Ever thought about getting married in paradise? Well, help is at hand. Getting married in Florida is very popular, for very good reason. Firstly there is the unbeatable weather, perfect locations, excellent service and value for money. Then there is the greatest honeymoon destination in the world!
The process is fairly straight forward and easy, and I am talking from experience! I was fortunate enough to get hitched last year, and would highly recommend the experience to anybody who has ambitions of marrying abroad.
Initially, you need to meet the partner of your dreams! Then you will need to search for your perfect wedding destination. Florida offers a multitude of destinations to marry, from themed Disney weddings to an intimate ceremony on a beach.
In Orlando, Disney offer a full wedding package, and this includes a wedding certificate signed by Mickey and Minnie. Then there is Cypress Grove lake plantation, which offers a wonderful lakeside location, which is very popular.
Then there are the large beachside hotels which help tailor make you wedding. Miami, Clearwater and Naples are just a few locations to consider.
We got married in Naples, and I will now describe the process. We spent our first week in Florida in Orlando, with my family in one villa, and my wifes in another. This was a great idea, as the villas offered the freedom and amenities hotels just cannot match. Our families were also able to integrate at their own pace without being forced into spending all their time with each other!
The second week we went across to Naples where we stayed at the 5 star Registry Resort, which was a beautiful location, nestled between the Gulf of Mexico and a nature reserve. Upon arrival we were left a message to contact the hotel wedding planner. We did this the next morning and she was fantastic. She walked us around the grounds and offered 3 different locations for the ceremony, which we took time to consider.
We then had to attend the local wedding registration office, where we were issued with our wedding license within 20 minutes of arriving. Easy!!
At our next appointment with the wedding co-ordinator we told her that although all of the offered locations were lovely, we had found somewhere that we thought was more suitable. We took her and showed her where, and she agreed that it was lovely, but had never been done before, but was confident that it would be ok. She confirmed this one hour later, and informed us that they had hired security personnel to protect the area from other guest who may inadvertently stumble across us! How is that for service!
The day came and went perfectly, we had sun, a wonderful ceremony, champagne, cake and perfect photographs taken on the beach. We had our families with us, and the whole event far outweighed our expectations.
In a nutshell, getting wed in Florida is wonderful and almost stress free!!