THE MOST WONDERFUL PLACE FOR YOUR WEDDING!
Do you want your wedding on the grassy carpets of the Botanical Gardens? On the bright sands of a windswept beach? In the lush cover of a tropical rain forest? Or by the limpid basin of a quiet waterfall? What about underwater? If you want it, we can do it. Done!
Also most hotels have grounds which they will happily make available for your purpose - and you can have the reception right there. Some will make complete arrangements for your entire wedding.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW BEFORE THE BIG DAYBut how do you do it all? Well, to begin with, If you are coming here for your wedding, you need to apply for a Special Marriage Licence. Both you and your spouse-to-be must be non-residents of Trinidad and Tobago to apply for this license. But, you have to establish residence, - according to the Marriage Act of 1996 - for a minimum of three whole days! The three-day period does not include the day you arrive. Within 24 hours of the marriage, you have to present yourself at one of two places:
The Warden's Office,
or
The Registrar General's Office,
Both of these offices are open from 8.00 a.m. to 4.00 p.m.
WHAT DOCUMENTS WILL YOU NEED?When you go to either of these places you must have certain things with you:First you have to prove you have been resident for three days. So you need your passport and your airline ticket. The same passport will serve as identification. However, if for any reason your name is different from that on your identification document, as, for example, if you reverted to a maiden name after a divorce, then you must have proof of name change. If you are in fact divorced, you need to have the decree absolute or a notarized copy of it. If you are a widower or a widow, you need the original, death certificate of your spouse. The witnesses to the wedding also need to present valid identification. And since all this documentation has to be recorded on four copies of the wedding certificate, it should not be left for the last minute.
What if any of these documents are in Spanish or German or French or another language other than English? In that case you must have a notarized translation into English. Now, whichever office you go to, you must pay the sum of $337.50 TT.(That's about US$50) If you go to the warden's office, you pay in cash. If you go to the Registrar General's Office, you must take along the equivalent in postage stamps. The post office is located in the Port Authority building on the Scarborough harbourfront. WHEN "DE GLORIOUS MORNING COME"
Marriage officer? Somebody at the Warden's Office or at the Registrar General's Office is sure to be authorized to perform marriages. This is the most inexpensive way to go. Or, if you prefer to have a religious ceremony, pick the religion of your choice and approach them. You can consult the telephone Yellow Pages, or just ask around. Everybody is willing to share information.
But what if you prefer to leave all the details of the wedding to someone else.There are wedding consultants here and in Trinidad. They will arrange an appropriate venue, find a minister, a limousine, do the catering, see to the witnesses, take care of the wedding cake, the photographs, the reception, whatever else you want them to do, - coordinate the whole show, and charge you the appropriate fee.
Some hotels will do the same thing. Some folks that will do it all for you are at: www.tobago-weddings.com. Or you can call Charmaine Lewis at 868 721 2466.
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