Getting Married in Belize

By Nicky Nicholson

ABOVE: Getting married at Maruba Jungle Resort in Belize.

In the Jungle or on the Beach, Belize is fast become a popular wedding destination for those looking for an usual Caribbean style location. Imagine rainforest, jungle rivers, waterfalls, beautiful gardens or coconut island beach with crystal blue Caribbean as a backdrop, Belize has it.

Getting married in Belize is being made easier. The procedure is that a couple must be in the country for a minimum of 3 days before they can apply for a minister license to marry. This application is submitted to the register general after the 3 resident period or for those living in Belize you can just go to the register together and fill out the application. The application process is 1 day and requires proof of citizenship, passport or birth certificate, if applicable, (proof of divorce or widowhood), and a Justice of the peace to witness the signing of the application, and the $200.00 application fee to the Government of Belize. After the one day application processing period you pick-up the license to marry. Weddings must be performed by either a senior Justice of the peace who has authority to marry people, a boat captain, or a minister of the church. There must also be 2 witnesses, a male and a female.

Why go on vacation and get married? This concept is not new, it's been happening in Las Vegas for years, and the economics of getting married at a vacation destination make sense for those looking for the small to medium wedding.

Having organized many weddings over the years at Maruba Resort Jungle Spa, when it was time for Belizeans, Melanie Gillett and myself Nicky Nicholson to wed we choose a wedding vacation. It was a chance to go somewhere different to start or new life together and experience first hand and experience what others come to Belize to do. We had a Catholic Wedding ceremony on an island in the oldest Catholic church in Greece with a handful of family members and friends. To plan the wedding, the first thing we did was go on the internet and find out what were the requirement for getting married. Some friends/guest of the resort recommended a priest and from there it took a couple of months to get the paper work in order. We arrived at our wedding destination 1 week before and made sure all the arrangements were in place then had a pre-honeymoon and practiced our vows till the big day came, then it was a simple church ceremony with local culture, dinner reception like "My Big Fat Greek Wedding."

"I personally think getting married in Belize is a great idea. We provide a service which couple desire, we are the starting place of a new family,(we try to instill by example the great institution being a husband and wife and the duties or roles shared in the relationship."

Destination weddings are popular and Belize is fast becoming a popular venue. Most couples getting married in Belize are from the USA and Canada so it is an easy flight, Belize is an English speaking country and is considered the most expensive Central American vacation and the cheapest Caribbean vacation spot. Several resorts have "Getting married easy packages," and it's hard to beat Belize for an exotic vacation destination. Then there is the economics. Weddings Vacations interject needed money into our economy by all the services required like, photographer, wedding cake baker, florist, wedding coordinator, officiate, stylist, and to the hotels.

Back to Belize.com