Planning a wedding and getting married in the Cayman Islands

There are two very different processes for getting married in the Cayman Islands: residents must be married by having their Banns of Marriage published by a Civil Registrar or Marriage Officer for seven clear days before the marriage can take place. Visitors can be married the same day they arrive, by Special Marriage Licence. The cost of which is CI$50 for the application fee and CI$150 for the licence itself.

If one party to the marriage is a resident and the other party a visitor, then the resident party can apply for the Banns to be published before the visiting party arrives. Banns of Marriage are valid for three months after being published.

Please note the minimum age to get married in the Cayman Islands is 16; however, anyone under 18 must have the consent of a parent or guardian. Weddings must take place between the hours of 6am and 8pm, and according to the liquor licensing laws, if you get married on a Sunday (on liquor-licensed premises), then no live music can be played. For more information on marrying in Grand Cayman contact the Deputy Chief Secretary’s office on (345) 949 7900 or for Cayman Brac weddings (345) 948 2222.

THE PROCESS OF GETTING MARRIED
Once you have decided on the date of your wedding, contact either a Civil Registrar or a Marriage Officer. Most of the 90 marriage officers in the Cayman Islands are Ministers of Religion and can be contacted through their churches.

Planning your Wedding
Most residents get married on Saturday, which means you should book early to secure the date with your Civil Registrar/Marriage Officer. You will have to have a preliminary interview with your Civil Registrar/Marriage Officer and complete a form called a Notice of Marriage. Two residents, who have known each of you for at least two years and are not family members, must sign this form. You will need to take your passports and your proof of immigration status (e.g. work permit, residency certificate, etc.) with you when you attend the interview.

If you have been previously married you will also need your original divorce decree or spouse’s death certificate. If the decree or certificate is in a language other than English, you will need an English translation certified by a Notary Public.

If you are marrying a Caymanian, your Civil Registrar/Marriage Officer is required to ask you certain questions where the intention is to make sure yours is not a marriage of convenience. A marriage of convenience is where the two parties enter into the marriage for the sole purpose of obtaining immigration rights as a spouse of a Caymanian. This is illegal in the Cayman Islands, as it is in most countries. Your Civil Registrar/Marriage Officer will charge a fee for the documentation, preliminary interview, publishing the Banns, conducting the ceremony and filing your marriage with the appropriate government official. The average cost of this service is CI$300.

Wedding Cakes & Catering
The hotel resorts on-Island all offer special in-house catering for wedding events at their resort locations. New to the Island, is the couture cupcake company, Frosted Robin Cupcakes (Tel: (345) 943 2253) located in Camana Bay who create fancy cupcakes. In addition, local catering companies, such as Mise en Place (Tel: (345) 943 2433) will provide meticulous wedding catering, cakes and desserts. Other fantastic options for wedding event catering are The Black Trumpet (Tel: (345) 743 6666) who creates beautiful chocolate tortes and specialty cheesecakes or The Brasserie Market (Tel: (345) 945 1814) for local organic gourmet catering. The Cake Studio (Tel: (345) 926 4944), is a specialised studio for wedding cake designs, flavours and edible creations. They bake unique cakes for weddings, showers and customised birthdays, with the use of traditional recipes, personalisation and scanned images. Cake prices range from CI$30-CI$4,000. They also feature the French Canadian cookie brands Monsieur Felix and Mr. Norton.

Wedding Consultants & Planners
Coordinating your dream wedding on Cayman from a distance—or on-Island—can be a breeze with the assistance of one of our local wedding planners. Simply Weddings (Tel: (345) 949 9933 or email: mywedding@candw.ky) orchestrates every detail for residents, visitors or for cruise ship weddings. They also plan romantic wedding renewals. Simple, elegant and personalised attention to detail is their motto, providing brides-to-be with peace-of-mind and impeccable planning. You can also try Parfait Weddings (Tel: (345) 916 7526 or email: planner@parfaitcayman.com) They are a contemporary wedding and event planning company based in the Cayman Islands. Their service is personalised and they will work with you to create the wedding day you have always envisioned. Crystal Blue Weddings (Tel: (345) 926 2084 or danielle@crystalblueweddings.com) offers complete wedding planning services. Coordinators are accustomed to planning anything from a grand-scale wedding event to the most intimate private ceremony details. Resorts with on-site wedding planners include: Grand Cayman Marriott Beach Resort, Grand Cayman Beach Suites, The Ritz-Carlton, The Reef Resort, The Westin Casuarina Resort and The Breakers on Cayman Brac.

Wedding Flowers
There are fabulous island floral ideas to select from when designing your wedding bouquets and arrangements. Celebrations (Tel: (345) 949 2044), can create beautiful designs for your Caribbean wedding. Others to try are Every Bloomin’ Thing (Tel: (345) 945 1701) or try Trisha’s Roses (Tel: (345) 949 2423), as they both cater to specialty floral designs for wedding events, large or small. When planning your event, it is best to remember that most floral species will have to be flown in for the event, which can become costly.

Wedding Locations
Most brides-to-be dream of marrying on world-famous Seven Mile Beach, which is consistently voted in the “Top 10 Beaches in The World” for romantic weddings by travel magazines, but there are many other options. Camana Bay (Tel: (345) 640 4000) features its own private island, perfect for an intimate wedding celebration—complete with a wooden promenade deck over the water for a proper nuptial aisle. Luca (Tel: (345) 623 4550) plans beautiful weddings at The Caribbean Club on Seven Mile Beach. Sunset Bay in Old Prospect have an intimate, beautiful garden setting right on the water. Contact them on (345 623 2433). Kaibo (Tel: (345) 947 9975) located in Cayman Kai is one of the most popular locations in the Cayman Islands for weddings due to its untouched white sand beach, clear water, easy access by boat and the unfaltering devotion from the staff to make this your deeply personal celebration. Believe it or not, not all the condominium complexes on Seven Mile Beach allow weddings, or vow renewals on their beach. If you are staying at a condo, be sure to ask whether they allow wedding ceremonies on their beach before you book. You can also check with the company Simply Weddings (Tel: (345) 949 9933) to see what their experience with that particular condo has been in the past. Another option of course, is to rent a villa if a private beach wedding is a pre-requisite for your Cayman Islands destination wedding. Contact Cayman Villas for a list of private villas which are available to rent. Other wonderful venues include: Smith’s Cove, Dart Park, Pedro St. James or the Queen Elizabeth II Botanic Park. And for the true naturalist, DiveTech (Tel: (345) 946 5658) or Cathy Church Photo Centre (Tel: (345) 949 7415 or (888) 690 7072) can assist you with your plans for a ‘scuba diving underwater wedding ceremony’ surrounded by the true beauty of Cayman. For the more traditional, Grand Cayman is full of wonderful churches for religious ceremonies. Please refer to the Social Life chapter for a listing of church denominations, locations and contacts.

One planning note: if you are interested in fireworks at your event, organisers are reminded of the legal requirements to coordinate their proposed events with the Civil Aviation Authority of the Cayman Islands (CAACI). Any such inquiries should be directed to civil.aviation@caacayman.com or (345) 949 7811.

Wedding Photographers
Meeting the right photographer should feel as powerful as finding the perfect wedding dress. No keepsake from your wedding day will be as treasured as your photographs. You’ll refer to them time and time again as the years go by to recall everything from the most significant moments—the kiss, the first dance—to the smaller details (how the delicious cake looked) and you’ll rely on them long into the future to bring the event to life for your children and grandchildren. So naturally, it is important, to choose a photographer who will capture your special day in the style which best compliments your personality. Some photographers specialise in a formal portraiture style, while others will shoot in a more candid photojournalistic style. While photographers are visual artists, the most successful collaborations between brides and their personal paparazzi actually depend immensely on verbal understanding. Photographers’ portfolios worth looking into include: Picturethis Photography (Tel: (345) 943 3686) creates heart-tugging realistic images with an array of photography artists to choose from for your wedding day. Samples of their portfolios. Cathy Church Photo Centre (Tel: (345) 949 7415 or (888) 690 7072) also provides wedding photography and videography services, highlighting the artistic talents of Tony Mark. He has been a photographer and filmmaker for 20 years, was formally trained at Tisch School of the Arts at New York University and won an Emmy in film editing and several awards in both filmmaking and photography. Other notable island photographers are David Wolfe and Courtney Platt.

Wedding Stationary & Invitations
When the time arrives to make ‘the big announcement’ and send save-the-date cards and invitations, Studio Two Sixteen (Tel: (345) 938 8363) creates the most artful designs. Unique announcement cards, personal invitations, envelope designs, social cards, thank you notes and even party favours are all artfully created to suit your style with careful detailed dye-cutting, foil stamping and custom premium cardstock.

Wedding Transportation
Cayman Airways offers discounts to groups of 10 or more, which would be beneficial when booking flights for wedding guests. Contact Cayman Airways for complete group discount details and other booking incentives. They can be reached on (345) 949 2311 or (800) 422 9626 or see their webpage at www.caymanairways.com

Island Air offers complete aviation services for private and chartered aircraft travelling to and from the Cayman Islands, including an exclusive VIP Meet and Greet service to visitors arriving and departing Cayman by commercial or private aircraft. The service includes full assistance with customs and immigration, luggage handling and chauffeured transportation to or from your accommodations. Call them on (345) 949 2311 or see their webpage at www.islandair.ky.

Grand Limousine Services
Tel: (345) 943 5466
Offers airport transfers and bookings are available for weddings and special events.

Tropicana-Tours
Tel: (345) 949 0944
Offers an airport arrival and departure service plus customised bus tours.

ONCE YOUR ARE MARRIED
After the wedding ceremony, which can be civil or religious, you and your spouse, along with two adult witnesses (aged 18 or older) and your Civil Registrar/Marriage Officer, must sign three copies of the Marriage Register.

One certified copy, called the Bridal Certificate, is yours to keep for your records. Your Civil Registrar/Marriage Officer is required by law to keep one copy in his/her Marriage Book. Again, according to the Marriage Law which governs marriages in the Cayman Islands, the third (duplicate) copy must be filed by your Civil Registrar/Marriage Officer with the Registrar of Marriages at the General Registry as soon as possible after the wedding. The General Registry is located on the first floor of the Citrus Grove Building, Goring Avenue in George Town.

It is your responsibility to obtain the Registered Marriage Certificate (RMC) of your marriage from the General Registry, unless you have arranged with your Civil Registrar/Marriage Officer to obtain this and forward it to you. The RMC has the words ‘secure copy’ on the reverse. On the front it will have the details of your marriage, a watermark of the coat of arms of the Cayman Islands and the raised seal of the Registrar General. This document is your legal Marriage Certificate and should be secured with other important documents.

Each RMC costs CI$15 and you may request as many copies as you need. European Union citizens (except the United Kingdom and Ireland) may need to have their Registered Marriage Certificate apostilled (or authenticated). This does not apply to United States or Canadian citizens. Citizens of Asian countries, as well as South and Central America, should check with their Civil Registrar/Marriage Officer as to whether an apostille is required for their country.

Required Documents & Fees for Marriage
1)     Proof of Identity – passport or certified/original birth certificate
2)     Cayman Islands international embarkation/disembarkation card or ship’s boarding pass
3)     Original or certified copies of divorce decrees/death certificates
4)     A fee of US$250 must accompany the documentation. Please note that some of this is not refundable should you change your mind.