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Eloping at a Nat''l Park or other Non-Typical Destination?

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Loves Vintage

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Hi Ladies,

I am not officially engaged yet. We picked out the ring last Sat, and it will be ready this Sat. We want to elope. We talked about eloping in Thailand. I''ve seen some sites that advertise traditional Thai wedding ceremonies, which are lovely, but I am not sure yet.

I''ve always pictured myself getting married in a National Park. When I was at Zion NP, I saw a couple getting married. It was so beautiful. They had maybe 15 guests. We are not planning to have any guests. Just the two of us. I think I would prefer to go some place where my sort of elopement idea is regularly performed, as opposed to finding an officiator, and trekking him or her out to a specific location.

Any ideas?

Thanks!!
 
Eeee! Congratulations on your upcoming engagement. I realize it a tad early, but I''m in almost the exact same boat....ring is on order, just waiting for it to arrive, alon gwith the "official" proposal. How exciting!

We are also eloping and have searched far and wide for the perfect location. I''m not sure of your plans or budget, but have you considered Alaska? There are quite a few companies that will do most of the leg work for you. I''ll have to go through my files at home to post actual links, but i''m sure a quick google search will yield loads of results. We are actually considering a helicopter/glacier landing elopement. I''ve also seen some gorgeous park and mountain elopement pics.

Good luck on your search!
 
Wow!! How exciting! How great to find someone in the same boat as me?!?!
35.gif


I''ve been to Alaska before. It is gorgeous!! Do you have your place picked out already? That helicopter idea sounds phenomenal -- how many people actually get to do that? I think you will have the best time there. What time of year will you go?

I was actually just searching for a place in New Zealand. Kind of randomly, I guess. He always wanted to go there or Australia, and I want to go everywhere, so I''m thinking we could elope and spend 2 weeks traveling there. I e-mailed an organic winery, somewhere in NZ, not sure where.

I would seriously like to get married in Estonia. I have no connection to the place, just something I saw on a travel special. I want to get married outside, possibly with some sort of flower wreath head thing or a simple lace. That''s all I really know so far. Oh, and, Spring would be ideal.

I just jumped over here from the RockyTalk board, where I was equally indecisive and interested in many different things.

P.S. - Do you know when your ring will be ready or are you completely in the dark?
 
LV, we eloped to Orcas Island, on a cliff overlooking the water that was actually the property of a groovy pottery artists cooperative. It was gorgeous! The idea of a national park is great, you just have to call them and see what sort of restrictions/permission you might need.

That said, Thailand is my second home and we thought about getting married there as I have ties to a special temple there but...because many Thai women want to marry American men, the US Embassy puts in place a very stringent approval process for anyone marrying in Thailand, and it doesn't matter if both parties are American or not. So we decided against Thailand. If we decide to do a Buddhist ceremony there someday, we can, but it wouldn't be a legal ceremony...So we decided to marry in the US as it was much easier. Getting a marriage license for the state we married in was also quite easy. I would definitely consider a park, what a wonderful, free venue. You can beat the scenery!

ETA: I'm sure if you contact the bigger lodges inside the parks - like The Awahnee Hotel in Yosemite, they can steer you to officiants who are used to performing ceremonies inside parks...and you could have a lovely wedding dinner at the lodge, etc...afterwards...
 
Date: 1/9/2008 1:16:33 PM
Author: surfgirl
LV, we eloped to Orcas Island, on a cliff overlooking the water that was actually the property of a groovy pottery artists cooperative. It was gorgeous! The idea of a national park is great, you just have to call them and see what sort of restrictions/permission you might need.

That said, Thailand is my second home and we thought about getting married there as I have ties to a special temple there but...because many Thai women want to marry American men, the US Embassy puts in place a very stringent approval process for anyone marrying in Thailand, and it doesn''t matter if both parties are American or not. So we decided against Thailand. If we decide to do a Buddhist ceremony there someday, we can, but it wouldn''t be a legal ceremony...So we decided to marry in the US as it was much easier. Getting a marriage license for the state we married in was also quite easy. I would definitely consider a park, what a wonderful, free venue. You can beat the scenery!

ETA: I''m sure if you contact the bigger lodges inside the parks - like The Awahnee Hotel in Yosemite, they can steer you to officiants who are used to performing ceremonies inside parks...and you could have a lovely wedding dinner at the lodge, etc...afterwards...
I''ll be off to search Orcas Island next (do you have a thread on your elopement?), but thanks so much for the info about Thailand. I had only gotten so far as looking up potential locations and thought about doing the traditional Buddhist ceremony, but was not entirely into all of the elements that went along with that (i.e., dress and some of the traditions.)

That is such an excellent idea!! I hadn''t even thought of calling the lodges. I just felt kind of funny, dragging only an officiant and another witness out (as opposed to having an actual mini-wedding) b/c it will just be the two of us, but . . . if it''s something they do all the time, then I wouldn''t feel so awkward about it.

Anyway, nice seeing you (and your ring!) over here SG!
35.gif
I hope to have mine soon . . . .
 
I don''t have any advice but is that a greyhound in your avatar? A National Park wedding sounds like it would be amazing!
 
Date: 1/9/2008 1:47:26 PM
Author: indecisive
I don''t have any advice but is that a greyhound in your avatar? A National Park wedding sounds like it would be amazing!
26.gif
Yes, he''s a greyhound, one of my three!!! Do you have one?
 
I got engaged in December and I am in a similar position. I really want to elope somewhere unique. I have no idea where though. And to be completely honest, I would much rather it be just the 2 of us and then have a reception back home. But being that we are the oldest siblings in both our families and it will be the first marriage for each of our families as well, I''m not sure if that idea will fly. The drama begins.
 
Date: 1/9/2008 2:08:08 PM
Author: scm1012
I got engaged in December and I am in a similar position. I really want to elope somewhere unique. I have no idea where though. And to be completely honest, I would much rather it be just the 2 of us and then have a reception back home. But being that we are the oldest siblings in both our families and it will be the first marriage for each of our families as well, I''m not sure if that idea will fly. The drama begins.
Congratulations on your Engagement!! My situation is a lot easier because both of our families are sadly very, very small - my mom, sister and his sister. Yikes! So, if I were you, I would push for the elopement if that''s what you really want. You aren''t denying them a reception, after all, right? And, you can look at it this way, even though you foresee some drama in your future, you''re lucky to have so many people close to you!!

Do you have an idea of a date yet?
 
Thank you for the congrats!!!

Thank you for reminding me how lucky we both are to have big families who love us to death. I know that I am very blessed but now that wedding bells are ringing, i find myself interpreting their love as smothering.

As far as dates, I am hoping for Fall of 2009. August, September or October. Hopefully this is the big weekend that we set a date!
 
Date: 1/9/2008 1:46:32 PM
Author: Loves Vintage
Date: 1/9/2008 1:16:33 PM

Author: surfgirl

LV, we eloped to Orcas Island, on a cliff overlooking the water that was actually the property of a groovy pottery artists cooperative. It was gorgeous! The idea of a national park is great, you just have to call them and see what sort of restrictions/permission you might need.


That said, Thailand is my second home and we thought about getting married there as I have ties to a special temple there but...because many Thai women want to marry American men, the US Embassy puts in place a very stringent approval process for anyone marrying in Thailand, and it doesn''t matter if both parties are American or not. So we decided against Thailand. If we decide to do a Buddhist ceremony there someday, we can, but it wouldn''t be a legal ceremony...So we decided to marry in the US as it was much easier. Getting a marriage license for the state we married in was also quite easy. I would definitely consider a park, what a wonderful, free venue. You can beat the scenery!


ETA: I''m sure if you contact the bigger lodges inside the parks - like The Awahnee Hotel in Yosemite, they can steer you to officiants who are used to performing ceremonies inside parks...and you could have a lovely wedding dinner at the lodge, etc...afterwards...
I''ll be off to search Orcas Island next (do you have a thread on your elopement?), but thanks so much for the info about Thailand. I had only gotten so far as looking up potential locations and thought about doing the traditional Buddhist ceremony, but was not entirely into all of the elements that went along with that (i.e., dress and some of the traditions.)


That is such an excellent idea!! I hadn''t even thought of calling the lodges. I just felt kind of funny, dragging only an officiant and another witness out (as opposed to having an actual mini-wedding) b/c it will just be the two of us, but . . . if it''s something they do all the time, then I wouldn''t feel so awkward about it.


Anyway, nice seeing you (and your ring!) over here SG!
35.gif
I hope to have mine soon . . . .
LV, I had a wedding thread up here but the Mr. asked me to take it down because it had too much information for his liking. But I can answer any questions you might have.

Yeah, the best thing for parks I think is to ask the lodges because they''ll no doubt have had that question asked before. That said, it''s also often cheaper to go a la carte and find people yourself, which is what I did. I threw our wedding together in about 2 months and it was perfect for us. So if you have more time, you can do more research...
 
we''re not eloping, but our 10 guest wedding will be at a resort in algonquin national park, northern ontario, canada.

cottages, campfires, and fall colours are going to be nice. very relaxed. nobody has to dress up, etc. i suppose that''s not very traditional.
 
Date: 1/9/2008 3:43:44 PM
Author: surfgirl

Date: 1/9/2008 1:46:32 PM
Author: Loves Vintage

Date: 1/9/2008 1:16:33 PM

Author: surfgirl

LV, we eloped to Orcas Island, on a cliff overlooking the water that was actually the property of a groovy pottery artists cooperative. It was gorgeous! The idea of a national park is great, you just have to call them and see what sort of restrictions/permission you might need.


That said, Thailand is my second home and we thought about getting married there as I have ties to a special temple there but...because many Thai women want to marry American men, the US Embassy puts in place a very stringent approval process for anyone marrying in Thailand, and it doesn''t matter if both parties are American or not. So we decided against Thailand. If we decide to do a Buddhist ceremony there someday, we can, but it wouldn''t be a legal ceremony...So we decided to marry in the US as it was much easier. Getting a marriage license for the state we married in was also quite easy. I would definitely consider a park, what a wonderful, free venue. You can beat the scenery!


ETA: I''m sure if you contact the bigger lodges inside the parks - like The Awahnee Hotel in Yosemite, they can steer you to officiants who are used to performing ceremonies inside parks...and you could have a lovely wedding dinner at the lodge, etc...afterwards...
I''ll be off to search Orcas Island next (do you have a thread on your elopement?), but thanks so much for the info about Thailand. I had only gotten so far as looking up potential locations and thought about doing the traditional Buddhist ceremony, but was not entirely into all of the elements that went along with that (i.e., dress and some of the traditions.)


That is such an excellent idea!! I hadn''t even thought of calling the lodges. I just felt kind of funny, dragging only an officiant and another witness out (as opposed to having an actual mini-wedding) b/c it will just be the two of us, but . . . if it''s something they do all the time, then I wouldn''t feel so awkward about it.


Anyway, nice seeing you (and your ring!) over here SG!
35.gif
I hope to have mine soon . . . .
LV, I had a wedding thread up here but the Mr. asked me to take it down because it had too much information for his liking. But I can answer any questions you might have.

Yeah, the best thing for parks I think is to ask the lodges because they''ll no doubt have had that question asked before. That said, it''s also often cheaper to go a la carte and find people yourself, which is what I did. I threw our wedding together in about 2 months and it was perfect for us. So if you have more time, you can do more research...
Hi SG - I do have a few questions for you. Off the top of my head: how did you select your destination? Does the pottery artists'' co-op advertise their property to be used for weddings? Or, did you know the people? Just curious -- it sounds like there might be a story behind the location.

How did you go about picking a la carte -- I assume you mean the location, the officiant, a photographer, flowers? Am I missing anything? Did you find them on-line or did you meet with them all in person beforehand?

What kind of dress did you wear? Where did you find it? I saw your other post about selling your dress. Can you post a pic of the dress only (you know so your hubby will be ok with it)?

Hmmm, I''m sure I will have more questions, but that''s a good start. Thanks!!
35.gif
 
Date: 1/9/2008 4:45:52 PM
Author: tenfour
we''re not eloping, but our 10 guest wedding will be at a resort in algonquin national park, northern ontario, canada.

cottages, campfires, and fall colours are going to be nice. very relaxed. nobody has to dress up, etc. i suppose that''s not very traditional.
That sounds like my kind of wedding!! Do you live near there? Do you know what you are wearing?
 
Not yet but I have done some help with a couple of adoption orgs. Fi and I can''t wait to get one when our lives settle down. With all this wedding planning we are totally wishing we were eloping like you! Gorgeous doggie!
 
Hi SG - I do have a few questions for you. Off the top of my head: how did you select your destination? Does the pottery artists' co-op advertise their property to be used for weddings? Or, did you know the people? Just curious -- it sounds like there might be a story behind the location.


How did you go about picking a la carte -- I assume you mean the location, the officiant, a photographer, flowers? Am I missing anything? Did you find them on-line or did you meet with them all in person beforehand?


What kind of dress did you wear? Where did you find it? I saw your other post about selling your dress. Can you post a pic of the dress only (you know so your hubby will be ok with it)?


Hmmm, I'm sure I will have more questions, but that's a good start. Thanks!!
35.gif
Hey LV, to answer your questions...

1. We chose the accommodation based on a previous visit and we'd stayed at the Rosario Resort, it's really the only full service place on island and while we considered renting a nice house, we wanted to be able to send wedding clothes out for emergency pressing, etc. and wanted a concierge service "just in case" for any last minute emergencies (which we didn't have, thankfully!).

We chose the pottery location only because we'd spent a lot of time there before, choosing items we purchased last year, and we loved the spot. We wanted a place that was very private and special to us, with no lookieloos. On Orcas, IIRC, all the coastline is public so any accessible beachfront locale's, we wouldn't be able to control who was there and who wasn't. Then we had a friend of a friend, who has a house near the beach, offer up their beach, though it was really small and there'd be tourists there likely, and they also offered for us to get married on their deck since it had water views. There is also the summit of Mt. Constitution, which is gorgeous but has people up there much of the time. There is a "mini" summit just below the top, where most people dont go, and that was another option but Mr. Surfgirl wanted to be closer to the water so we chose the pottery place because it was a special place to us and we loved the vibe there. They actually dont really allow weddings on their property as a rule but for an elopement they made an exception for us since we already knew them. That said, we did find a couple that rents out their beachfront house/property and we could have done that for $200 but we didn't want to spend that much since we had spent a lot on accommodation & photog (and because we know the pottery folks, that venue was free for us). I'd recommend that if you already know the locale, chose a location that has some special meaning to you.

2. How did I find my vendors? Easy, just did an internet search for "Orcas Island weddings" and found a ton of links. Anyplace you're interested in, just google them like that: "Brice Canyon weddings" and you'll usually find links to vendors who can do weddings in that locale. I found my officiant online, I just got a really good vibe her from site and spoke with her many times and decided she was the one I wanted to marry us. She just had really great energy and I really liked the selection of vows she sent us to look at. I booked a special dinner at the best foodie place in town, but they couldn't do a vegan wedding cake so I had to find that. I found that baker on the internet and she was awesome! She went above and beyond the call of duty, insisting that we NEEDED a wedding cake on our big day and she'd love to do it. The flowers, I started calling around but I found my flower lady simply by asking other vendors for references. I found that having an easy going, friendly attitude, and asking for suggestions and recommendations from the other local vendors was the best way to get linked to other vendors. And the accommodations, we decided to splurge on a very special room on that property because it was a wedding mini moon, and I recommend that splurge to make you feel really special. And the photog I found online too, she was the only one who was really enthusiastic about both an elopement, and the location (she was also married on Orcas but lives in Seattle), and she gave us a special deal since it wasn't a big wedding. We ended up with wonderful, amazing photos from her and we really cherish those a lot. It was also very important for us, since we were secretly eloping, to be able to share photos of our day with our family and friends so our photographer offered both an online slide show, as well as a selection of the 10 best photos which she put up by the time we got home, the slide show went up about a week after that.

3. My dress...well, at the time we were planning our wedding, we were both having job issues so I didn't want to spend a ton on a dress that only he would see, even though in retrospect, I wish I could have afforded a more expensive dress but I just couldn't justify spending more than $500 on a dress at the time. And since we were waiting for some job issues to be resolved, we weren't sure exactly when we'd be eloping, it was dependent on when one of us started our next job. So I had to find something off the rack, which was challenging. I also rationalized that I got an ering that was so above and beyond anything I'd ever imagined I would be lucky enough to have, so I felt like I could justify trying to find a cheaper dress since the dress is worn for one day but the ring is worn for the rest of your life, right?!? Anyway, I ended up finding a bridesmaid dress that looked to me like a Vera Wang - it was this delicate champagne colored bobinette tulle, which is very finely woven. It fit me off the rack and they agreed to sell to me, and then I took it back to David's Bridal, where I'd had a really talented assistant (that was my first place I went to so I knew this woman already) help me pull together the look and take it from BM dress to bridal gown. She got me a great matching sash, shoes, bag and a veil that was awesome. The whole thing made it more bridal and I dont think anyone would know it wasn't originally a bridal gown. I also had a gorgeous lace bolero made to put on after the ceremony, and for a different look since we'd be in all the photos! It ended up being really pretty and while I'm going to sell the dress, veil, etc, I'll be keeping the bolero to wear in the future.

I'll have to see what photos I can dig up and I'll post them later today.

Hope that helps! One thing, we spent quite a bit on our elopement. We felt like we'd waited such a long time that we really wanted to celebrate this moment without scrimping. You can surely do it a lot cheaper than we did! I also found that by people were more than happy to help us out. In fact, people in general went out of their way to help us, especially when they found out we were eloping on their island. For some reason, they all got misty-eyed and had these dopey smiles when we finally met them. I found that most people, when they find you're eloping, they get all wistful and most said, "ohhh, that sounds so romantic! I wish we'd done that..." so maybe that's why they helped us so much...
 
Date: 1/10/2008 11:34:07 AM
Author: indecisive
Not yet but I have done some help with a couple of adoption orgs. Fi and I can''t wait to get one when our lives settle down. With all this wedding planning we are totally wishing we were eloping like you! Gorgeous doggie!
That''s greyt (nutty greyhound owner way of spelling great)! If you''ve already done volunteering, I''m sure you already know what special dogs they are. Good luck with your wedding planning and hope you get to adopt a greyhound soon!!
 
Date: 1/10/2008 1:12:47 PM
Author: surfgirl

Hi SG - I do have a few questions for you. Off the top of my head: how did you select your destination? Does the pottery artists'' co-op advertise their property to be used for weddings? Or, did you know the people? Just curious -- it sounds like there might be a story behind the location.


How did you go about picking a la carte -- I assume you mean the location, the officiant, a photographer, flowers? Am I missing anything? Did you find them on-line or did you meet with them all in person beforehand?


What kind of dress did you wear? Where did you find it? I saw your other post about selling your dress. Can you post a pic of the dress only (you know so your hubby will be ok with it)?


Hmmm, I''m sure I will have more questions, but that''s a good start. Thanks!!
35.gif
Hey LV, to answer your questions...

1. We chose the accommodation based on a previous visit and we''d stayed at the Rosario Resort, it''s really the only full service place on island and while we considered renting a nice house, we wanted to be able to send wedding clothes out for emergency pressing, etc. and wanted a concierge service ''just in case'' for any last minute emergencies (which we didn''t have, thankfully!).

We chose the pottery location only because we''d spent a lot of time there before, choosing items we purchased last year, and we loved the spot. We wanted a place that was very private and special to us, with no lookieloos. On Orcas, IIRC, all the coastline is public so any accessible beachfront locale''s, we wouldn''t be able to control who was there and who wasn''t. Then we had a friend of a friend, who has a house near the beach, offer up their beach, though it was really small and there''d be tourists there likely, and they also offered for us to get married on their deck since it had water views. There is also the summit of Mt. Constitution, which is gorgeous but has people up there much of the time. There is a ''mini'' summit just below the top, where most people dont go, and that was another option but Mr. Surfgirl wanted to be closer to the water so we chose the pottery place because it was a special place to us and we loved the vibe there. They actually dont really allow weddings on their property as a rule but for an elopement they made an exception for us since we already knew them. That said, we did find a couple that rents out their beachfront house/property and we could have done that for $200 but we didn''t want to spend that much since we had spent a lot on accommodation & photog (and because we know the pottery folks, that venue was free for us). I''d recommend that if you already know the locale, chose a location that has some special meaning to you.

2. How did I find my vendors? Easy, just did an internet search for ''Orcas Island weddings'' and found a ton of links. Anyplace you''re interested in, just google them like that: ''Brice Canyon weddings'' and you''ll usually find links to vendors who can do weddings in that locale. I found my officiant online, I just got a really good vibe her from site and spoke with her many times and decided she was the one I wanted to marry us. She just had really great energy and I really liked the selection of vows she sent us to look at. I booked a special dinner at the best foodie place in town, but they couldn''t do a vegan wedding cake so I had to find that. I found that baker on the internet and she was awesome! She went above and beyond the call of duty, insisting that we NEEDED a wedding cake on our big day and she''d love to do it. The flowers, I started calling around but I found my flower lady simply by asking other vendors for references. I found that having an easy going, friendly attitude, and asking for suggestions and recommendations from the other local vendors was the best way to get linked to other vendors. And the accommodations, we decided to splurge on a very special room on that property because it was a wedding mini moon, and I recommend that splurge to make you feel really special. And the photog I found online too, she was the only one who was really enthusiastic about both an elopement, and the location (she was also married on Orcas but lives in Seattle), and she gave us a special deal since it wasn''t a big wedding. We ended up with wonderful, amazing photos from her and we really cherish those a lot. It was also very important for us, since we were secretly eloping, to be able to share photos of our day with our family and friends so our photographer offered both an online slide show, as well as a selection of the 10 best photos which she put up by the time we got home, the slide show went up about a week after that.

3. My dress...well, at the time we were planning our wedding, we were both having job issues so I didn''t want to spend a ton on a dress that only he would see, even though in retrospect, I wish I could have afforded a more expensive dress but I just couldn''t justify spending more than $500 on a dress at the time. And since we were waiting for some job issues to be resolved, we weren''t sure exactly when we''d be eloping, it was dependent on when one of us started our next job. So I had to find something off the rack, which was challenging. I also rationalized that I got an ering that was so above and beyond anything I''d ever imagined I would be lucky enough to have, so I felt like I could justify trying to find a cheaper dress since the dress is worn for one day but the ring is worn for the rest of your life, right?!? Anyway, I ended up finding a bridesmaid dress that looked to me like a Vera Wang - it was this delicate champagne colored bobinette tulle, which is very finely woven. It fit me off the rack and they agreed to sell to me, and then I took it back to David''s Bridal, where I''d had a really talented assistant (that was my first place I went to so I knew this woman already) help me pull together the look and take it from BM dress to bridal gown. She got me a great matching sash, shoes, bag and a veil that was awesome. The whole thing made it more bridal and I dont think anyone would know it wasn''t originally a bridal gown. I also had a gorgeous lace bolero made to put on after the ceremony, and for a different look since we''d be in all the photos! It ended up being really pretty and while I''m going to sell the dress, veil, etc, I''ll be keeping the bolero to wear in the future.

I''ll have to see what photos I can dig up and I''ll post them later today.

Hope that helps! One thing, we spent quite a bit on our elopement. We felt like we''d waited such a long time that we really wanted to celebrate this moment without scrimping. You can surely do it a lot cheaper than we did! I also found that by people were more than happy to help us out. In fact, people in general went out of their way to help us, especially when they found out we were eloping on their island. For some reason, they all got misty-eyed and had these dopey smiles when we finally met them. I found that most people, when they find you''re eloping, they get all wistful and most said, ''ohhh, that sounds so romantic! I wish we''d done that...'' so maybe that''s why they helped us so much...
Thanks for the thorough reply.
1.gif
It''s so nice that everyone was so helpful to you. I''m glad to hear that you treasure the photos. I wasn''t entirely sold on the idea of having a photographer, but of course we should. We''re still leaning toward an international destination at this point, so that we can elope and then have a great honeymoon. I will have to look into the marriage requirements though in any country we decide to look into.

I do love the idea of a national park and staying at one of the nice lodges, too. I will discuss with DBF this weekend. He was disappointed when I told him Thailand was out . . . .
 
Hi LV!

We''re getting married at Bali, Indonesia. No problems getting married there. May that be a spin to your Thai wedding you wanted? Still a lot of temples there to get married, or even on the back of an elephant
6.gif
. And a gorgeous honeymoon setting too.

And what about Sydney? Or on a gorgeous island on the Maldives or getting married in Greece etc? So many things to choose from. If I would live in the US, I would definitely choose a non-US destination to elope (if it fits in ur budget of course).

and Bora Bora... Italy... South Africa... Spain...
31.gif
I can go on and on lol
 
Date: 1/11/2008 11:38:45 AM
Author: Dutchgirlll
Hi LV!

We're getting married at Bali, Indonesia. No problems getting married there. May that be a spin to your Thai wedding you wanted? Still a lot of temples there to get married, or even on the back of an elephant
6.gif
. And a gorgeous honeymoon setting too.

And what about Sydney? Or on a gorgeous island on the Maldives or getting married in Greece etc? So many things to choose from. If I would live in the US, I would definitely choose a non-US destination to elope (if it fits in ur budget of course).

and Bora Bora... Italy... South Africa... Spain...
31.gif
I can go on and on lol
Hi Dutchgirlll
35.gif
,

Yes, the world is a very large place, isn't it? I came across a nice New Zealand site the other day, where everything is totally pre-planned for you (which can be good and bad, I guess.) I will certainly look into Bali. Are you making arrangements yourself or is it a package? Are you having guests? I know, from your other post, that you're eloping, but I guess that doesn't always mean no guests.

I was thinking of getting married on the summer solstice (June 21), and doing something very nature-inspired, but not sure we want to wait that long . . .
 
Date: 1/11/2008 11:38:45 AM
Author: Dutchgirlll
Hi LV!


We're getting married at Bali, Indonesia. No problems getting married there. May that be a spin to your Thai wedding you wanted? Still a lot of temples there to get married, or even on the back of an elephant
6.gif
. And a gorgeous honeymoon setting too.


And what about Sydney? Or on a gorgeous island on the Maldives or getting married in Greece etc? So many things to choose from. If I would live in the US, I would definitely choose a non-US destination to elope (if it fits in ur budget of course).


and Bora Bora... Italy... South Africa... Spain...
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I can go on and on lol
The difference between Dutchgirl getting married in Bali and you getting married in Bali is that Indonesia was a former Dutch colony and therefore the laws on Dutch expats marrying there are quite different from American expats marrying there. Also, just as in Thailand, there are many Indonesian women wanting to marry foreign men and as a result, you also have restrictions on getting married there. I've attached the link to the US Embassy's page on marriage requirements. As you will see, you can have a 10 day waiting period there before you can be married. You also MUST be married in a religious ceremony as they do not allow non-religious marriages there, and I believe you must be married in the religion that you practice. A good rule of thumb is to check the US Embassy page of whatever country you're considering as they all have a page on getting married in each country.

http://jakarta.usembassy.gov/consular/ACSMARRIAGE.html

As for only choosing a foreign non-US location, I dont think Dutchgirl has been to some of our national parks...they are quite stunning and are as nice as some of the most stunning locations around the world.
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Hi guys, so sorry that I jumped ahead. I just suggested Bali, cause I know they do a lot of WD from a lot of countries there (UK, Australia, Singapore etc). Didn''t know it might be complicated for you from the US. The whole documentation process is out of our hands too, we have a wedding planner that''s specialised in WD all over the world.

But if I read the info:

If both you and your fiancé(e) have a Christian, Buddhist or Hindu religious wedding ceremony, you must hold the religious ceremony first, then record the marriage with the Civil Registry Office. The Civil Registry will in turn issue a Marriage Certificate which is evidence of a legally valid wedding. There is normally a ten-day waiting period in order to register your marriage with the Civil Registry.

It doesn''t say that you can''t get married, just that you have to wait for 10 days till they registered your marriage at Civil registry. It does take aprox 6 months to prepare all the right documentation, and the WP takes care of documentation, legalisation of all the paperwork and mailing it back to the Netherlands and the registration it at the civil services here. We pay $400 for all his work (not much, compared to the costs we would have to make doing it ourselves).

And yes, Indonesia is a former Dutch colony, hands where me being part Indonesian comes from, and my wish to get married up there. We''re both non religious, but the it will be a Christian officiant conducting the ceremony (after we had the civil marriage). Indonesia is one of the largest Moslim countries in the world, but Bali residents are mostly Hindus.
We are very lucky that we have close family members joining us, even some family from the States will attend! And sending out invitations couldn''t be easier: you can invite everybody, they just have to their own ticket lol. But it''s not cheap to get there, so we''ll be lucky if we have 15 guests attending (so far 10).

And yes Surfgirl, I''ve been to many US NP''s, like GC, Mesa Verde, Olympic, Yellowstone, Death Valley, Everglades, Joshua Tree, Bryce, Zion, Mount Rainier, Grand Teton etc. And I wouldn''t go to visit different places in the US at least twice a year, if I thought they weren''t special. Please don''t understand me wrong: I''m a huge US fan!
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It''s just that if you want to elope and go a little bit further away as LV suggested, I wouldn''t choose anything that''s so ''close'' home. I would pick a destination much more ''exotic'' I would say. But that''s my personal opinion and I''m not judging anybody who did have a great wedding in a NP. Same reason why we don''t travel around Europe that much. These destinations I can still visit in a couple of years, when we have kids. Now I want to travel to the unknown, see stuff I probably won''t do if we have a kid (or maybe we might try
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). Call me crazy, but a country like Iran is still on my hotlist, same as Argentina, Marocco, India and many stuff in the US (east coast, Alaska, more Hawaii). As Paris can be very special to you, for me it''s a 4,5 hour drive. So I guess it''s just depending on who you are and again, I didn''t mean to offend anybody here!

But I would totally recommend getting a WP whose specialised in WD. And you could always consider having just the ceremony up there, do the official marriage back home. Saves a lot of money and fuss, and that way Thailand may still be possible.
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