Planning a UK wedding from overseas
Dear Resident Reverend,
Have a bit of a dilemma - trying to organise my wedding in the UK from overseas
My partner (Australian citizen) & I met in the UK 3 years ago and moved to Australia together 18 months ago.
I'm wanting to go back to the UK & have a church wedding & reception there with my family . My family are able to help me arrange the ceremony & we would arrive in the UK approx 1 week before (we can't get much leave from our employers)
Any advice on how to arrange everything long-distance? Will a vicar marry us without us being in the parish more than a week in advance? Are there other things I need to consider?
The church I'd like to get married in is where I was baptised & confirmed. My grandparents were married there and their funerals were held there also.
Thank you
Michelle
Comments
Hi Michelle
There are some legal complications because you are not currently residents. Obviously you will have a British Passport & your fiancee is Australian which is part of the 'old commonwealth', so your UK wedding would be accepted as legal in your new country of residence - so that helps. The residency requirement used to be 15 days and I'm not sure what that would entail for you.
The main issue is proving that neither of you are already married and you will need to make contact with the Vicar asap to look at the paperwork you need to provide, which may take some time and he or she will probably need to take advice - so do make that relationship your first priority. Your choice of wedding venue is now allowable since the provision of the new marriage measure, even though you don't live in the parish.
For everything else on the day - why not enlist the help of a wedding planner like Elle at Fairydust? Take a look also at www.yourchurchwedding.org which has a service planner to help in your discussions with the Vicar.
kind regards
Jan