As we state on our website, our ceremonies are purely symbolic, meaning that they have no legal value. The issue here is that due to the enormous paperwork, complex regulations and translation issues in a foreign country, we suggest couples have their marriage executed legally at home before travelling to their European city of choice to fully celebrate their love. Our specialty is the celebration of love, but not the paperwork. You can see Pierre explaining this in this video.
There are a few countries in Europe that are fortunate exceptions where foreigners can have a civil ceremony officially registered. A specialist, not included in our packages, will book the city hall and work out all the paperwork for you including all the admin and the translation issues. As an example of costs in Italy, for instance, a civil ceremony in downtown Rome, Florence or Venice would be 4,000 euros. In a beautiful village outside a major city the cost drops to an average of 2,500 euros, depending on the location. Those prices include translations of all paperwork, all interactions with you, all the interactions with your embassy, all the interaction with the city hall. They also include booking the city hall for the legal ceremony and booking the mayor and interpreter to attend the ceremony. Please bear in mind that this process takes around 3 months No short cuts here.
Should you wish to go that route we can put you in touch directly with the specialist in charge.
So please bear in mind that legal ceremonies are not what we do: our packages provide a completely different, more personalized experience. But of course, you can have both: a legal ceremony at home before you travel – and then a more personal and meaningful symbolic exchange of vows with Love Gracefully to fully celebrate your love in a way that’s unique to you in an inspirational and gorgeous setting.