We get more enquiries than ever about weddings abroad, with money saving a huge factor in the decision-making process – the average UK wedding costs £20,000, while the average price for an abroad wedding is only £6,500.
This, along with the guarantee of beautiful weather, and the novelty of combining the ceremony with a holiday, and an intimate guest list, has convinced thousands of couples to tie the knot in another country.
We gathered some handy tips and statistics about getting married abroad in 2017/18:
The major wedding destinations for weddings differ seasonally – of course, there’s consistently popular options like Italy – but the range of countries we see couples choosing changes every year.
The hotels and facilities in established wedding locations, like Cyprus and Mexico, are used to hosting ceremonies and receptions, which makes finding a venue much easier. Cyprus is a particularly good option, because, unlike other countries, the paperwork and ceremony are in English.
More unusual options, such as New York, Thailand, and New Zealand have grown significantly in popularity in recent years, with some couples opting to make their wedding part of a longer break. Sri Lanka is another emerging location, but bear in mind that you’ll need to be in the country for a minimum of 5 days before the ceremony.
While France is known as the city of love, it can be a tricky destination to get married in. You’ll need to be in the country 40 continuous days before the ceremony, with copies of your birth certificates- issued less than 6 months ago, with proof of domicile, certificates of your single status, and translations of all documents, to name just a few of the requirements. If your heart is set on getting married in France, we recommend performing the legal element in UK beforehand, with a symbolic ceremony in France.
Booking early will help you save even more money, as well as make the possibility of amazing weather even more certain. More couples are looking to make a wedding part of a longer experience, with multiple days spent in different destinations in the build-up and directly after the ceremony.
Multi-centre holidays are a great way to experience a city break, a beach holiday, and a wedding, all in one trip, but you need to get with so much to plan, get in there early. To avoid disappointment book tickets and reservations for all the activities and day trips you have planned well in advance.
Research the climate at the time of year you are considering booking your wedding. Flexibility is the key when getting married abroad, so be prepared to move things around if the month you had in mind clashes with adverse weather.
Organising a wedding is stressful enough without taking into account different laws and customs, so hiring a multilingual wedding planner to translate and organise the logistics and legal requirements can be a lifesaver.
There are horror stories out there of couples who opted for an untested travel agent for their wedding, resulting in wasted money. Using a reliable travel agent to arrange hotels and flights will ensure you get personal requirements you’re looking for, and give you peace of mind.
A certificate of no impediment is a legal document that non-commonwealth countries require to prove you are free and able to marry of your own free will. The rules of a CNI differ for Scotland – they are only valid for 3 months after being sent out – so make sure you apply close enough so these documents are valid for the big day.
CNIs from England, Northern Ireland, and Wales don’t have any time restrictions, so get one early doors. Both you and your partner will need a CNI, unless you’re getting married in a Commonwealth countries and both British citizens,
While there’s considerable benefit to getting married in another country – the beautiful weather, idyllic setting, and financial savings – there’s also added risk. Hotter climates can be susceptible to storms and other forms of extreme weather, not to mention issues around hotels and air travel that could impact, or worse, make your ceremony impossible. Wedding insurance gives you the security that you’ll be able to reschedule your special day, whatever happens.
Despite what we often see at the movies or on TV shows, flight upgrades for nearly-weds or honeymooners rarely occur. You’ll stand your best chance of getting an upgrade while travelling alone, so don’t expect to be bumped into business or first class on the way to your destination.
Most hotels will offer an upgraded room for the couple if you’re getting married abroad. Las Vegas, due to the frequency of weddings in the city, won’t offer an upgrade, so you’ll have to book your own if you’re looking for luxury.
Many trendy locations like Thailand, and other destinations found on the Indian ocean, will upgrade your rooms as standard if you’re getting married, but make sure to check availability before your trip.
If you’re a same-sex couple and you’re looking to get married abroad, unfortunately your options are slightly limited. Despite the year being 2017 rather than 1017, there are many countries where same-sex married still isn’t legal. Luckily, most of the most popular destinations are available, but check out our infographic to see which countries you can choose from.
Our experienced personal travel consultants will ensure you find the most suitable holiday, whilst taking care of every last detail. Everything from start to finish will be effortless.
We can use any hotel, in any destination, so we will craft an itinerary to suit your exact needs. Also, as we can provide any itinerary, the only holiday we'll offer, is the one that's right for you.
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Rachel was absolutely amazing from start to finish. She gave us excellent advice when choosing our destination and was incredibly helpful throughout the whole booking process. She was very patient and accommodating, especially when we decided to change our destination and amend our booking. Rachel listened to what we wanted and went above and beyond…
Have used eshores for over 12 years for bespoke holidays and can honestly say every single holiday has been faultless.. we have had the pleasure of assistance from Emma since 2014 and will continue to use them for our holiday needs.. Emma has recently just booked us flights and a car to Florida as we…
Have used EShores on 6 major holiday trips since 2023 and wouldn’t dream of using anyone else. Our travel consultant (Emma) is amazing. Nothing is too much trouble to her and she is a pleasure to deal with.
I am so pleased I found this company. I was struggling to book a touring holiday myself. Rob has been very helpful and we have now planned and booked our holiday. Thoroughly recommend.
We have just booked a twin centre trip for 2027 with eShores, we had a quick response to all our planning queries, booking was professional and friendly. Thank you
Great service by Zack, listened to what we wanted, not pushy, accommodation suggestions were realistically priced, made any changes we wanted until we got the perfect package. Very pleased!
Helpful, flexible and not pre-packaged! Holidays arranged how they should be. Matt is always super sensible to do business with and is part of a well run team.
Dealing with Michelle, she was patient polite and nothing too much trouble. All question and adapting our holiday she never appeared phased . Mixhelle is the reason I booked with Eshores she isca star and is customer aware . Brilliant Service
Very iffcient and professional
Claire at eShores has been so helpful in researching for us to ba able to book a tailor made holiday to Thailand for Jan 2027. We were looking for a bit of everything from a few days in fast paced Bangkok,sightseeing for a few days in Chiang Mai followed by a week in Phuket for…
We have used Eshores for the past 15 months since we have started travelling again and booked several holidays with them. We feel that we have our own personal travel agent ie Chris who has got to know us snd our needs. I would highly recommend this company for their personal touch, advice and excellent…
So far so good excellent service on point and fast. Delivered what we needed. Prices climbed due to flight availability so no fault of the operator. We are happy we found eshores. Booking the holiday of a lifetime 3 weeks in Mexico and Matt understood exactly what we wanted and fixed it fast. Very pleased…
Megan is 100% patient and helpful but I can't write a proper review till after our trip.
Kelly, our trip advisor was very good in changing anything we suggested to make our trip special, replied to any questions in a very short time after requesting them and always polite with any queries.
Michelle at Eshores was incredibly patient with us while we went through different options. She was very informative with different suggestions and managed to find us a holiday within our price range.
This is the first time ive used eshores and Daves help was great. We gave him an idea of our itinerary and he pulled something together really quickly. The cost was considerably cheaper than a quote we received from another company so we were delighted. Roll on June 2027
We have recently booked our third trip with eShores having used them for the first time last year to organise a mini Greek Island hopping holiday - we had a wonderful time and things went very smoothly. The Travel Consultant we were fortunate enough to first contact is Kadie and she has assisted us with…
Over the last 3 years, Kadie has booked our Thailand and Australia trips and now our New Zealand trip for 2027. She has been absolutely amazing putting together our itinerary (for 4 people with different requirements) and booking all 3 trips. She has taken all the stress out of booking flights, accommodation, transfers, car hire…
We have dealt with dave felton on many occasions, he has always been extremey helpful, giving us several choices of hotels and destinations. He will always make sure you are happy with everthing. Would highly recomend him and his team.
Recently had to cancel a holiday I had booked with Eshores. The whole process was dealt with quickly and professionally. I had my refund within 2 days. I then booked another holiday which was very last minute. Michelle found me exactly what I wanted for a very good price and I had my ticket package…
