Eloping to Ireland - Help!

[DollyLlama]

I’m hoping someone can shed some light for me as I feel a little overwhelmed.

My partner and I have decided we want to be married, no big engagement etc, it’s just not us.

We was talking about a weekend away to Ireland anyway and I threw the idea out there of getting married quietly while there and my OH is on board.

Problem is, where do I start?! My family is from Ireland but I’ve never been, we’re based in Essex. I want a humanist ceremony and just me and OH, are there different laws about dragging 2 witnesses off the street or would we need to bring people?

Does anyone have any registry office recommendations? My partner mentioned Dublin but we’re not unwilling to look elsewhere.

I just can’t bare the idea of the family politics of a wedding so a quiet day just me and my OH sounds bliss and then a party when we get home.

Any suggestions / tips etc would be greatly appreciated!

I assume you mean southern Ireland (Eire).
You are required by law to give 3 months notice in person to marry
Humanist weddings are only legal in Scotland they are not legally recognised in Ireland, Northern Ireland, England and Wales So you would need to marry in a Register Office.
In the UK you are required to give one months notice at the Register Office.
Yes you can have strangers as witnesses
Unfortunately your idea of marrying in Ireland on a weekend away is not possible.

It can be done, you just need some planning beforehand (like most weddings really, big or small!). PP is correct you need to apply for a marriage licence in person with the registrar of the county in which you intend to marry, a minimum of 3 months before the wedding date.
To the best of my knowledge there's no rule about having to be in the country X number of days before (like some other countries have). Good luck!

Humanist weddings are only legal in Scotland they are not legally recognised in Ireland, Northern Ireland, England and Wales

This is incorrect.

Humanist weddings are legal in Ireland. The celebrants tend to get booked up far in advance, so you would need to get planning as soon as possible.

And it’s not “southern Ireland” or “Eire” - just Ireland, or the Republic of Ireland if you want to distinguish it from Northern Ireland

I arranged ours in NI from Scotland, over the phone mostly.

We had to go a few weeks before (I think) to sign some stuff and pay the registrar

No advice on Ireland but DH and I got married on our own in the Lakes. Witnesses provided by the hotel. No drama, no fuss. It was fabulous. Enjoy!

www.humanism.ie/2015/05/faq-about-humanist-weddings/

Thanks for the info all. I wasn’t planning to just turn up don’t worry, I know they needed some advance warning and planning!

We decided to rule Ireland out and go for Gretna Green... It’s just so beautiful! Shame I didn’t title this no fuss weddings as could have still gathered helpful info not relating to a wedding in Ireland.

I had a no fuss semi secret wedding in Scotland. Generally 6 weeks notice is needed (4 working weeks) for paperwork to be processed. We had a meeting at the registry office to show our paperwork - birth certificates, divorce certificate. Then chose to get married in the nicer room at the town hall. The actual registrar conducting the ceremony came to visit us about 3ish weeks before the ceremony to pick our vows - anything is allowed really but there are certain lines that are required by law in Scotland. We had a reading and a poem and a small bit of music. We got married in St. Andrews.

Thanks @Merryhobnobs that sounds lovely! That gives me plenty of time to arrange everything else with 6 weeks notice for the ceremony 👍

No problem. Meeting the registrar who is conducting the ceremony in person was an option. It's nice but we emailed a few times as well with tweaks. I absolutely loved how simple our ceremony was. The vows and ring declarations we chose felt like 'us' and we had a lovely Celtic blessing read as well as one of my favourite quotes from Captain Corelli's Mandolin. We had the piece of music playing whilst we signed the book. We also had our hands knotted together with a length of tartan which was a late thought but quite nice. Gretna Green can be quite busy so best to contact in plenty of time.

Soupy you can have a humanist ceremony in Ireland but you would still have to do the legal bit in a registry office.

No, ragdoll that is not true. Humanist ceremonies are legally valid now and you don’t have to go to the registry office at all.

(why don’t people check before posting incorrect information...)