# Can British couples get married anywhere else apart from a Church?



## manchesterborn (Jul 4, 2011)

Hi,
Both my girlfriend and I are thinking about getting married in the near future but neither of us really wants to get married in a Church. I have read many posts etc saying that the church in Jebel Ali is very nice and informal and so on but still, we do not want to get married in a church.

How is it possible for British Expats to get married anywhere else that can still be recognied as a legal marriage etc. I know that there are no Civil Ceremonies etc here and so if you have any suggestions then please help!

I have read that some people have left the country to get married and gone somewhere like Cyrpus to get married. If we were to go over just for a weekend then could we have acivil ceremony there? Whilst some people have said that they had to stay there for week or two whilst they get the marriage cert attested at the embassy in that country, other people said they have done it back in Dubai....

So then, if for example we were to get married in Cyprus, could we get the marriage cert attested at either the British embassy or cyprus embassy in Dubai or would we have to actaully go to cyprus again to do all of that stuff...

any help would be great, but the main thing really is that we do not want to get married in a church (we are both white british, non muslim by the way and so getting married as a mulsim in dubai isnt really going to happen either! haha)

Thanks in advance


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## pamela0810 (Apr 5, 2010)

Maybe this thread could be of help? http://www.expatforum.com/expats/dubai-expat-forum-expats-living-dubai/77316-weddings.html

Congratulations and good luck


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## Yoga girl (Oct 19, 2008)

manchesterborn said:


> Hi,
> Both my girlfriend and I are thinking about getting married in the near future but neither of us really wants to get married in a Church. I have read many posts etc saying that the church in Jebel Ali is very nice and informal and so on but still, we do not want to get married in a church.
> 
> How is it possible for British Expats to get married anywhere else that can still be recognied as a legal marriage etc. I know that there are no Civil Ceremonies etc here and so if you have any suggestions then please help!
> ...


Try contacting a good Wedding Planner out here. They arrange all the documents and do beach weddings (among other things). They should be able to answer some of your questions. Refer to sourcemiddleeast.com for a comprehensive list.

Your embassy or consulate should also offer information. I believe some also offer "registry service" style wedding and it would save you the hassle of getting all your documents certified and translated.

Good luck!


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## cami (Aug 11, 2010)

manchesterborn said:


> any help would be great, but the main thing really is that we do not want to get married in a church (we are both white british, non muslim by the way and so getting married as a mulsim in dubai isnt really going to happen either! haha)
> 
> Thanks in advance


getting married in a church has as much to do with being a muslim as flying to the moon does with the bus routes in los angeles...

just kidding, good luck getting married and have kids as soon as possible. would be a pity to lose all those great genes


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