Getting Married Abroad

[SardineJam]

I really really dont want a big flash wedding, blowing loads of money on one day and then having the huge anticlimax afterwards so DP and I have decided to go the route of getting married abroad and then we'll honeymoon on location too. In reality it will be an expensive once in a lifetime family holiday. We are looking to get married next year when DS1 is 4 and DS2 is 2

My question is, if any of you have got married abroad, who has 'done' it for you? Popped into travel agents and so far figured Thomas Cook (weary to use them due to recent events) Virgin and Kuoni, and quite a few have recommended Virgin. Just wondering if its necessary to got through a 'middle man' or just go direct to the hotel. I was doing some price research and what i've found is that booking flights direct with an airline and then accommodation direct with the hotel works out to be a few £1k cheaper

Any recommendations and advice is appreciated

Make sure you check this out - general advice on getting married abroad, including on documentation.

Do you have a country/place in mind? A lot of hotels etc. who do weddings will have an in-house organiser person who'll help coordinate.

Also, check the legalities etc. early on so you can get everything in order.

I got married in St Lucia but it was in 1996 do things have probably changed but we booked through a travel agent and it may of been Thomas cook!
It was fab tho, would recommend it. Totally stress free

I got married in Spain and it was fantastic! Didn't use a travel agent but used a fabulous wedding planner who sorted all paperwork, found fab reception venue and was worth her weight in gold, defo worth her v modest fee. Though we had Catholic wedding which meant didn't need to do legal wedding here first as Spain is a Catholic country but I know she arranged lots of non Catholic weddings too. I think decide on country first and go from there, do lots of internet research!

We got married abroad 20 years ago and went with Virgin holidays. Not many people were doing it back then so it felt safer going with a package. We got married in the grounds of the Sheraton Hotel on International Drive, Florida.

I can thoroughly recommend getting married abroad for a stress free wedding. We still had a reception when we got home for all our family & friends.

We're looking to get married in Sri Lanka, as i've always liked the idea of riding on an elephant in my wedding dress, sad, I know

Sparkles, please tell me a bit more about getting married 'through the church', because its done through the church does it automatically make it legal, no matter where you are?

Do think that doing it through a travel agency will make it easier but cant ignore the appeal of saving ££ if we do it direct

It depends on the country, Spain is a Catholic country so it was legal to do it that way (if not Catholic then have to do legal bit in UK or Gibralter but can do that bit quietly as not to detract from main event iyswim). I found the planner who told me paperwork requirements etc.. had to go to parish priest here who did paperwork and then had to be sent to Bishop of Malaga, had to provide baptismal certain, letter of non-impediment (or something!) etc.. was a bit of a pain but with a planner so much easier as she told us what we had to do (for things she couldn't do) and she did all the rest, she was fantastic!. I am Catholic and husband CofE but still allowed to get married in Catholic church. Would highly recommend it if one of you is Catholic!

Thanks Sparkles, I am Catholic so its definitely a consideration
I will do some research and perhaps pop into the church to see if they have anymore information

Just in case Spain is a consideration, can highly recommend Nerja! We got married 3 years ago and love the place we been back every year since for at least a couple of days. Our planners website is www.celebrationsinspain.com she is really helpful!