Int'l Married Couples-- Advice, Please!

[allcraz]

We had an engagement party (like a cocktail party) in Texas and then did the civil and church ceremony and big party here two months later. Both our immediate families could have traveled, but we all agreed a wedding in Buenos Aires would be more fun. My husband also has a much larger family. After quickly comparing prices, it was also pretty obvious the reception was going to be much cheaper here. On top of that, my aunt found a crazy $250 round trip deal on Airfare Watchdog from Dallas to EZE which a dozen people got their hands on before it disappeared. That was insane. And last but not least, we found out my church back home (the only place I would have wanted to be married in the States) was undergoing renovation and wouldn't have been available the dates we needed anyway, so all that sealed the Argentina decision. The only thing I would have done differently would have been to get an interpreter for the civil ceremony (or asked someone there to interpret. Just wasn't thinking), and found a different hairdresser. .

 

[Bricky]

We got married (legal & religious) in BA, mostly because (as in your case) my friends/family had a better chance of making the journey from Ireland than my wife's would have from Argentina. I was amazed at the number of people who made the journey. I had a few family there, but an unexpected number of my friends also came over for a fortnight or so.

If you're thinking of doing the same, i'd suggest:
- Insist on no wedding presents from the foreigners (literally say that you won't accept them). Of course a few of them will give you gifts anyway, but it releases people from that extra cost.
- Make it as easy as possible for them to make the journey. We did a lot of research regarding cheap flights/routes etc for them, and put it all on a web page somewhere. Do this well ahead of the wedding and send the link around to everyone. (they'll end up travelling together and it makes that part easier)
- Organise *everything* for them here in advance. Have accommodation ready (put them all in the same place if you can), and organises transport to/from the airport, and to/from the wedding.
- Organise events for them when they're here. Essentially you're putting together a package holiday for them.

We had the civil 2 days before the religious. It worked out really well - just became an ongoing party for a few days. There's a lot of preparatory work involved, but it's well worth it in the end. And you'll be (well at least we were) amazed at how well the locals and foreigners mix (we had several romantic interests!).

We also planned a party in ireland afterwards for the few who couldn't make it, but that turned into a really small affair afterwards.

 

[DontMindMe]

Thanks again, guys. We talked it over again last night and are now considering just doing the civil thing in front of a notary with the minimum two witnesses here where we live fairly soon so I can go ahead and start the spouse visa process. That way we can have a stress-free special day just us, relax and plan some sort of destination celebration/renewal of vows far enough in the future that people will hopefully be able to make it from all over. The idea of planning two ceremonies from a distance is beginning to look unappealing (too much work) and we're not religious, so we won't be having any sort of church wedding.