Congratulations, you have decided to get married and become a married couple like everyone else. It’s easy to imagine how happy you are, but when the first joy subsides, the question of preparing the wedding will inevitably arise, and you probably won’t want to spend this most important event “like everyone else.” How about inviting friends and family to a ceremony in another country? In this article we will tell you what points to consider when preparing a wedding abroad.
A wedding in another country will certainly be a memorable event. However, organizing a ceremony will inevitably require a lot of time, effort, money and patience. Although there are exceptions, because each country has its own rules for registering marriages and wedding laws, so in some cases the holiday can be held even cheaper and with less emotional cost than in your homeland. But anyway, get ready to overcome the obstacles, which we will now tell you about in more detail.
Step One: Hire a Local Wedding Planner
Using the labor of local specialists is not a legal requirement, but is probably the only right decision when preparing a wedding abroad. Experience shows that the path to a magnificent ceremony is not covered with rose petals, but strewn with thorns, and it is better to walk along it with those who know how to avoid them.
Don’t forget that you are going to follow the preparation process from thousands of kilometers away, communicating via email or Skype with people who, like you, are not native English speakers, and who are unlikely to speak Russian. If you don’t know any planners in the country you’re going to, just type in the search bar, for example, “wedding planners Jamaica” and choose by comparing photos and prices.
In fact, even with an organizer, renting a hall, hotel, ordering flowers, cars, a banquet, finding a photographer and stylist will most likely not be the easiest thing. Imagine how exhausted you will be by your wedding day if you decide to do all these important things yourself.
Step two: collect documents and translate them
To register a marriage abroad, citizens of the Russian Federation will need: a birth certificate, an internal passport and its copy, a statement that you are not married and a certificate of divorce from a previous marriage (if necessary). All documents must be translated into the required language and the translation must be legalized by a notary by affixing an apostille. Remember that the transfer is only valid for six months, so do not start doing this earlier than six months before the wedding date.
Step three: visit the consulate of the country you are going to
Not all countries require this, but it is best to visit the consulate to show all the documents you have collected and receive assurance that you will not have any obstacles to registering your marriage in their country. At this stage, romantically minded future newlyweds understand that not all the people around them will throw rose petals at their feet, lavish smiles and congratulate them on their upcoming wedding. But this discovery should not break you. Be patient. After all, ahead…
Step four: visit the Russian consulate in the country where you will get married
Several months have passed, you and your entourage of friends and relatives are standing at the airport, ready to take off. The good news is that your wonderful journey is beginning. It’s unpleasant that upon arrival you will have an equally exciting adventure – a trip to the Russian Consulate. This is like step three, only in reverse: now you should be assured that there will be no problems with registration.
Be prepared to spend a couple of hours making endless copies of completed documents. Remember that not everyone shares your joy from the upcoming event. Do not give up. By the way, if you decide to sign at the consular department of the registry office, then the marriage certificate will not need to be legalized in Russia. But if you want to register at the city hall of the town near the picturesque lake, where the wedding will take place, then be prepared for the next step.
Step five: selecting a date
In Russia, you can line up at the registry office early in the morning six months before the scheduled event and get the opportunity to get married on the cherished day. In some foreign institutions, the registration date and time may be assigned to you in the last days before the wedding, because they need your personal presence to submit the application.
At this stage, you will especially need the help of a wedding planner who knows all the local laws and customs, can get everyone together at the right time, and knows how to be flexible when negotiating with the pastry chefs and photographer.
Be sure to show the papers to him to get assurance that you will be able to register the marriage without interference. In one hundred percent of cases, the organizer will tell you that you need to go to another local official establishment and get a couple more stamps.
Step six: have fun!
You no longer believed that this would finally happen? But this solemn moment has come – you swear love and loyalty to each other in the presence of friends, family and officials. Don’t be surprised if you are allowed to decorate the city hall as a knight’s castle, and the representative of the law himself is dressed in chain mail. Be prepared for the fact that when reading a congratulatory farewell, an official may burst into tears of emotion. During a wedding abroad, pleasant surprises await you, and at this stage you will already be able to feel how roses are thrown at your feet. And you will understand that such an event was worth all the trouble. But, unfortunately, the last one awaits you…
Step seven: you are definitely married?
After the noisy wedding has ended, you will have to take up the papers again. Citizens of the Russian Federation have the right to marry abroad, and it will have legal force in their homeland. But for this you need to sweat a little more.
If you did not sign in the strict environment of the Russian consulate, most often located in the capital of the country and far from the place where you would like to get married, then you will have to legalize your marriage certificate. This must be done in the country where registration took place.
It would be most reasonable to entrust this matter to the organizer, who will send you documents along with wedding photographs. All you have to do is translate them into Russian and get an apostille from a notary, but that doesn’t scare you anymore, does it? After all, you have family life ahead, and even your grandchildren will be interested in hearing the story of your fairytale wedding abroad.
When traveling, pay for purchases with a OneTwoTrip loyalty card, and up to 10% of the order amount on OneTwoTrip, as well as up to 2% of any purchases paid for with the card, will be returned to your account.
Source: thrillist.com
