An interesting option: getting married with just each other (and two witnesses) in the same locale as your honeymoon. Some resorts (Walt Disney World and Sandals, for example) specialize in intimate honeymoon-weddings, which are smaller and less complicated than full-blown destination weddings. These add-on weddings are inexpensive — even free in some cases. Unsurprisingly, the weddings are pretty formulaic, held in only certain areas on the properties with a set style and length of the ceremony, and topped off with some fizzy stuff and a cake product.
Ask the wedding department at your destination to send you a full description on how they do these ceremonies and mini receptions. If details are important to you, make a trip to the destination to meet with the person who will be overseeing your wedding. If you want something different than the resort ordinarily provides (and are willing to pay for special plans), notify your destination far in advance — in writing — and ask them to send back a letter of agreement.
Arrive a few days early to arrange things the way you want them. An on-site wedding coordinator should be able to assist you in whipping your wedding into shape.
Honeymoon-weddings can be the simplest to carry off — especially if the emphasis is on the honeymoon and you don’t invite any guests. In such cases, the resort provides all the accoutrements — including the witnesses. You might send out announcements, or even have a celebratory bash when you return. These post wedding parties tend to be less expensive and less stressful than the typical wedding ceremony followed by a same-day reception.
Foreign affairs and red tape
Before deciding to get married in another country — or even spending time looking for a venue there — take a good look at the logistics involved, particularly the length of the cooling off period and the residency requirements. In some countries, you need to have lived there six months or more, while others allow only citizens to marry! Other factors to consider are whether you need a blood test and if one from your doctor back home will suffice, and whether you’ll need both a civil ceremony and a religious one for the marriage to be legally binding. (While you’re at it, find out the business hours of the office where you apply for the license; you may need to arrive a few days early to process this paperwork.) Before you decide on a country, consult its consular office in New York or its embassy in Washington, D.C. The U.S. State Department can provide marriage requirements and lists of U.S. consular offices abroad where you can have your marriage certificate authenticated.
Getting married on a cruise ship isn’t automatically a matter of having the captain perform the nuptials. As a matter of fact, with one new exception, marriages performed at sea aren’t legal. At this writing, Princess is the only cruise line where the captain is able to perform a legally binding wedding ceremony at sea. Keep in mind that your marriage license will be from Liberia (Princess Corporation is registered there) and make sure that it’ll be legal in the state you live in. Most other cruise lines offer special wedding packages, which include a civil ceremony either on embarkation day while the ship is docked (so that you can have guests at your ceremony), on board, or in a port of call.
Essentials for getting married abroad
• Birth certificate (authenticated)
• Confirmation, baptism, and pre-Cana records (for Catholic weddings)
• Immunization and other health records
• Passports
• Proof of economic solvency
• Proof that you’re free to marry, such as a divorce decree or death certificate (authenticated and perhaps translated)
