Previously, I discussed three things you need to determine when choosing your destination wedding location. Today, I wanted to expand on that blog post by discussing another factor to take into consideration. As mentioned previously, just as your options of where to host your destination wedding are plenteous, so are the rules and regulations in many locations.
Another factor to determine when choosing the location is whether you envision a religious or civil ceremony for your destination wedding. This is very important because in some locations a religious ceremony may not be legal or vice versa. For example, if you have your mind set on a having a religious ceremony and your top choice to host your nuptials are in the Mexican Caribbean, then you should note that only civil ceremonies are legal in Mexico. You can still have a religious ceremony, but you will have to opt to do a civil service first to make it legal, and then you can proceed with your religious ceremony.
On the other side of the coin, if you wish to get married somewhere like Bali, a beautiful and exotic island of Indonesia, you should note that only religious ceremonies are binding. Civil ceremonies are not acknowledged in Bali. In other words, you must declare a religion to be married in Bali and the wedding ceremony has to be performed in accordance with the laws of your religion. Even more, both parties must have the same religion. Therefore, if you are a Christian and your fiancé(e) is a Buddhist, one of you will have to file a written declaration to change your religion to that of your partner’s, in order to be legally married in Bali.
Tomorrow, I will provide an overview of how varied residency requirements are for getting married abroad. Stay tuned by subscribing to my blog.
Advice: You can always contact a destination wedding planner in your local area for a consultation to determine if a destination wedding is right for you and to learn about the legalities concerning having a destination wedding in your top destination choices. Most destination wedding specialists are well versed in the marriage requirements of many of the leading wedding destinations.
{This is a re-post and content has been modified. Originally published on my old blog in 2009}
excellent post Tabitha. Most of my first few hours with destination wedding clients is spent explaining the laws of marriage. Most times, the client will pick a beautiful destination with regard to how to marry legally and sometimes, we have to rethink the location. The great thing is once you have decided to go destination, you can pick a location that works with the way you want to marry. I find more and more of my clients wanting Mexico when they start out, then moving to a country where they can have a religious ceremony as the binding ceremony.
What a great post! Thanks for explaining how the marriage laws can vary from country to country. As for Bali, what if the couple is not religious or doesn’t believe in God?
To answer your question, Agnosticism and Atheism are not recognized. Bali is known for it’s spiritual environment and in fact is known as the island of the Gods. So, more than likely this is one factor as to why only religious ceremonies are recognized and are binding.