Marriage plans! (What about Vanuatu?)
March 6th 2009 02:13
And you thought you'd never hear those words.
Isolation from everyone has given me some time to think. (Temping at the new store which is really quiet compared to my store in Coffs Harbour has also contributed to the time factor)
I've been thinking and I've come up with a few ideas.
I disliked weddings because I've always thought they were a little waste of time. It's always nice to have photos to look back on of course, and I have no doubt that the memory of your wedding will probably be the basis of your relationship when you get older and want to tell stories to your kids/grandkids. However I see money unnecessarily spent, people unnecessarily invited and tears unnecessarily cried from lack of organisation and things going wrong and that really had been putting me off from making my own plans.
Initially I was just going to go sign our names at the registry and get it over and done with. However I thought it would be nice to have something nice to look back on when we get a bit bored of each other after couple of years of marriage. Anything 'nice'-ish in Australia will cause a fuss of "Why didn't you invite me.." and the running around and trying to organise celebrants and stuff.
So, I thought why not have an overseas wedding? That means I only have to invite those people who will actually care to come and with those resort weddings most things are organised for you, you just have to pay them the money.
But I did need to make sure that wherever I get married, the marriage is actually recognised in Australia. So Vanuatu it is, as after asking around, this is the answer I got:
"marriages in Vanuatu are legally recognised in
Australia but cannot be registered with Australian Births, Deaths and
Marriages. Your Vanuatu marriage certificate allows you to change your name
on your drivers license, bank account etc. The only way to have the marriage
recorded in Australia is to marry in a registry office and then have a
'devotion' ceremony in Vanuatu."
I can deal with the marriage not being recorded in Australia, as long as it's legal and recognised. Does anyone know the actual consequence of not having it recorded in Australia? I mean, by the sounds of it, it just means there is one less record here for us.
So I think I am pretty firm on that. Basing it on this year's prices a wedding will cost rounghly around $1800 per couple for the actual ceremony and the paperwork. Flight to Vanuatu starts around $500 return per person if we are lucky to get the sales airfares and then we can add on 5 nights at the resort, the particular one I am looking at is Breakas (great feed back by my own clients!) which will cost around $1700 for a beach front fare, and my guests can take care of their own accommodation and flights (and if they don't want to come I am fine with that too, only inviting around 25 people anyway) plus and minus $50 per day for meals and $50 per day for misc activities and stuff, the whole thing will cost us $5500 together.
Not bad considering my cousin's wedding dress alone cost $12,000!!!
What am I going to wear? Just a white summer dress and bare foot. NO HEELS ALLOWED!
Sounds good doesn't it? Will let you know when it does happen. Current plan is first weekend of September 2010.
Isolation from everyone has given me some time to think. (Temping at the new store which is really quiet compared to my store in Coffs Harbour has also contributed to the time factor)
I've been thinking and I've come up with a few ideas.
I disliked weddings because I've always thought they were a little waste of time. It's always nice to have photos to look back on of course, and I have no doubt that the memory of your wedding will probably be the basis of your relationship when you get older and want to tell stories to your kids/grandkids. However I see money unnecessarily spent, people unnecessarily invited and tears unnecessarily cried from lack of organisation and things going wrong and that really had been putting me off from making my own plans.
Initially I was just going to go sign our names at the registry and get it over and done with. However I thought it would be nice to have something nice to look back on when we get a bit bored of each other after couple of years of marriage. Anything 'nice'-ish in Australia will cause a fuss of "Why didn't you invite me.." and the running around and trying to organise celebrants and stuff.
So, I thought why not have an overseas wedding? That means I only have to invite those people who will actually care to come and with those resort weddings most things are organised for you, you just have to pay them the money.
But I did need to make sure that wherever I get married, the marriage is actually recognised in Australia. So Vanuatu it is, as after asking around, this is the answer I got:
"marriages in Vanuatu are legally recognised in
Australia but cannot be registered with Australian Births, Deaths and
Marriages. Your Vanuatu marriage certificate allows you to change your name
on your drivers license, bank account etc. The only way to have the marriage
recorded in Australia is to marry in a registry office and then have a
'devotion' ceremony in Vanuatu."
I can deal with the marriage not being recorded in Australia, as long as it's legal and recognised. Does anyone know the actual consequence of not having it recorded in Australia? I mean, by the sounds of it, it just means there is one less record here for us.
So I think I am pretty firm on that. Basing it on this year's prices a wedding will cost rounghly around $1800 per couple for the actual ceremony and the paperwork. Flight to Vanuatu starts around $500 return per person if we are lucky to get the sales airfares and then we can add on 5 nights at the resort, the particular one I am looking at is Breakas (great feed back by my own clients!) which will cost around $1700 for a beach front fare, and my guests can take care of their own accommodation and flights (and if they don't want to come I am fine with that too, only inviting around 25 people anyway) plus and minus $50 per day for meals and $50 per day for misc activities and stuff, the whole thing will cost us $5500 together.
Not bad considering my cousin's wedding dress alone cost $12,000!!!
What am I going to wear? Just a white summer dress and bare foot. NO HEELS ALLOWED!
Sounds good doesn't it? Will let you know when it does happen. Current plan is first weekend of September 2010.
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