offputting imagining the fees however sometimes with dealing with the town hall directly you have to go over there before the ceremony in advance, Stella did all of this for us and I only had to send her £150 fee and paid the rest when I got to Cyprus. crazily enough considering how cheap she was, she has her own wedding channel in Cyprus so she knows her stuff!
I put previously Saffron - it's Zaffron!

Details for Peyia town hall weddings:

pegeiamunicipality.com/en/civil-weddings/

It used to be 282 euros for the ceremony, not sure what they charge now as I've been out of the wedding business for six years now 😔 Google image Peyia town weddings, it really is lovely 💞

Fab thank you guys. This has been really useful! We just wanna be married and have a holiday with both the kids while they’re young

I got married in Cyprus and it really is as easy and everyone says. I did live there at the time so maybe that helped.

Check out vasilias nikoklis it's just outside Paphos. We had our reception there and it was stunning. But you can get married there as well. Its a private Inn and I honestly can't recommend it enough. Food was glorious and staff were amazing. Everyone from my wedding still talks about it now and that was 7 years ago.

Pathos town hall is lovely. A nice restaurant by the harbour / near coral bay beach and really that's it. We used a planner just to ensure it all well to plan without having to get too involved/ stressed. Either way, the weather is usually lovely, the Greek people will cheer you on and the memories will be wonderful. Best thing? No arguments over whose coming
/ not coming etc. Keep it intimate and remember it's your wedding - no one else's.

Ps - if you bank with Barclays or a similar uk bank, know that there may not be a branch there and so trying to withdraw cash on the day of your wedding isn't a great start to the day (trust me) x