| |
|
|
 |
Weddings in Africa
Rather than feeding the five thousand at a home-grown wedding venue, why not invest instead in some African memories to share with a select group of friends and family? With the bush or an exotic headland as the backdrop, you almost don’t need to spend on decorations or extras and a few curious turtles make perfect witnesses to your vows!
Where?
We’ve arranged many weddings in Southern Africa over the years. All have been tailor-made, informal and relaxed, usually with just the bride and groom but sometimes with a few friends and family. On the edge of Victoria Falls, at Bushmanskloof Wilderness Reserve, on a beach in Mauritius, in the Sabi Sands private game reserve or surrounded by Cape Vineyards – these are choices which have worked particularly well. Bush Weddings are a particular favourite of ours: the ceremony takes place in the heart of the African bush with some impromtu singing and dancing by the staff. Other guests gather round keen to share in your happiness….. and afterwards you take a private game drive in a landrover filled with rose petals.
How much?
How long is a piece of string? This depends on the choice of venue and/or hotel or lodge and how elaborate your arrangements. After discussing the best possible location for your wedding, we will give you a price for the arrangements. Some lodges have a set price for getting married. This will include the cost of the minister, the ceremony, licence and legal fees, bride’s bouquet and bridegroom’s buttonhole and wedding cake. Sometimes it includes bridal accommodation, a photographer and make-up and hair assistance. At other times these are offered as extras alongside special bridal dinners, additional flowers for the chapel ….even hot air balloon rides or helicopter flips.
However you needn’t feel restricted to these lodges especially if it is just the two of you. Many lodges host weddings and quote on individual aspects as they find that everyone wants something different. Generally the costs of your wedding will increase the more remote the venue as the costs of transporting a minister to your venue increase (and you may need to allow for their overnight accommodation) as well as the costs of transporting, photography, cakes for the same reason.
If you are planning on some friends and family joining you, their budgetary constraints need to be considered. If you marry at an exclusive private game lodge in the bush, then your guests have to stay there as well, which may be more than they wish to spend, whereas if you marry in the Winelands or on the Garden Route, your guests have a choice of accommodation.
Wedding Ceremony
Your choice of venues expands exponentially if you are content to have the civil (legal) part of the ceremony at a Magistrate’s Court as the wedding ceremony is then not dependent on whether a local minister is willing and able to get to your ceremony. You go to the local Magistrate for a short ceremony before heading to your venue. You can then plan your own ceremony with friends and family.
Our more experienced hotels can arrange for either a religious or a non-religious ceremony at the lodge. In most cases, the ceremony will take place outside under a canopy. A small number of lodges have a designated chapel – see below.
How much hassle?
Some people are concerned about the extra documentation required for an overseas wedding but in practise this is usually no more arduous to compiling that your passport documentation. You’ll need birth certificates and a signed declaration that you are both single and free to marry. This can be notarised by a solicitor or a Justice of the Peace. If you are widowed or divorced, you’ll need to supply copies of the divorce papers or the death certificate of your spouse.
You also need to stay in the area for a little while after the wedding for your wedding certificate needs to be notarised at the nearest Department of Home Affairs. This is vital as it ensures that your marriage is recognised legally in your country of residence. We do this as part of the wedding costs. |
|
Recommended options
Lodges with chapels:
Grande Roche, Winelands, South Africa
Hunters Country House, Garden Route, South Africa
Tsala Treetop Lodge, Garden Route, South Africa
Cathedral Peak Hotel, Drakensberg Mountains, South Africa
Wilderness (Magistrate prior to going to venue)
Oudrif Lodge, Cedarberg, South Africa
Thonga Beach Lodge, Coastal Maputaland, South Africa
Little Ongava, Etosha, Namibia
Bush (Minister to travel to venue to perform ceremony)
Singita Boulders Lodge, Sabi Sands, South Africa
Ulusaba Rock Lodge, Sabi Sands, South Africa
Garonga Game Lodge, Makalali Game Reserve, South Africa
Jaci’s Tree Lodge,
Madikwe Game Reserve, South Africa
Spectacular Location
12 Apostles Hotel, near Camps Bay, Cape Town
Thonga Beach Lodge, Mabibi Beach, Coastal Maputaland, South Africa
Livingstone Island, Victoria Falls
Tongabezi Lodge, Victoria Falls
Ngorongoro Crater Lodge, Rift Valley, Tanzania
Mauritius
Most of our Mauritian resort hotels and many of our Seychelles hotels offer weddings so here it’s a case of reviewing our website pages and deciding which hotel suits you best. In Mauritius you head to the Majestrate before the wedding to take care of all the legal paperwork and then get married at the hotel, either in the gardens or on the beach.
Particular recommendations include:
La Pirogue Hotel, Mauritius
Beau Rivage Hotel, Mauritius
Lemuria Resort, Praslin, Seychelles
Black Parrot, Mahe, Seychelles
Download our Appendix Information Here - [Microsoft Word Format]
|
|
|
