Anyone get married abroad? (Italy)

joeyowen

Other half and I are hoping to get married in Italy next summer, but starting to wonder whether we should or not (Italy that is, not the wedding...)

For a start we have kids, and we don't want them with us the whole 7 days (love them, but perhaps will want some couple time eh).  TUI aren't really flexible in regards to the fact we want the kids at a separate hotel with family some nights.  They are also not sure that we can fly to Italy, then onto somewhere else for a honeymoon.

Just looking for anyone who has gone through with it, and any words of wisdom?

Freebird

I married a broad, does that count?

thecolourbox

Try Trailfinders as they will be able to do it for you

Edit, the booking that is, not the getting married abroad bit

RaymondLin

I photographed a wedding in Italy a few years back.  The couple lives in NYC (from the UK originally), they just got a company to sort out everything, from venue to cake.  She hadn't even seen the cake until the cake cutting moment.

Freebird

How many wedding guests will be flying to Italy?

EricTheWeary

We got married a long time ago but had thought then about marrying abroad. Just seemed a lot of things to do and that could go wrong so it would be quite stressful until after the wedding itself so we wouldn’t be able to enjoy a chunk of what was also quite an expensive holiday. 
So just had a cheap and cheerful wedding then went off on honeymoon. 

joeyowen

Freebird said:

I married a broad, does that count?

ha, no comment

thecolourbox said:

Try Trailfinders as they will be able to do it for you

Edit, the booking that is, not the getting married abroad bit

Just had a quick look, can't see anything about weddings, just honeymoons. Got a link?

RaymondLin said:

I photographed a wedding in Italy a few years back.  The couple lives in NYC (from the UK originally), they just got a company to sort out everything, from venue to cake.  She hadn't even seen the cake until the cake cutting moment.

Any idea who they used? As does it add a massive cost to get it done via a third party? Plus, other half would probably like quite a say in most of it

Freebird said:

How many wedding guests will be flying to Italy?

Including maybes, 30. Confirmed, just shy of 25. Roughly 15 family, and 10 friends

EricTheWeary said:

We got married a long time ago but had thought then about marrying abroad. Just seemed a lot of things to do and that could go wrong so it would be quite stressful until after the wedding itself so we wouldn’t be able to enjoy a chunk of what was also quite an expensive holiday. 
So just had a cheap and cheerful wedding then went off on honeymoon. 

It is temping to be fair, but we both really want it. Special memories there, and such a stunning place. recently got the all clear that her dad is well enough to travel, so it's full steam ahead

Teetonetal

Have you thought about paperwork? I got married in Switzerland in 2009. Getting our paperwork done in the UK and being in validity along with the Swiss paperwork was a nightmare. Also where will your marriage certificate be held and in which languages? Swiss one is handily in English so we didn't need it translated to register in the UK.

Regarding tui, they are a package holiday company and deviating from economies of scale is not what they do. Doing a twin centre holiday with fly in and out of Italy should be ok, but flying else where from Italy is not what (the British arm) do. Easiest (and most protected) would be return to UK and fly out again.

ToneControl

Book a house instead of a hotel, and arrange your own travel

For me, package deals are never flexible enough for families 

Did you consider Anglosphere countries like Barbados? Getting paperwork done there would be comparatively easy

RiftAmps

ToneControl said:

Book a house instead of a hotel, and arrange your own travel

For me, package deals are never flexible enough for families

This.

Book an Agriturismo in Tuscany and arrange your own flights. Kids can fly back with the in-laws whilst you fly on to your honeymoon

mrleon83

Yeah I got married abroad (Rhode, Greece) , it was awesome. We booked through Thomas Cook , they had a wedding planner out there, we discussed the details over a few Long Island Ice t's.. we were also able to postpone it by two days due to the weather.

It's cheaper, feels special and you're already on your honeymoon before you start!

We were looking at Italy originally, they advised that there is a limited number of foreigners wedded per year, not sure if that's still the case? Might be worth looking into ..

AustrianJohn

We got married in Zell am See, Austria while we still lived in the UK. TUI did offer wedding packages in Zell am See, but they didn't offer the package we wanted so we arranged it all ourselves. 

Unless you are 100% happy with what a travel company offers, do it yourself. The hotel where my wife and I stayed had an English speaking member of staff who knew all the local companies that offered wedding related services (florists, photographers etc.). Without her help we'd have struggled big time.

Blueingreen

We got married in New York.  Originally we looked at France but there was too much red tape.  Very easy in NYC, you basically go and register the day before (I believe the 24 hours is to give you a chance to sober up and change your mind).  We went on holiday with my brother and partner and they were witnesses.

Great idea if for any reason you don't want a family wedding at home.  The ceremony itself was a bit of an non-event, but the wedding day in NYC (trip on the Staten Island ferry, seafood lunch in Grand Central, afternoon drinks in a couple of posh hotels including the one Tony Soprano holed up in near Central Park when his marriage was in trouble,  dinner at an upscale restaurant where they gave us free drinks and stuff because we newlyweds) was fabulous.  We've never regretted doing it that way.

RaymondLin

Blueingreen said:

We got married in New York.  Originally we looked at France but there was too much red tape.  Very easy in NYC, you basically go and register the day before (I believe the 24 hours is to give you a chance to sober up and change your mind).  We went on holiday with my brother and partner and they were witnesses.

Great idea if for any reason you don't want a family wedding at home.  The ceremony itself was a bit of an non-event, but the wedding day in NYC (trip on the Staten Island ferry, seafood lunch in Grand Central, afternoon drinks in a couple of posh hotels including the one Tony Soprano holed up in near Central Park when his marriage was in trouble,  dinner at an upscale restaurant where they gave us free drinks and stuff because we newlyweds) was fabulous.  We've never regretted doing it that way.

Oh yeah, NYC is really easy.  Turn up to the Register a day before, get the licence then on the day go to the registry again and queue.  It takes about an hour or so with all the waiting, you are then free to do what you want afterwards.

SouthpawMark

Just make sure the marriage is actually legal. We looked at France, and were told that unless we were resident for a minimum number of days it wouldn’t be a legal contract, and that we’d have to go through the whole ordeal again back in the UK. They’d still “marry” us and take our cash though, obvs. 

LuttiS

We looked at Thailand to get married originally, talking to a company.. they suggested for paperwork, as it's a total arse (doable, but effort +cost involved) get paperwork done in registrar in UK, then just have ceremony in foreign lands. 

We actually booked in Cyprus as I *think* UK paperwork is valid there (was a while ago, I forget) so there is no hassle involved. 

Ended up in North Wales. Butyouknow... They're all kind of similar...

King85

My friends got married in Sorrento last year, they hired a big airbnb villa to host the wedding, friends and family stayed in various nearby hotels or airbnbs, best wedding I've been to as it strayed from the incredibly boring barn style that every one in the UK seems to be and also felt like a holiday to boot.