Hi Everybody!
I went by the demographic office last week to pick up marriage certificates for a bride and received a copy of the new marriage license rules they’ve just released this month. Puerto Rican law has changed and now you have to get a Gonorrhea and Chlamydia test in addition to the Syphilis test that was already required. I know you’re all sighing with relief because this was something you were really worried about getting tested! And isn’t this just a fantastic way to start out a wedding blog entry about Caribbean destination weddings in Vieques?
I used to tell my clients that it was okay to get their bloodwork done here if they didn’t have time at home — that’s not really true anymore. The new tests take 5 days to complete and you have to add a day on each end for the samples to be sent to and from the big island. Both of the new tests are urine tests and can’t be processed same-day on Vieques like the VDRL test.
So what does this mean to you as a destination wedding couple getting married anywhere in Puerto Rico? It means you need to call your doctor’s office NOW and tell him what tests you need and your wedding date and that you need the tests done within 14 calendar days of your wedding date and schedule the appointments for you and your fiance while you’re at it. No medical paperwork — no marriage license? Entiendes? Bueno.
People ask me all the time if it’s difficult to get legally married in Puerto Rico. It’s very easy. It’s just a little trickier to do it on a small island like Vieques because there’s only one lady in one office who can process marriage license paperwork. If she’s on vacation, that office is only open once or twice a week, on a totally random schedule, when they send over a replacement from the big island. Before you can do that paperwork, you have to get “stampas” to pay for the marriage license. And those come from yet another office with different hours.
One of the advantages to using a wedding planner is that she should be able to hold your hand through this process and save you time. I do all the running around in advance for my brides and grooms so that when you arrive on the island, you’ve already filled out all the forms and I’ve already waited in line for you and purchased your payment stamps. I will meet you and take you through the offices necessary to get everything signed, stamped and approved in order to get legally married in Puerto Rico. My fastest time through is 20 minutes — my slowest took a little over an hour.
Wherever you’re getting married in the Caribbean, make sure you know the rules and regulations regarding your documentation and your marriage license in advance. Be prepared to provide copies of divorce decrees or death certificates if you’ve been married before. If you’re getting married outside the United States, or you’re not from the United States but you’re getting married here, be sure that you know exactly what you have to send in advance and what you have to bring with you.
Be sure you make arrangements with your wedding planner to get her to send you copies of your marriage license a couple weeks after your wedding. You probably won’t be able to get them before you leave the island, and it’s a real hassle to do it by mail or phone. I include that as a standard service that I give all of my clients and I insist that everybody purchase at least two copies of the marriage certificate. Make sure you have somebody to do that for you wherever you get married, and make sure you sign any necessary legal releases before you leave the island.
Tomorrow’s blog entry is going to be very interesting — I’m preparing a rant on unscrupulous wedding planners because I just can’t help myself. Don’t miss it!
Happy Wedding Planning from Weddings in Vieques!
Sandy
Hola!
I’m back! I hope everybody had fantastic Easter Sunday. We were powerless — literally — all day. Fortunately, we got power back right before it got dark and everything in our freezers melted. Monday was a holiday here in Puerto Rico, but since the rest of the world was doing business, I ignored island tradition. I’m going to keep this blog short because I have real work to do for paying clients, but I thought it was a good idea to touch on a bugaboo subject that is really a problem for many, many brides — keeping to your budget.
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Hello Brides and Mothers-of-the-Brides!
This blog is dedicated to you guys and the special relationship you share!!! Easter seemed like a good day to talk about something that involves family. And since I’m missing my mom and grandmother terribly today, I thought I’d tackle this tricky topic. (Read More…)
Good Morning!
It’s windy and a bit overcast here on Vieques today. I don’t know if it’s part of the weird waves coming from the storm system up north or not, but whatever the cause, I’m okay with it. I have too much to do to go to the beach anyway. Usually, I don’t like to work the Saturdays when I don’t have weddings because I get so few of them! But it’s okay if it’s a rainy day and I don’t feel like I’m being cheated out of a fantastic beach day. So let’s talk about photography for your Caribbean destination wedding weekend.
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Hello Brides and Grooms!
It’s Good Friday — a holiday in Puerto Rico, dontcha know? Usually it would be totally crazy on Vieques this weekend because all the people from San Juan come over here to camp on the beach during Easter week. It looks like a big gypsy encampment down by Sun Bay, but actually, we’re being spared most of it this year because this whacky storm system in the Atlantic is pushing crazy waves into the Caribbean. There hasn’t been a ferry to or from Vieques in three days because we’re getting 15 to 20 foot waves. Looks more like Hawaii than Vieques on the north side of the island. But let’s talk about today’s blog topic — wedding attire for the children in your wedding party for a Caribbean destination wedding.
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Hola Readers! My apologies for not writing all week. I’ve been having serious technical difficulties and because I’m a wedding planner and not an IT expert, I had to get my webmasters to straighten everything out (thanks Ben and Cathy!). But rest assured – I’ve missed you guys! Today’s topic was inspired by a potential client who contacted me earlier this week. She’s very sweet, has some great ideas for her wedding, and wants to get married in Vieques with 10 children in her wedding party. Ay dios mio!!! (Read More…)
Happy Monday Everybody!
And Happy St. Patrick’s Day! You wouldn’t think an Irish holiday would be such a big deal down here, but it is. At least for us gringos. The Coqui Fire Cafe is, for one day, Coqui O’Fire Cafe. They’re usually only open on Tuesday and Thursday evenings, but today they’re open from 12-8pm so that everybody can get a green beer fix nice and early with a late lunch or early dinner of corned beef. So you see, we’re not so isolated down here on our tiny island, are we?
Today I want to write a brief blog about wedding reception venues. I spent a lot of time showing properties to brides last week and it’s always fascinating to me to see what turns on or turns off a wedding couple. But it’s critically important that I find just the right location for each wedding reception because the look and feel of the venue really does set the tone for the whole party.
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Hola Amigos!
We got the word a few weeks ago that our episode of “Ace of Cakes” on the Food Network is scheduled to air on March 20th, but we waited til we actually saw it pop up on the channel’s online schedule before we told anybody about it… just in case we got cancelled! It looks as if we’re slated for the March 20th 10:30 pm eastern timeslot and the episode is called “Police Cars and Wine Bars.” Interesting combination, huh?
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Hello Brides and Grooms!
I must admit it would be fun to show pictures of my clients and do a “best” and “worst” dressed list, but that would be tacky so I’ll refrain. But I do want to talk this opportunity to talk about wedding party attire in the Caribbean.
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Hola Everybody!
I’m sorry I haven’t been writing! We got back to Vieques and we’ve been up to our ears getting caught up on laundry, mail, and wedding planning! This afternoon I’m going to look at two villas I’ve never visited before (although I’ve peeked at their yards when I was doing events next door to them) – big ones! I’m excited! And tomorrow we’re going on the semi-annual tour of homes on Vieques — it benefits the Vieques Humane Society — and features a couple more houses I’ve never had time to go look at but whose owners want to start letting brides and grooms rent them for wedding weekends. It’s going to be a busy week! Plus, I’ve got a pretty little bride from Maine on this island this week pre-planning for her November 2009 wedding. I’m going to take her to look at properties too! So that’s my topic today — what to look for when choosing your reception venue.
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