Aruba - Civil Wedding Ceremony in Aruba - or at home??

[JENBRAND]

Hello to all Future Aruba Brides!
 

I need some help - and some information.  My fiancee and I have finally decided on Aruba as our destination wedding location of choice.  I just have a few questions regarding the legality of it all.

 

Did you get married in the Aruba Town Hall before having your Beach Ceremony or did you get married in your home town and bring your wedding certificate to Aruba?

 

We really want to have a Beach Wedding down by the water, but I know that Aruba only does this as a blessing - you must be "married" first.  We were thinking of getting married at home first (Toronto, Ontario) and bringing our wedding certificate with us.

 

If you get married at Town Hall in Aruba - did you go alone with your Fiancee and then do the Beach Ceremony without telling guests that it wasn't legal...or did you wear your wedding dress and bring all your guests to Town Hall with you?

I hope this makes sense - I'm confused and undecided about the whole event.  Please if anyone can help me with information that would be greatly appreciated

Thanks
Jen

 

**Wedding Date: February 8th 2012**

[Mmack]

Hello Jenbrand!

 

I was hoping some people would answer your post. I too am confused. I am having a beach ceremony in Aruba in August but wanted to get my marriage license from New York before hand. I was wondering if I do it that wat could I still have a beach ceremony.

 

Let me know if you find any information. I will do the same.

 

Best of luck to you!

[JENBRAND]

Hey!

 

Yes - I got the official legal answers....if you want to message me with your e-mail address I will send over all the information I received from my Aruba wedding planner

[Mmack]

Great thanks! Only thing is i don't know how to do a private message to you????? Help!!!
 

Originally Posted by JENBRAND 

Hey!

 

Yes - I got the official legal answers....if you want to message me with your e-mail address I will send over all the information I received from my Aruba wedding planner

 

[MDLady]

We got married in Aruba last year and did the legal marriage paperwork in the U.S.  It is much easier that way.  Then you can have the actual wedding ceremony on the beach or wherever you want.  But you do need to be actually married and show the officiant your marriage license.  It is a lot easier than dealing with the Aruban marriage as it has many requirements.  It's a pretty standard way of doing things for destination weddings and you don't have to worry about registering and translating your marriage license when you get back home so the government here recognizes it!

[Mmack]

Yep, I agree! We have decided to be married in NY by a justice of the peace. We are calling it our "legal union" and just inviting our grandparents (who can't make it to Aruba), our parents and immediate family. You would be surprised as to how many people are pissed that they didn't get invited. But the way I see it is, it is something we have to do in NY to get our license and our "real" is on the beach in Aruba, which is why we are calling it a "legal union", haha.

[Aruba Bride]

We are also getting our legal marriage paperwork done in the States before we have our ceremony in Aruba. We figured it would be easier.

[katie2012]

@Mmack and @JENBRAND, I'm in the middle of deciding this too. We are leaning toward doing the official stuff there. What did you find out about getting it made legit here?

[koseefowokan]

We've also decided to get the legal paperwork done in the States prior to leaving. That way it's official and registered and we won't have to deal with all that stuff on our DW. The country I'm traveling to asks future wedding couples to be in the country for at least three business days before they can even apply for the license, then you have to wait another 24 hours to actually get married. So in order to spend more time vacationing and not having to wait, we figured it would be easier to travel as husband and wife but still do our actual "real" ceremony when we're away.