Wedding Planning

For the last 10 evenings, after a day on the site, we have been extensively researching the marriage question.  A couple of very good reasons for getting hitched occurred to us.  Dave's name is not on the land or the build, so his investment of time and energy would be protected; and the visit of the police officer made me think - with Dave up a ladder sanding away, there is no evidence (given the difficulty proving Common Law relationships in Greece) that he's not an illegal worker on site, which would get me into trouble.  So - good practical reasons not to hang about.

The first big question was: which country?   To get married in Greece, we discovered, we each need to get 3 documents: birth certs, decree absolutes, and Certificates of No Impediment.  These six papers have to be confirmed authentic with an Apostille document each, which makes 12 documents to be translated into Greek by a Consulate-recognised translator.  Much time and money later, we can set about organising a ceremony.  The word on the blogs is that half the time, a ‘Politico’ civil ceremony is cancelled and rearranged without notice by the Town Hall, who don’t take it very seriously and don’t care that all your family and friends are in their posh frocks waiting outside.  So, let’s not do it in Greece, then.

 

To get married in England, we discovered, we need our birth certs and decrees, but also, we need to be in the country for a minimum of 24 days and have UK addresses for which we can produce utility bills.  This brought on a period of depression, and it all looked impossible for a while ...

... until we remembered talking to Dutch friends, a couple who recently married in Scotland ...

Quick research into the Scottish marriage laws, and we find there is no residency requirement.  Well done Scotland!  A flight to the border in proper Jane Austen style is required – what fun!

Several days on the various Gretna Green wedding websites and we’re demoralised again.  The place seems to be a UK Las Vegas-style wedding factory, and our little quick hitching isn’t on their radar.  The Register Office website says phone for availability, but the phone is automated: ‘if you don’t know the extension you want, press 229’.   229 diverts you to a message giving the address to send for an information pack ...  All we wanted was to know if there was a slot free while we’re in the UK in March.

So, we looked further along the border.  And, like a choir of angels, we had a wonderful friendly email from the Registrar at Coldstream, lots of information, lots of enthusiasm, and the availability we wanted.  So, decision made.

But, do we wait several years until we can afford a wedding?  The house build is going to take every penny we have for quite a few years.  Even a quick dart back to the UK to get married and have a reception would cost more than we could spare.  No point deciding we wanted to be married and then putting it off for years.  So we thought about our already arranged trip to the UK.  As we’d allowed a few days in London to go to the EcoBuild show, we had a few days we could reallocate, and we were already up north, only 100 miles short of the border, for Dave’s grandson Leo’s first birthday.  

Weekend weddings are more expensive than weekday ones, so we checked availability, and booked Monday 4 March.  A B&B either side, no fuss, no flowers, no frock, no photos, and the whole thing can be done for £340 plus food and travel.  We'll see northern family and friends the weekend before and southern ones the weekend after.  Sorted!  Phew!