Religious wedding specialists Andalucia Weddings in Malaga near Marbella Costa del Sol Spain
Over the years we have built up a portfolio of some very beautiful Catholic Churches in Andalucia and along the Costa del Sol where Religious Church Wedding Ceremonies are possible. A Catholic Church Cermony is the only form of legal marriage service in Spain for non-residents, as the Catholic Church is still linked to the State.
In order to marry in a Catholic Church, one of you must be Catholic and a host of paperwork will need to be presented here in Spain to the local Bishop once permission for you to marry has been granted by your own Bishop in your country of residence.
We are lucky in that we have an excellent relationship with the Bishop's Office in Málaga, visiting often to ensure that our couples' paperwork is all in order. For Church Weddings in inland areas of Andalucia, the fact that we speak fluent Spanish is vital when dealing with the Parishes, Bishop’s Office, etc, as once one gets farther away from the resort areas, very little English is spoken.
It can be a lengthy process and we would advise coming over about a year before your wedding to view Churches with us (and venues of course), in order to reserve the Church of your choice. We have English-speaking Priests too, but many of our couples choose the option of bringing their own family Priest over to conduct the service.
Once you have your Church booked we will then guide you through all the steps of the paperwork, advising what documents and certificates are required, which ones need to be officially translated and make sure that the time frame for presenting the papers is adhered to. We get so many desperate pleas from couples a few weeks to a couple of months before their wedding when they have tried to go it alone with paperwork (and even planning their entire wedding on their own from abroad) and are have difficulty with obtaining documents, getting replies, etc, and are wrought with stress and worry when find they still do not have permission for their pending Church Wedding Ceremony. Sadly, we are usually not able to help at the last minute owing to our own Wedding Planning commitments.
After the wedding (when you will be on your honeymoon!) we take all the paperwork, including the Marriage Certificate signed in the Church and issued by the Parish, to the local Judge/Registrar on your behalf, and once all is signed by the Registrar we send the official Marriage Certificate to you in your home country so that you can register your Marriage there.
Protestant/Anglican Church Weddings are also available in the Marbella to Malaga area, but have no legal bearing in Spain, and therefore should be treated as a symbolic Religious Wedding with the legal side needing to be completed in your country of residence. This also applies to Jewish Weddings and Hindu Weddings.
Symbolic Religious Weddings can also be conducted in the grounds or gardens of beautiful Hotels and Villas or on a Beach, but bear no legal validation and so again, legal paperwork would need to be taken care of in your country of residence.
Here at AW Weddings we are delighted to offer full Planning Services for all types of Religious Weddings, as well as for Non-Religious and Humanist Weddings. Should you wish to know more about having a Religious wedding, please get in touch via our contact page or send us an email on: