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Wedding Destination: Europe
 In
recent years, more and more people have been choosing to celebrate their
weddings in Europe. Traditionally a honeymoon destination for the more well
off, Europe’s appeal as a wedding destination has grown rapidly over
the years, as more people move away from the traditional hometown weddings
and take advantage of lowering air and hotel prices to have the wedding
of their dreams in an exotic, romantic location.
If you’re trying to choose a wedding destination in Europe, there’s an almost
unlimited number of places to choose from in the great wide sweep of the
Continent. Some of the most popular places to wed are in Spain,
Italy and Scotland, either because of the ease with which foreigners
are permitted to marry in those countries, or for the sheer beauty of the
location, or both!
When planning a destination wedding in Europe,
its best to take into account such things as language, the currency exchange
rates, cultural differences and other factors which may affect how easy
or difficult it will be to make the arrangements. Fortunately, there are
plenty of wedding companies which will happily take care of all the legal
matters, as well as arrange the simplest or the most elaborate weddings
in the country of your choice. Almost all wedding companies which cater
to an international clientele will have a website, which makes planning
a destination wedding almost as, or even simpler than planning a hometown
wedding.
Getting Married
in Spain
Spain has been always been a popular place with
tourists, who flock to the country's shores in their thousands each year
for the sunny beaches, lively cities and warm, hospitable culture. In recent
years however, the wave of visitors have included a sizeable number of couples
who want to combine a holiday with a marriage in what has become one
of Europe's most popular holiday destinations.
There are many beautiful wedding locations to choose from in Spain itself
and one of the most popular areas in which to be wed is exuberant Andalusia,
with its sun drenched white villages perched in the picturesque hills, exotic
culture and well-deserved reputation for heady nightlife. Though many of
the smaller villages and towns have been the site of beautiful ceremonies,
the top three places usually chosen for destination weddings are Madrid,
Seville and Granada.
Another popular place to get married is in the Catalonia region, especially
Barcelona. With its sunny year-round climate and golden beaches just
10 minutes away from the city centre, Barcelona offers the double attraction
of a cosmopolitan nightlife and a beach vacation, making it popular among
international visitors looking for a change from their own climates.
Weddings in Spain tend to be huge communal, extravagant affairs, which many
visitors aren’t able to emulate due to budget constraints. Still, if you
want to add an authentic touch, these are just a few of Spanish customs
you can incorporate into your own wedding: for the bride, the traditional
white wedding gown can sometimes be replaced a genuine flamenco dress. During
the ceremony, when the sentence "all my worldly goods I thee endow" is read,
the bride and groom give each other 13 gold coins as a symbolic giving of
their possessions. Sometimes these coins will have been in the family for
many, many years, but nowadays imitation gold coins are more common. The
bride may also have a basket of pins, which often resemble lilies or orchids.
These pins are given to all the ladies at the reception, to be worn upside
down whilst dancing; if the pin falls out, the girl will marry. After the
reception, the bride passes round the tables giving a small present to each
of the female guests and the groom goes round giving cigars to the men.
On the surface, Spain’s marriage laws appear to permit foreigners to marry;
in reality however, it is usually necessary for at least one partner to
have been resident for at least two years. The Spanish regional authorities
have the power to interpret the law in different ways and under Spanish
law, religious wedding is considered legally binding, so a civil ceremony
is optional. Most foreigners intending to marry in Spain will understandably
settle for a religious or ‘exchange of vows’ ceremony, together a civil
ceremony conducted in their home country. Roman Catholic, Protestant, Islamic
or Jewish marriages can be arranged in Spain.
Whether you have a civil or religious ceremony, make sure you do everything
well in advance — Spanish authorities are notorious for their inefficiency,
and a civil marriage application process usually takes anywhere from 30
to 60 days! This is especially true if you want a religious ceremony, as
you’ll need to consult with the relevant church authorities for both permission
to marry and to book the church in which to marry. Most churches get booked
up very quickly, especially in summer months, so planning even a year ahead
may be necessary.
The most popular months to get married in Spain are in June and July,
which are, not coincidentally, the peak tourism months. If you’d prefer
to celebrate your marriage in a less crowded time, the shoulder periods
are a particularly good time to go, as not only are the crowds significantly
smaller, but the hotel prices tend to drop sharply as well. The only month
in which it would not be a good idea to marry (at least, not without considerable
advance notice and preparation) is in August, the traditional summer
vacation for what seems to be practically worker in the city.
To avoid the hassle of dealing with the paperwork, you may want to hire
a wedding company that will take care of all the legal matters on your behalf,
as well as arranging the ceremony. If you choose to go the DIY route, there’s
plenty of help at hand: most hotels will offer wedding and/or honeymoon
packages and in Spain, it is typical to book a restaurant that will provide
everything from the food to the entertainment and even the cake, which may
be decorated as you wish.
An approximate cost estimate for organizing a wedding in Spain would be
between EUR 90 and EUR 150 euros per person, plus roughly EUR 1,500 the
ceremony and any other extras the bride and groom choose to add.
Getting married
in Italy
Italy is probably THE most popular place to get married in continental Europe,
for a number of reason: firstly, because for many people, it is simply
the most romantic place in the world, with its amazing artistic heritage,
the magnificent landscape itself, the wonderful food and so on; and secondly,
Italy has the simplest legal requirements for international couples
wanting to be married in a civil ceremony.
When trying to decide where to get married in Italy, you might want to consider
steering clear of the larger cities, as Rome, Milan and Naples are notoriously
packed with tourists practically year round. For more breathing room, a
better view and more reasonable prices, try and head out to the countryside,
where the magnificent views are excellent compensation!
As you might expect, most people who marry in Italy choose to do so in a
Roman Catholic church. Unfortunately, it may be harder to hold a traditional
Roman Catholic wedding in Italy of all places, as most churches will hesitate
to host non-residents. Some priests may require couples to go through a
marriage counseling course prior to the ceremony itself, requiring a stay
of at least a month before the big day. Also, unlike Spain, a couple
is still required to go through a civil ceremony in addition to a religious
ceremony in order to make the wedding legally binding. The requirements
for Protestant weddings are somewhat less rigid, and unlike a Roman Catholic
ceremony, which is almost always done in a church, a Protestant service
can be done on the grounds of a villa or other location of your choice.
If you prefer private gatherings and can afford it, renting a villa or
castle for the wedding can be the ideal way to create some fantastic
memories. Many international couples prefer to hold their ceremonies in
the gardens of these villas, combining both wedding and reception in one
beautiful location. It being Italy, there are an abundance of gorgeous villas
available for just such an occasion. There are many places to choose from,
but for sheer romance, few areas can beat Tuscany. A villa in the
Tuscan region not only allows you to hold that private gathering for the
wedding, but is also a great place to spend your honeymoon. Plus, if you
want really spectacular wedding photographs, you can’t ask for much more
than the rugged landscape of the region and that wonderfully luminous light
Italy is so famous for!
In Italy, it is the easiest to hold a civil ceremony. Unlike most European
countries, Italy has no residency requirements for foreigners wanting
to marry on Italian soil. In addition, the traditional four day wait while
the banns are posted is usually waived if neither party to the marriage
is an Italian citizen or residing in Italy (though it may be a good idea
to arrive four days in advance, just in case). The civil ceremony is almost
always held in the town hall, though some wedding companies can also arrange
to have it done at a location of your choice.
Like Spain, the most popular months to marry are June and July; the worst
month to marry is in August, so if at all possible, avoid an August
wedding date. Most wedding companies will not accommodate couples who insist
on an August wedding, as many of their staff, vendors and even priests will
be on holiday during that period. Unlike other countries, most bridal couples
in Italy will not rent their outfits, so the selection in the few rental
shops in Italy tends to be small, and you should consider either importing
your outfits, or having them tailored by an Italian dressmaker.
There are a fair amount of paperwork to be filed with the registry and/or
the church before the marriage is legal, but as the requirements vary depending
on the origin country(ies) of the couple, it’s best to consult with the
authorities involved well in advance, preferably about 9 months prior to
the wedding date. The cost of staging a simple ceremony in the town hall
starts from about EUR 1500 and up. If you’re having a church wedding, then
the price escalates depending on venue fees, church administration fees,
etc, etc.
Getting Married
in Scotland
Scotland has something of a reputation when it
comes to quick and easy marriages. Up until 1939, when Scottish law
abolished the practice, the rite of handfasting was a common and legitimate
way to wed. The rite traditionally bound the couple for a year and a day
and after that time, the couple were free to renew their vows or go their
own ways without any guilt. During the days of the Regency, English couples
would rush across the border to the Scottish town of Gretna Green to elope,
making it a popular choice for determined aristocrats and underaged lovers
(Scotland’s age of consent is 16).
Today, Scotland is a still popular wedding destination for people who want
to get married without much fuss, albeit for a rather different reason:
unlike the more restrictive residency requirements of England and Ireland,
Scotland has no residency requirements whatsoever, though 15 days is
required for the banns to be posted. Scotland has thus become the de
facto wedding location for international couples who want to have a destination
wedding in the United Kingdom without having to put up with the stuffier
requirements of Scotland’s fellow nations.
In addition to the legal ease of Scottish marriages, the country also offers
its own touch of romance and magic to the wedding. Scotland is famous for
its jaw-dropping beauty, what with its endless reaches of heather-covered
moors, deep still lochs and majestic ruined castles. Also, Scottish weddings
are rather in vogue at the moment, as many couples follow the
footstep of celebrities such as Madonna, Stella McCartney and Kirsty Hume,
who all chose to tie the knot there.
Most weddings held in Scotland occur in a church, and there are an abundance
of historic churches to choose from. For a more unusual ceremony, there
are also plenty of places available; the rocky beach of a quiet loch, a
heather-scented hillside, even in a picturesque little cottage. Gretna Green,
with its history of forbidden romance, secrecy and thrilling escape, is
still a very popular place to marry, accounting for a whopping 17 percent
of all marriages in Scotland!
 For
sheer beauty and romance however, there’s little that can beat a
castle wedding. Fortunately, Scotland is one of the few countries in
which castles are not only available for public hire, but are even reasonably
priced for wedding parties! A few of the these, such as Inverlochy Castle
and Culcruech Castle, are set up as hotels and offer wedding packages
which include rental of the entire building and the services of an
experienced wedding planner to make the arrangements for the ceremony
and reception. Weddings at these locations can start from as low as EUR
1500, depending on how simple or elaborate the couple wishes.
Marriages held in castles or outside locations have usually been religious
ceremonies conducted by a minister, priest or other such member of the clergy,
though recent law changes means that a civil ceremony can now
also be held outside, rather confined to a stuffy old registrar’s office.
Strangely enough, the only stipulation for a civil ceremony is that the
wedding must have held at one specific location; if you choose to get married
on anything that moves, such as a boat, plane, train, car or bus, you must
be stationary for the actual ceremony! Incidentally, the law changes has
made it so that couple may now also choose to go through the rite of handfasting,
if the ceremony is conducted by an authorised Pagan.
Other than the usual round of paperwork to be filed with the registry office,
marriage in Scotland is about as fast and simple as you can ever hope it
to be in Europe. About the only cautionary note related to Scotland is that
an international couple should remember to register the wedding in their
country of residence for it to be legal, or they may go through the
same hassle Jerry Hall did when she was divorcing Mick Jagger.
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