How to DIY your Wedding in Kefalonia
So, you have decided on the wonderful Greek island of Kefalonia for your Wedding or Renewal of Vows ceremony. What happens next? Are you hoping to make all the arrangements yourself, use a wedding planner, or see what Bride Buddy can offer you?
Let's talk about the actual legal marriage in a moment. Firstly, I need to tell you about the best options available on the island for planning your wedding. Many wedding planners will look at your requirements and quote you a fixed fee for their services. This will include arranging the legal marriage, the wedding ceremony, the reception venue, food, drinks, flowers, cakes, photography, cars etc. Then you need to add accommodation costs and flights. The wedding planner works with all the suppliers, often at near to cost prices which is why they like to charge you a fixed fee and this is how they make their money. This is a great option for a very large wedding or if you just want to alleviate some of the stress involved. But if you are on a budget there are alternatives that could save you a lot of money.
You shouldn't feel that having your dream wedding abroad is out of your reach for financial reasons. There is a lot you can do to bring the costs right down if you are willing to put in a little work. Some couples make all the arrangements themselves and do a very good job of it, and they save an awful lot of money. In those cases I know they have had a friend or family member on the island to help them, which is great and there is no reason why you cannot do this. I do know a few who arranged everything completely alone but it did include a couple of short visits to the island to check everything was on track. Getting married is complicated, there is no doubt about it, but it is obviously not impossible because thousands of people do it every day! All you need is to be organised, have a plan, and go through one process at a time.
With 25 years experience in the UK as a Registrar of Marriages, Bride Buddy is the ideal service to use to perform your actual ceremony.
We have a small team that includes our celebrant and she will deliver and perform your ceremony and we also have an 'on the day' coordinator, who will make sure that all your arrangements run smoothly on the day. This is all in our inclusive fee.
We offer a personal and bespoke service, building the ceremony around you as a couple, and we are completely transparent and up front with our prices. As the service has grown, couples have asked us to help with their arrangements. We can act as a contact for them on the island, and also help with venues, flowers, photographers, cars etc. The difference that Bride Buddy offers is that we will only charge for you for our 'time spent' instead of a fixed fee. You will find this could bring your costs down significantly. We have the professionalism and expertise required to give you accurate advice and guidance through the whole process.
If you already have a reception venue, or have one in mind who will cater for your food and drinks, you are already halfway there. Having a venue sorted means a vast part of the work is done. Let us be your point of contact for all the other necessities and save you money.
Ok, Here's the legal stuff.
The majority of couples opt for a Register Office wedding in the UK and then have a celebratory wedding ceremony here on the island. The reason for this is that it costs £50 for your legal marriage in the UK and around 300 euros with a wedding planner guiding you through the system here in Kefalonia. That includes the Town Hall fees. Add to that between £200 - 400 for the legally stamped and officially translated documents that you need to bring with you. One other advantage of doing the formalities at home first is that should you need more marriage certificates in the future, it is very easy to obtain them from the Register Office rather than the Greek Embassy. That said, we do help many couples with the legal side of marrying abroad. Take a look at our page outlining the process to have the legal marriage abroad in more detail here.
So, to sum up, wedding planners do an excellent job from start to finish and if this is your preferred option expect to pay a fixed fee for their services, if you are thinking on a budget and would like to make a lot of the arrangements yourself - go for it. If you get stuck, get in touch and we will help only with the bits you want us to help you with. If you don't want to spend too much money but would still love to have your wedding or renewal of vows ceremony here in Kefalonia, we can help right from the beginning and save you money by only charging you for our time instead of the fixed fee option. The choices are out there, you can have your dream Kefalonia Wedding - you just need to think about the best option for you.
Go to our website for info on ceremony prices and Town Hall fees and find out more about the services Bride Buddy can offer you. Why not take a look at 'Our Ceremonies' page and read some of the Thank You's we have received Good Luck!