Celebrating a wedding abroad is becoming more and more common. It is a wonderful celebration, original and romantic. However, the first requirement when it is time to begin the planification, is to find the necessary information and do the paperwork necessary depending on the country in which you choose to celebrate your wedding.
We know it can be pretty intense, laborious and sometimes frustrating, which is why we wrote this post with everything you need to know if you want to celebrate your wedding abroad, depending on the destination. Here we go !
Photography: Hanna Baranava / Organisation: Natalia Ortiz
Wedding in Europe
Europe has many diverse countries with different climate and fantastic venues where you can host your wedding. If you have chosen to got married in Europe, you should take into account that, depending on the country, the paperwork will be different. This is why we can say that it is easier to get married in some countries that do not require as much paperwork, meanwhile in others you need to have more patience.
For instance, to celebrate a civil wedding in France, it is mandatory that either the bride or the groom lived at least 40 days in the place where the wedding will take place, so that the mayor can allow the councilor to officiate the wedding.
On the other hand in Spain, except in some cases, it is necessary that at least one of the fiances has a home on spanish soil, although it is not mandatory that the foreigner living in Spain has a regular situation.
In Italy nevertheless, residence is not necessary, only that you pay the amount necessary to obtain the license, that you are of legal age and have a valid passport. You must also request a special authorization from the embassy of your country in Italy. If you have no Italian residence, you can get married at the Embassy or Consulate of your country in Italy.
Chateau De La Victoire in France
Wedding in the US
We know that in the United States, laws are different and that sometimes the paperwork is more difficult, especially because it depends on the state in which you wish to celebrate your wedding. It is important that you knew the specific requirements of the state or region at issue. In lots of places, they will ask you for a physical or blood test to determine different diseases.
In New York for instance, you will have to obtain the wedding licence that has a validity of 60 days and the person who officiate the wedding has to be registered at the office of the Secretary of the City in Manhattan.
Photography: Kseniya Bunets / Organisation: Natalia Ortiz
Wedding in South America
Now, let’s talk about a few datas that you have to take into account if you decide to celebrate your wedding in South America :
In some countries like Peru or Puerto Rico, same as in the US, they will also ask you for a medical test.
In other countries such as Colombia, Costa Rica or Chile, you will have to have 2 witnesses (whom have to be locals sometimes).
In Chile or Venezuela, you should know that it is necessary to have a Tourist visa, and if you want to celebrate your wedding in Brazil, they will need the criminal record. As you can see, everything depends on the country !
Casa Conde Beach Front Hotel in Costa Rica
And now that we have examined some particularities depending on the place where you decide to celebrate your wedding, we are going to sum up the most important points. Let’s recap !
Advices to begin organizing a wedding abroad:
- To start, and no matter the destination, we recommend to create a folder and check the most important documents such as the ID, passport, birth certificate, social security, etc. Those are personal documents necessary in most of the countries, and sometimes we forget that some of them have expired. Therefore, before anything, have a look at it.
- We advise you to get in touch with the consulate or embassy of the chosen destination to resolve every doubts and so that they can explain to you step b step the documents and formalities necessary.
- If you have a doubt about the obligatoriness of presenting a document, feel free to ask to clear any doubts. The most important is celebrating the wedding of your dreams, and we do not want that a simple paper has it ruined.
- Have an eye on the expirations dates. Sometimes we ask so much time in advance the different licences, which can turns out to be valid only during 30 days. Do not rush and inform yourself of the times of validity.
Our ultime advice and most important, after having the papers done, you just have to enjoy the best day of your life, joining with an unforgettable trip. Mandatory !
If you are thinking about organising your wedding in a foreign country, feel free to have a look at our different venues or exclusive weddings in Italy, France, Portugal, Italy or Spain, in our repertory.