When deciding to get married in Ibiza, one
of the first things people want to know is “How do we
do it?” There are basically three ways for non
residents to get married here with one of these options
being a fully legal marriage, recognised here in Ibiza and
the other two taking the form of a blessing which follows
a civil ceremony in your home country. The latter two options
are in no way less special, and are treated by the couple
as their wedding day, the one they celebrate and the day they
will continue to remember for years to come.
a. The first option
if one of you is Catholic (you do not both
have to be Catholic) is to marry through the Catholic Church
here. Your first step is to talk to your local Priest and
ask him to make contact with the Priest here- it is advisable
to make direct contact yourselves as well, so please contact
us for the details to do this. Your local Priest will also
be able to guide you through the application process, which
can be quite lengthy and involves plenty of paperwork (due
to it being a legally recognised union) It also includes
a stipulation that you must both attend a “Preparation
for Marriage” course. For those couples who choose
a Catholic ceremony, the hard work is well worth the effort
so please do not let the organisation required to marry
in this way put you off! The Church are very insistent on
direct contact between themselves and the couple, and so
we are unfortunately unable to assist you in organising
the actual service itself. We can however assist in arranging
all other aspects of your Church Wedding such as the flowers,
music and transport etc. It is crucial that you get a date
before the majority of the wedding planning takes place.
We can prepare a proposal if you have a date pencilled in
with the Church but we will not be able to start booking
things until you have a confirmed date.
b. The second option
if you are not Catholic or do not wish to have a
Catholic ceremony is to have a blessing in Church
through the English speaking Anglican Church here. They
offer “The Sacrament of Marriage” which is regarded
as the full marriage ceremony (You make your vows and say
“I do” as per a traditional ceremony). A marriage
certificate is issued and your marriage will be registered
in the Chaplaincy register of Holy Matrimony (this is not
a legal certificate and references the civil ceremony in
your home country). As with the Catholic Church there must
be direct contact between yourselves and the Church with
regard to the Ceremony itself, so please let us know if
this option interests you and we can let you have the relevant
contact details. As previously indicated, our services are
available for all other aspects surrounding the ceremony,
and again a date must be secured before we can go ahead
and start making bookings.
c. The third option
if you do not wish to marry in Church is
to have a spiritual ceremony, which again must follow a
civil ceremony in your home country (if time is a factor
then this can be done afterwards, but this must take place
to legalise your marriage). The ceremony can be conducted
at a variety of locations on the island, from a cliff top
overlooking the ocean to the grounds of a private villa,
at the poolside of a beautiful boutique hotel or on the
beach- the location is limited only by your imagination.
There is a choice of officiates for this service full details
of which are available as part of the proposal process.
Please contact us directly if you are interested in this
option and we would be delighted to organise a meeting with
the officiates we work with, as well as answer any further
questions that you may have.
If at least one of you is an Ibizan
resident, you may legally marry in your local Town
Hall in Ibiza (followed by a blessing in Church through
the Anglican Chaplaincy, or a spiritual ceremony if you
wish). You need to go to the Spanish Civil Register (Registro
Civil) in Ibiza, located at Avenida Isidoro Macabich to
make your application. If you are Catholic you can apply
to the Church to have a Catholic ceremony, which as before
is a fully legal union. Of course if we can assist with
any other aspect surrounding your ceremony, please do let
us know.
If you are interested in renewing
your vows then both the spiritual ceremony, as
well as the Sacrement of Marriage offered by the Anglican
Church are open to you.
For same sex couples
legislation recently passed in Spain now means that you
can have a legally binding civil ceremony here in Ibiza
if one of you is a Spanish resident. You would need to go
to the Spanish Civil Register as described above. Alternatively
if neither of you is a Spanish Resident, you could come
to Ibiza and have a spiritual union as described in further
detail above. This could also follow a civil ceremony in
your home country if current legislation where you reside
permits this.