Help has anyone eloped abroad without a wedding planner ?

[Weeteeny]

Recently engaged and.we both want to.elope abroad just the two of us and our teenage children.

Has anyone arranged a wedding themselves abroad without a wedding planner? We really just want a small wedding and lovely holiday with our family.

Looking on line £££££ are added through use of a wedding planner but I need to do major research on the red tape.....and would appreciate if anyone else has done same in any country .

Thoughts so far are New York, Vegas or Portugal.

Marriage licences I think can be gained the day before in New York but then we would need an appt at city hall and am trying to figure out how that works ! Eg what if none available in our window etc

Has anyone else.managed a low key wedding abroad without no planner?

Do NOT do this would be my recommendation.

It’s not about arranging the ceremony per se so much as making sure that you are definitely married when you get home. It’s an almighty faff to get identification documents translated and back again, and you often have to be in the country within a specific window for this to happen…and then if there is an issue it can’t go ahead.

There is a reason the vast majority of destination “weddings” are actually symbolic ceremonies and the couple have done a quickie registry office service back home.

No need for any additional documentation if you get married in New York. We went to Staten Island to get licence. Used Trip Advisor to find a celebrant and photographer. Genuinely very easy. Best decision ever.

I got married in Vegas. Fully legal in England and you can apply for your license online before you go.

I got married in vegas, just book a holiday like normal. Choose a wedding location and lots of them you can book online, I used Little Chapel of Flowers and you pick a package then customise.

When we got to Vegas we went to the Marriage Bureau to get our licence, then we got married the next day.

Really easy and completely legal in the U.K. with no need to register the marriage here or anything.

Many countries require you to get a preauthorisation document from your local registry office first, many have residency requirements too, it's quite complicated - in all honesty I would suggest nipping to your local registry office for official wedding then arranging a ceremony for pictures overseas that's just for show

The USA is pretty simple though but residency varies by state

Another thought is Gretna green, they have reasonably priced options