Regardless of where you are getting married, it is an important event for you. If you wish to plan your wedding abroad, you can turn a simple wedding into a memorable one.

International weddings offer more choices than the standard beach or destination wedding. Some couples prefer to hold their wedding based on a mutual interest or a common cultural enthusiasm. For example, a couple who is an animal and adventure lover can choose some locations in Africa. Other couples want to fulfill their dream wedding such as getting married in a castle in Europe. It is also an opportunity to trace your roots and discover your family’s heritage in the foreign lands. Some may choose their ancestors’ home country and celebrate their wedding with the local customs and traditions.

If you are serious about holding your wedding abroad, you definitely need to hire a wedding planner. Unless you have plenty money to spend on many trips to a foreign country for planning and arranging this special event, your wedding planner will be your valuable asset. When hiring one, make sure the wedding planner has wide experience in planning and organizing such events for American couples. Ask the wedding planner for references, photographs, and videos of past weddings so that you can choose a reliable one.

Legality is always an issue when marrying abroad. Every country has its own law. Some countries in Europe make it compulsory to have either the bride or the bridegroom to be a resident of their countries. In some countries, you don’t need much paperwork for a legal civil marriage. If you are married outside the United States legally, the government will accept your marriage as a legal binding contract in the United States. Religious weddings in overseas have their own respective rules depending on the types of religion. For example, all Catholic churches worldwide will recognize any wedding performed by the local Catholic churches in the United States.

Usually when you have your wedding abroad, you may have a small list of guests. They may include your close members of your family and close friends. Always inform them in writing early regardless of the number of guests you are inviting. You can mail to them “save the date” cards up to a year prior to your formal invitations. Make sure your passport is not expired. In addition, make sure you have the proper visas for traveling.

Lastly, leverage on your wedding location. You can incorporate your honeymoon together with your wedding. For example, if you are getting married in France, plan your honeymoon in nearby European countries. This can save you some money.

If you enjoy reading this post, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!