keewee

Hi


We are planning to marry next April at a lovely farmhouse/B&B near Barcelona next April and was wondering if anyone has done this or has any knowledge.The property we are looking at has a small church on but hasn't been used for a long time.
We have been advised that we should do all the paperwork and formalities before we leave the UK but with my fiances family attending we are looking to make it as traditional as possible.
Any advice would be much appreciated, we plan to go over at New Year but would like to be as organised as possible. Thanks in advance


Keewee

CarolandTony

Hi. We are planning to marry in the Town Hall in our local village, with the Mayor doing the service. We are both retired and have been married before - don't know your circumstances, but if I explain what we need to do you will understand how complex it can get.

You need to get the UK Embassy or one of the Consulates involved, but before that it is best to go to the Town Hall where you are going to live and ask them for their list of requirements - it varies from one district to another, but you will find that most of the requirements will be very similar.

The first thing you need is for all of your documents to be translated into Spanish, and legalised. That means you cannot just get them translated by your new family - they have to be stamped as 'legal copies' and this is done at the Foreign Office in London. Your Birth Certificate will need to be done, and if you have been married before, you will also have to get your old marriage cert and your divorce papers done. Also, your birth cert must not be out of date. That sounds silly, but by Spanish Law you must have a birth cert that has recently been issued, and it must be a 'full' cert, not the smaller copy. The term 'recent' varies from district to district. It could be 'this year, or it could be only a couple of months.

The Embassy/Consulate will have to post the bans - similar to UK procedure. They charge about 70 Euros for this. Similar charges for each document that they legalise.

Because we had not lived here for 2 yrs, we had to get an official document to say where we had lived, and how big the place was in terms of population. The Consulate are doing that for us, but it depends on who you talk to because they refused at first, then we got to talk to a more senior person who was more helpful. I appreciate that your fiance is Spanish, but the list of requirements states that 'if one of you has not lived here' etc.

We started the ball rolling at the Alicante Consulate on 20th June - still waiting for all of the papers so that we can go back to the Town Hall with them. Should be fairly quick then as we live in a very small place, so as long as the Mayor is free, we can pick just about any date.

Hope this helps and doesn't put you off.

All the best with your plans. Feel free to ask if you need any more info.

Carol & Tony

jdr

Be prepared for lots of paperwork especially if you are not European and a wait for the church unless you are very lucky.

keewee

I knew it wasn't going to be easy The situation is I'm a kiwi but have been living in the UK and have a British passport,neither of us have been married before.
Ideally we would like to have a priest at the church at the venue but as it not a working church anymore I don't think this is possible? I'm guessing the proceedure would be as follows (correct me if I'm wrong)
- Get all the papaerwork sorted for approval to marry
- Ceremony at the town hall by the mayor (or one of his colleagues)
- Onto the church for the exchanging of vows etc by a marraige celebrant. Is it possible to still have it in a traditional format? Walking down the isle etc
- Booze up and very bad dancing!
Sorry so many questions but any help is appreciated


Keewee

poshnbucks

If this was to be a catholic service and the church has been out of use for a while maybe there will have have to be some form of blessing to make the church fit for use again. One would have to check with the priest taking the service. I think any other denomination will hold a wedding anywhere providing the officials are in attendance. These are just thoughts not fully sure of the rules but maybe add to your long list on the learning curve. Very Best of luck and much happiness re your future together.

poshnbucks

You missed out punch up............ Do not invite the Rooney's


Don't look like these two.........Try to be individual and not copy

keewee

Wow, what a stunner.

Thanks for your tips, hopefully when we are over in the New Year we will be able to be a lot clearer on what we need to do.