Weddings in Costa Rica PDF Print E-mail
To avoid bureaucratic procedures, we recommend you make arrangements through the hotel or resort where you want your wedding and honeymoon to take place. Otherwise you'll have to make arrangements on your own, and it will definitely take longer. Remember to choose a place that best suits your interests.

Civil weddings are not complicated. You only need to have both passports at hand, and find a trustworthy and bilingual lawyer, which you can achieve by hiring the hotel's own. To proceed with the wedding, the lawyer will need the following information about the groom and the bride, in advance:
  • Exact address: city, street, building, etc.
  • Professional degrees or line of work.
  • Parents's names.
Before the wedding takes place, you will have to make a sworn statement on your actual marital status, whether divorced, widow or single. The presence of two witnesses is required for the wedding to take place. If you have your own, make sure they bring their passports, too. You can also find people here in Costa Rica that will be willing to stand as witnesses, such as hotel employees or new friends.

Weddings in Costa RicaIn order to register the wedding back home, you will first have to register the marriage at the Civil Registry of Costa Rica. You will then need both a certificate from your embassy authenticating all signatures, and official translations on all documents. This procedure might take up to 2 months, but the same lawyer handling the wedding can do all this paper work for you, and mail it to your home address at your convenience.

A religious celebration could be more complicated, since most Catholic priests encourage couples to take a course on spiritual guidance before marriage. Also, according to a new regulation, weddings may not be held in the open air; they have to take place inside a sacred building such as a church or chapel. Bilingual priests are scarce, specially in the back country. Your best choice will be to arrange with the priest serving mass at the hotel on weekends. The town where you stay at will have its own church also, and you could arrange a wedding service with them.

All in all, tourists have had religious weddings here in Costa Rica, and instead of listening to the music from a piano, they heard a beautiful melody of waves, ocean and wind, and nature overwhelmed their improvised chapel on the beach. So, don't let the paper work and legal talk put you down. Make arrangements at the hotel of your choice, and follow your heart.
Home

Costa Rica Location

Costa Rica Country Details

Costa Rica Flag Official name:
República de Costa Rica
Official language: Spanish
Capital: San José
Independence Date: September 15, 1821 (from Spain)
President: Oscar Arias Sánchez
Area: 51,100 km�
Percentage of water: 0.7%
Population: 4.13 million
Density: 80.66/km�
Currency: Colón (CRC)
Time zone: UTC -6
Internet TLD: .cr
Calling Code: 506

Did you know?

Costa Rica Hummingbird bills are specialized to feed on certain flowers, their length and curvature correspond to the exact dimensions of specific flower species.

Hummingbird Costa Rica

Costa Rica Pictures


Scarlet Macaw, Carara National Park
We have 3 guests online

Costa Rica

Tourism Center
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Important to Know
Travel to Costa Rica
Ecotourism and Nature
Activities and Sports
Geographical Division
Protected Areas
Costa Rican Volcanoes
Costa Rican Beaches
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Information Center
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
General Information
Art and Culture
People and Society
Government
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Business Center
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Business and Economy
Development- Services
Real Estate - Investment
Costa Rican Coffee

Search Directory




Advanced Search
 

We are in Costa Rica. For more information, comments or suggestions, please contact us here.
© 1996 - 2014 Costa Rica Tourism. ® All rights reserved.