Getting married in Gibraltar is easy-peasy!

Getting married in Gibraltar is sooooo simple! 

All you have to do is turn up, pay the fee to the registry office, pop across the road to a local solicitors to get your documents notarized and that’s it, you’re ready to be hitched, right?

Wrong.
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The reality is that there is a lot more that goes on behind the scenes and if one teeny-weeny detail is omitted, well the reality is that you won’t be able to get married despite your best laid out plans.  Social media sites give the impression that a wedding planner is an expensive luxury and one that is unnecessary.  They also give out incorrect and outdated information and cannot be relied upon as a valid excuse in front of the registrar’s clerk when she informs you solemnly that there cannot be a wedding as you have not provided her with the previous marriage certificate of your spouse to be’s former deceased partner or you have omitted to include a certified copy of your full version birth certificate or that you have left the originals of your documents at home….in the UK. 

Whilst Bride Gibraltar does not profess to be like Jennifer Lopez’s character Mary Fiore, from the 2001 comedy film, ‘The Wedding Planner’ nor anywhere like the eccentric extraordinaire Franck Eggelhoffer from the 1991 film, ‘Father of the Bride’, we are there to guide you through the entire process of booking and planning a destination wedding in Gibraltar and to ensure you get married…legally!

Imagine the look on your mother-in-law-to-be’s face when she’s told that whilst she’s bought her new hat and flown hundreds of miles to attend her son’s big day, there won’t be a wedding after all.  Then imagine the look on your cousin’s face, yes the cousin who left her eight month old twins behind in the capable hands of her husband just so that she could be your Matron of Honour on your special occasion. 

The number of symbolic wedding ceremonies Bride Gibraltar has been called on to arrange at the eleventh hour because the couple have left behind important documents is not even funny.  Many times, it is only the couple who know that the ceremony is symbolic ie not legally binding ie they are definitely not Mr & Mrs at the end of it as they don’t want to disappoint their friends and family who have taken time off from work and spent a lot of money to travel overseas to attend a real wedding.    

Whilst we have been delighted to be called up to arrange such symbolic, non binding faux-marriage ceremonies, the truth is that it is very hard for the couple and can ruin what was supposed to be the most memorable day of their lives.  Well, we guess it would be memorable to have been denied a legally binding marriage yet pretending to family and friends and smiling at the camera through clenched teeth. 

There may just be a detail that you may miss or overlook in the excitement and stress of arranging a wedding and a destination wedding at that.  Our advice is to stop relying on the advice of those who have done it all before you and tell you how easy-peasy it is and that you should not waste your money on wedding planners to arrange the wedding for you.  Laws change.  Regulations change.  Weather changes.   And if you change your mind, well we can't help you there!  

What if it rains on your wedding day on the unlikeliest of days?  Would you have made any alternative arrangements?  A wedding planner most certainly would have.  What if the wedding car people are late or what if the cake has not been delivered to your venue?  Do you really want to be stressing over such details in your wedding dress?  That’s where the wedding planner fits in and does all the ground work for you.  The responsibility lies with the wedding planner not with you and not with your guests allowing you all to keep on enjoying the day no matter what goes on behind the scenes. 

The last thing you want to be doing on the flight over to Gibraltar is to wonder if you packed your wedding shoes, if you ticked the right box on the affidavit and worse, if you remembered to bring all the originals, certifications and translations of your documents with you.  You need to be relaxed and enjoy the lead up to your big day.  Do you really want to be the on the day planner?  Haven’t you done enough planning in the lead up to the Big Day? It’s time to chill out, grab a glass of bubbles and let the celebrations begin!

Let Bride Gibraltar take the heat 😊