Susan Smith, Staff Reporter GETTING MARRIED abroad is becoming more popular around the world and Jamaicans are now beginning to catch on, local wedding planners say.
Foreign experts say the practice is catching on because it is more cost-effective and stress free. And it has the added bonus of allowing individuals to fulfill their romantic dreams.
"We have had a doubling in the number of persons coming from North America, Japan and South America to get married in Jamaica in comparison to last year," said Georgianna Williams, wedding coordinator at the Round Hill Hotel. She indicated that the hotel does at least one non-national wedding per week.
Foreigners are choosing Jamaica because it ranks as one of the leading wedding and honeymoon destinations in the world, and makes a special effort to cater to this market.
COSTLY
But Charisma Schloss, reservation agent for Air Jamaica says many queries are coming for weddings from Jamaicans who wish to wed in other Caribbean destinations and a few to Florida.
Mr. and Mrs. Gary Matalon, who got married in the Bahamas over a month ago, are just two who chose the regional option.
Miss Williams also said several Jamaican marriages have quietly been held place in places much farther afield.
"It is going to cost you more than if you had it here," opines Delaine McFarlane, manager of Beautiful Brides and Mr. Tux Limited.
Marguerite Anderson, owner of Petals and Promises Limited, makes a similar assessment.
She does not think cutting costs is the major motive or drive behind overseas weddings.
"We are more status conscious," she said to sum up a couple's decision to go that route. "No one is inviting you to get married in North America, so you have to pay for everything there. The photography alone is going to cost you a lot."
Nevertheless, both local planners admitted that where planning a wedding is concerned nothing is fixed and that weddings abroad do force couples to be more practical.
"It depends on what you want it to cost," says Mrs. McFarlane. "I can get married in an orchid field or on a river bed, or I can journey to Cuba and have it on the beach, and it works out at a lower cost," she explained. Mrs. McFarlane said one of her clients is benefiting from having her wedding overseas because she got the chance to cut her guest list.
CARIBBEAN DESTINATION
A recent article in the Financial Gleaner found that a traditional Jamaican wedding could cost about US$16,000 or $1 million.
But Mrs. Anderson said it is difficult to fix an average cost to any wedding.
Getting married in a Caribbean destination can cost about US$19,000. This cost includes the discounted air fare for bride and groom, 35 guests and hotel accommodation, according to Nadia Smith, group manager for Air Jamaica and Orville Simms, group account executive for Breezes, Runaway Bay.
Ayesha Singh-Creary who got married in August to Don Creary at Castle of Park, Cornhill, Scotland, confirmed in a very brief interview with Sunday Business that arranging a wedding abroad can also be an easy and stress-free exercise.
"I simply did a search on the Internet and made all the arrangements to Scotland from here, " Mrs. Singh-Creary said.
Planning a wedding abroad can involve four basic steps.
Make a few clicks online and choose your destination and hotel
Call the hotel of your choice and state your intentions.
Destination wedding planners say in most cases the hotels will take care of all the wedding arrangements for you, from getting the minister to preparing a wedding cake. You only need to tell them what to do. Most Caribbean hotels offer free weddings.
Call your airline of choice to make travel and lodging arrangements for your guests.
"Our fares are lower once you make hotel bookings with us." says Nadia Smith, group manager for Air Jamaica.
Call again to ensure the hotel has a booking for you and your guests and has everything prepared for the ceremony.
Destination weddings website www.destinationweddings.com recommends that couples purchase air fare hotel accommodations as a "package", plan the wedding with your guests to make it affordable for them also and negotiate directly with hotels when planning your wedding overseas.
Alternatively, you could skip all the fuss and get married in any one of the five convenient locations made available by the Registrar General's department.
Costing just $4,000 for the ceremony and another $4000 for the pastor's license, you should have enough change to spare for a decent honeymoon.
