Congratulations , you resolve to get married and be like everybody else . Good for you . Now it ’s time to verify your wedding is n’t like everybody else ’s . And the best means to do that ? Take your friends and family to a alien nation , of grade .
My wife and I got conjoin on Lake Como in Italy , and it was – at least in our baseborn opinion – an mad affair . You should see the pictures . That enjoin , pulling it off required a pathetic amount of clip , effort , and patience . It was quite the task .
But also , typical of the cognitive operation . Which is why , despite the fact that every land has its own curing of unique quirks and byzantine wedding rules ( peculiarly for non - citizens ) , our experience should prove priceless to anyone pondering hymeneals overseas .
Jay Gentile/Thrillist
Step 1: Hire a local wedding planner
This is the single most authoritative determination you will make in the hymeneals process and , while obviously not mandatory , there are so many hoops to jump through we do n’t commend going it alone . Remember , you ’re planning a wedding in a locating ( possibly)thousandsof miles aside . And , most potential , over electronic mail and by earpiece . With hoi polloi for whom , in most instance , English is not their first language . So yeah .
Where to go ? If you do n’t have sex any local wedding planners ( and we assume you do not ) , Google " wedding planners [ enter your city , body politic of pick here ] , " contact a few for pricing , and choose . Seriously , even with a planner to rent the wedding hall , hold the hotel ( in our caseful , an flat on Lake Como nowhere near Clooney ) , hire the lensman , plunk up flower , attend to with paperwork , arrange your dulcet - ass dinner jacket , and take precaution of any post - wedding parties or celebrations , it ’s still a surprisingly arduous undertaking . As you ’re about to find out .
Step 2: Gather and translate documents
The first matter you will need is a valid US passport and giving birth certificate ( original or certified transcript ) along with any evidence of termination of any previous marriage ( divorce , annulment , etc . ) Once you ’ve collected all these documents , they necessitate to be translate into the appropriate voice communication and affix with an " Apostille " stamp by the secretary of state in the issuing state . The docs are only valid for six months , so do NOT chitchat your local repository of state ’s office ( a fun manner to kick off any wedding!)sevenmonths before the wedding . Do n’t do it .
Step 3: Visit the consulate nearest you
While not needfully the pillowcase for every country , most will require you to visit their nearest consular power in the US with said roll up / translated document and assert that there are no legal obstacle to your wedding . For those require the marriage summons to be a romantic experience , step one should have quickly disabuse you of such notions . The sojourn to the local consulate will sure as shooting reinforce that fact and , while not a terrible day , do n’t expect a lot of smiles . And definitely do n’t gestate anyone to throw rose petals at your feet .
Step 4: Off on your trip! (And another government office!)
The dependable news : you are now quick to travel to your sexy international locale for the wedding . The bad word ? Another stumble to an unsexy government office most probably awaits ; this was the most stressful experience of the whole deal for us . You basically require to refashion stone’s throw three , just in reverse . This time you ’ll be in the country where you are getting get married but trust toan Americanconsular police officer that , again … you guessed it , there are no sound impediments to your marriage . In our case , we spent about an hour in dividing line outside the consulate and another minute inside , before we received the necessary paperwork and hightailed it out of the city back to our lakeside perch .
Step 5: Authenticate documents in your wedding country
Think this is the end of the process ? Think again ! In many cases you must then bring your paperwork back to the legalization office of the local prefecture to devote more fees , and have your document authenticated ( yet again ) and affix with more fancy - looking stamps . Which makes us enquire , what the the pits is going on here ? Is there that much hymeneals fraud we do n’t eff about ? Luckily , you may have your deviser take care of this step for you . Which , unless you’rereallyinto stamps , is nice .
Step 6: Declare your intent and set a date
No , you ’re still not done . Do n’t be silly . In many showcase , you now call for to make a " Declaration of Intention to splice " before a civic recorder . This take post in the marriage ceremony power of the town hall in the city where your observance will be performed . Only at that prison term can you coif a date for the wedding . Officials need to post civic banns ( notices ) of the wedding at the town hall for a certain stop of time before the ceremony , so be certain to get in country at least a few days before your wedding date . In some cause , you actually wo n’t have sex the exact date of your nuptials until now ( although you will have a good estimate ) , so flexibility again is key here .
Step 7: Get hitched!
You did n’t think it was going to happen , did you ? Well , actually , it is . That ’s why you ’re here , right ? You still want to do this ? We had a civil ceremony execute by the city manager of the town , a chill little coastal fleck called Mandello del Lario . This is the part where you will be pleasantly surprised , at least if you follow our lead and get married in Italy . Instead of another drab government room , officials do a nice job decking the marriage ceremony hall out for you . And the city manager even gets preen up in fancy medieval garb and perform the ceremony using traditional Italian vow . Totally deserving the hassle .
If you ’re having a religious ceremony and/or getting married on the beach at the hangout or something , apparently , there ’ll be other logistics to organise .
Step 8: Congratulations. Now you’re… married?
After the wedding ceremony , you ’re mercifully done with the paperwork rigamarole . The marriage ceremony is mechanically valid in the US , or so you ’re told . The wedding contriver will get your marriage certificate , have it validated and affixed with yet another stamp , and will mail it to your place back in the States , along with the wedding exposure . grant , your marriage security is probably in a alien spoken language , but we ’re pretty sure ours says we ’re married . Like , 99 % trusted .
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