Eleuthera Beach Wedding in The Bahamas

Eleuthera Beach Wedding in The Bahamas

Eleuthera Beach Wedding in The Bahamas - by Dieter Schoop

Dave at Orchid Cottage

Dave and Nikki from Jackson Hole, Wyoming decided to get married in Eleuthera on one of the nicest pink sand beaches. Together with another young couple they rented Orchid cottage near Governor's Harbour just one hour by air from Miami or Fort Lauderdale on the east coast of Florida, USA.

As soon as Nikki and Dave arrived they started preparing for their wedding. Was it a difficult undertaking? Not at all...

... Let's see what paperwork they had to go through before they got to the enjoyable part which of course was the ceremony on the beach followed by a Champagne toast on a tower overlooking the spectacular beach:

First thing they did was to see the Marriage Officer also called the "Registrar General" in the pink administrative building in Governor's Harbour, Central Eleuthera. His secretary is Mrs. Simonet. Her phone number is: 1-242-332-2113.

They were asked to fill in an "Application for a Marriage License" form and to present a photo ID meaning a driver's license or a valid passport. That form cost them $100.

Then they had to fill out an "Affidavit". That's a legal document wherein they stated that they had not been married before. This Affidavit is document that's only needed for singles. The purpose of it? It's a waiver of liability for the Marriage Officer. Or in other words, it keeps the Marriage Officer out of trouble in case Dave and/or Nikki had lied to him. Cost: $40.

Next form... The "Marriage License" at no cost. This form is needed in case a couple wishes to get married by a minister and it licenses and permits the minister to hold the religious ceremony. The form is signed by the Registrar General.

Wedding Ceremony
As Dave and Nikki did not want a religious ceremony, the Registrar General who happened to be Mr. Ivan Ferguson, held the ceremony on the nearby beach.

Ivan is the highest administrative officer in Central Eleuthera and he did the ceremony very nicely. His charge for it was $250. Had the local Methodist minister Godfrey Bethel held the ceremony, the price would have been $300.

After the wedding ceremony they got a copy of the "Marriage Register" - yes, at no extra charge - to prove to anyone that they were legally married in The Bahamas. The original of the "Marriage Register" is sent from the local administration to the central one in Nassau and is filed there.

Now that we have figured that the total cost was $390, let's talk to Nikki and Dave and satisfy our curiosity by asking them a few questions:

Eleuthera in the Bahamas

Nikki & Dave: Oh, yes, very happy. But we would only recommend it to people who like a quiet place, for there's no night life here.

Wedding Kiss

Q: What made you decide to get married in The Bahamas? You have even chosen Eleuthera which is a lot less touristic than Nassau on New Providence or Freeport on Grand Bahama.

Nikki: As Dave and Chris are passionate fishermen we had already planned on coming to Eleuthera. And I had asked Dave to marry me on one of Eleuthera's beautiful beaches.

Q: How do you feel about the procedure of going through the minimal Bahamian paperwork?

Dave: It was really minimal. After a bit of waiting at the Registrar General's Office, we went through the whole procedure within half an hour.

Q: Please tell our site visitors how your wedding ceremony on the beach was, how you felt about it and how long it lasted.

Nikki: Well, we kind of lost the sense of time during that event but we would guess it was no longer than 15 minutes. The weather was beautiful with just a little Bahamas breeze and we both enjoyed the ceremony and liked the way Ivan Ferguson performed it. The wording he gave us was wonderful.

Q: What did you do right after the wedding ceremony?

Dave: We went back to the car to do that last little bit of admin work meaning that our friends Katie and Chris had to sign the Affidavit as witnesses. Then we signed the Marriage Register where it says "This Marriage was celebrated between us," Nikki and Dave.

A Champagne Toast
on the tower

Q: And when all of the paperwork was over, what did you do next?

Nikki: We all went up to the tower at the beach and had a glass of Champagne which was great fun. And the view from there is absolutely stunning.

Q: Ok, after the Champagne had it's pleasant effect, where did you go with your friends Katie and Chris to spend the rest of the day?

Friends Chris & Katie
at Club Med Beach

Nikki: We drove our white rental Jeep to Harbour Island which is about one hour north of here. Briland as the locals call it is a little island off the north-east coast of Eleuthera. A highly touristic and very colorful place. There we had dinner at the Rock House Inn and spent the night at the Royal Palms Hotel.

Q: Wonderful! Now that we're coming to the end of our interview, would you please tell me what your recommendation to other young couples would be who are planning to get married away from home?

Nikki: Well, we just wanted it easy-easy-easy and that's
what they'll get here.

The Very Happy Couple!

Interviewer: Thanks Nikki and Dave for this interesting interview. I wish you all the best for your future and I hope you'll come back to Eleuthera. Maybe to play on the beaches with your children.

Nikki: Oh, we may get back here before that :-)

Would you like to do what Nikki and Dave did?

Easy! Just click here and fill in the form at the end of the page that comes up. This will put you in touch with the owners of the rental cottage Orchid and they'll be happy to assist you in preparing your Eleuthera wedding.

Author/Photographer - Dieter Schoop
www.Discover-Eleuthera-Bahamas.com
So close to Florida, yet worlds away...

Return to Real Beach Weddings from an Eleuthera Beach Wedding