*Feature image by Helene Havard Photography. dapperQ is honored to announce that H&H Weddings will be addressing all of our readers’ nuptial conundrums each week for “Wedding Wednesdays.” H&H Weddings is dedicated to providing lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender couples with high end resources to plan and create a one-of-a-kind event. Kate Schaefer of H&H will be lending her expertise to YOU! It’s like having your own mini-consulting session right here on dapperQ, at no charge! Today, Kate is providing advice on how to minimize the destination wedding red tape.
Q:
Underdog10: My fiance and I got hyped about having a destination wedding. Until we found out that all the places we wanted to get married, like France and Spain, required a residency and a lot of red tape. Are there any countries outside the U.S. where gay marriage is legal that do not have residency requirements? We are trying to find a really impressive destination.
A:
Underdog10,
Firstly, congrats on taking this step in your relationship! It’s so exciting!
Typically, when people get married in other countries, they’re really just having a celebration/ceremony in that country. There’s nothing legal about it.
One option is to get legally married in the US – go to City Hall or have a tiny gathering here – then hit the road and have a bigger ceremony/celebration with friends, family and loved ones in the country of your choice. This can be a full-blown wedding, have a commitment ceremony, say your vows, have a reception, throw an amazing party.
In many countries, you’d have to be a citizen to be legally married there OR you’ll have to go through a ton of paperwork. If it’s important for you and your spouse to have a marriage that is legally recognized in many countries, you could hire someone to handle this for you.
There are services, like Pink Iceland, that will handle all of the logistics and paperwork for you if you’re interested! Iceland is GORGEOUS and I love it as a destination wedding location! See why here!
Photo by Krisín María
I asked the team at Pink Iceland and they said that they ensure that LGBT couples are legally married in all countries and states that accept same sex marriages.
