Getting Married in
Florida.
Have you ever thought about getting married in
Florida? The Sunshine State is becoming one of the most popular destinations for weddings
due to its warm climate, varied landscape, lush greenery and natural beauty.
Florida offers a variety of weddings. Venues such as Leu Gardens, Cypress Gardens, Cypress
Grove Estate House, Chapel Weddings, Hot Air balloon Weddings, Beach Weddings and lots
more.... You can get married anywhere within the State of Florida within the 60 days the
wedding license is valid.
Cypress Gardens is a very popular location
with its manicured Gardens and beautiful setting. It is approx. 1 hour away from Orlando.
The Wedding Gazebo is available for hire for approx. half an hour before you walk
through the gardens with your photographer for those memorable wedding day photos. You can
end your walk through the gardens with a cake and champagne toast in the Crossroads
Restaurant - located in the grounds.
Cypress Grove is another very popular location just a short journey from the International
Drive Area. It has a lovely Mansion House with bridal room, function room and
outside lake view gazebo available to you on a 1-hour hire, Monday to Thursday. |
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On offer are wedding packages or tailor-made
weddings where you as a couple can decide your budget and what additional services you
would like to obtain for your special day, i.e. flowers, photography, Limos, Videographer.
Your wedding date, time, venue and minister should be booked prior to leaving the UK, this
can be done as far as a year ahead with most venues. Other services can be purchased
locally and you should allow at least 4 working days for these additional services to be
arranged once you arrive in Florida. Most ministers used are of Non-Denomination, others
are available upon request.
Prior to arriving in Florida couples will require the following to obtain a Florida
Marriage License - Birth Certificates, Passports, any previous marriage paperwork i.e.
Decree Absolute. Any paperwork regarding changes in name. You can also obtain additional
information from the following website http://orangeclerk.onetgov.net/
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On arrival in Florida, couples should apply
for a marriage license from the local courthouse - The license is currently $88.50 and can
be obtained Monday - Friday, 8am - 4pm (except for Bank Holidays). You do not have
to make an appointment to obtain a marriage license. The process of obtaining a marriage
license should take no more than an hour. Once you have the license this should be handed
to the minister on the day of your wedding. Once the wedding has been performed the
minister will arrange to sign and validate the wedding license, and sends it back to the
courthouse who will stamp the wedding license to make it into the wedding certificate. It
will then be sent by the courthouse to the couple directly. This process takes between 4 -
6 weeks. If couples require copies of the wedding license after the wedding ceremony, they
should give the minister $2.00 per copy and he will enclose this with the signed and
validated wedding license. |
To assist you with your wedding plans, Florida does offer Wedding
co-ordinators who can help you plan your special day especially from so far away. These
co-ordinators are used to assisting overseas brides with their plans and can take a lot of
the stress off of the couple. Most Wedding co-ordinators will arrange to meet you on
arrival in Florida and will assist you with your final plans, leaving you free to top up
your suntan and relax.
The Author, Lorraine Ellis, is a
professional British Wedding co-ordinator based in Orlando, Florida and she has been
assisting British couples who wish to get married in Florida for many years. She
works with you prior to leaving the UK and meets you once you arrive in Florida to
finalise your wedding plans. She can be contacted by e-mail:- Getmarriedinflorida@cfr.rr.com , or you can visit her web site at www.getmarriedinflorida.co.uk
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