Little sounds more romantic than a tropical Caribbean destination wedding. The thought of the miles of pristine beaches, the luscious seafood dishes the area is famous for, the deep blue clear sea and everything associated with the Caribbean. It is a very popular area for marriages, especially for that couple that want to avoid the high costs of a wedding in their own country. What better way to do it!
A Caribbean wedding can be as expensive or affordable as you want it to be, and most destinations offer facilities and services for large parties or for couples alone that also need the witnesses supplied. One very important fact that you must keep in mind is that the Caribbean is not a country, but an area of islands in the Caribbean Sea, each one a separate island or group of islands with their own laws.
These laws can vary significantly since the islands have generally gained independence after being governed by a number of different countries, mainly the British, Spanish, French and Dutch. Their current legal systems reflect that previous colonization, but make the error of assuming they are all the same. In fact they are not, and this is important to you since the legal requirements regarding the marriage license and residency requirements are different on each island.
If you want avoid these problems, and then you should first decide on a destination in the Caribbean and then appoint a wedding organizer to get things underway at that side. The organizer will look after the legal side of things and can also provide you with a recommended list of venues for the ceremony and the reception, if you are having one. First, however, you must decide on your island.
You have a wide choice from the better known destinations such as Jamaica, the Bahamas and Grenada. You could go for one of the smaller islands such as St. Lucia, but also have the option of one of the many uninhabited small islets or cays where you and your party will be the only ones there. Much depends on your budget.
Most of the Caribbean islands are very similar in geographical and weather conditions, with miles of golden, coral pink or white sands, and plenty of facilities for weddings. Marriage is now a big business in the Caribbean and anywhere you choose will have resorts, hotels and agencies that specialize in weddings. You can be married on a beautiful beach, or on a cliff top, with the Caribbean Sea as a fabulous backdrop for your videos and photographs. You can have a gazebo wedding in the hotel grounds and then the reception on the beach.
Beach weddings
are not mandatory in the Caribbean, of course, and you can be married underwater if you want, or in the hotel or a wedding chapel built only for that purpose. Your reception can be in the same hotel, a traditional restaurant, outdoors or on the beach. You can have virtually what you want in one of over 100 major inhabited islands.
You can have a disco, live band, or enjoy your wedding with other couples in special discos designed for couples being married alone without guests. You will be intoxicated with your new life together rather than with the rum that the Caribbean invented. Weddings in the Caribbean have become such big business that governments are changing laws to make it much easier for visitors. Residency periods are being reduced, and even abolished in many cases, and most islands now no longer require blood tests.
However, all of the laws are still not the same as in your home country. Take the Grenadine Islands, for example, that run from St. Vincent down to Grenada and include Mustique and Bequia. A really beautiful area of the Caribbean for weddings, but with a residency period of 72 hours. After that you can apply for a marriage license. You will likely be informed this when you book your wedding, but don’t expect to turn up with a U.S. license and expect to be married!
The Caribbean is now rapidly becoming the option of choice for many couples with a tight budget, since prices are plummeting and it is now much cheaper to be married there than in the USA, the UK or Europe (though keep an eye on that weakening dollar). It is also popular for those eloping (with a few dollars from dad as a bribe), and also for those who want to combine their wedding with a fabulous family holiday.
A tropical Caribbean destination wedding is a fantastic idea for families that like the idea of a rare family vacation with friends invited, so that everyone can enjoy and celebrate your wedding in a dream setting, while you can have a lovely idyllic honeymoon on the next island, and equally good for couples that want to be married alone, with or without a celebration reception back home after the honeymoon.
Whatever you decide, any island in the Caribbean will provide you with a tropical wedding destination that you will remember for ever, and you will never regret your choice.
Labels: Best Destination Weddings, Costa Rica Wedding Destination, Destination wedding Planning, Destination weddings., Tropical Caribbean Destination Wedding
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# posted by M. D @ 8:34 PM
