Moving to Paradise — Getting Married in Barbados
By: Katie Holmes
Tags: Expat, Working From Home, Barbados, Destination Wedding, Digital Nomads

After 6 years we finally took the plunge and got married in paradise, but it wouldn’t be 2021 without a few dramas along the way!

Yesterday marked 8 months that we have been in Barbados and we are certainly starting to feel like ‘locals’. We have friends here, work is going well and the country is mostly back up and running and open for business.

About a month ago we decided to get married out here. I had always fancied a small beach wedding so this seemed like the perfect time to do it. We of course let our families know it was happening, but due to travel restrictions no one was able to travel. In order to still include our loved ones we decided to stream the ceremony on Zoom — how very 2020/21! The internet is so solid here that tethering a device to your mobile works fine, even on a beach (I used my laptop).

I had read that the process was relatively straightforward, even more so if you employ a wedding planner to help you with the details. These companies of course usually work with tourists coming in on a tight time scale but I certainly still found using one helpful. You actually only need to be in Barbados one day before you get married as all the legal stuff can be done in one go, but we spread it out a bit because we had the time. The marriage is legally recognised in the UK and you get a copy of your certificate a few days after the wedding (the original stays in Barbados).

So what do you need to do? First you need to find someone to perform the ceremony. This can either be a magistrate from the local court if you want a non religious ceremony, or a minister from a local church. Weddings can take place anywhere in Barbados so the person does not need to be linked to a particular building or place. You need to get a letter from them stating that they are performing the ceremony, and where it is (they will have a standard template with all the required info). If you are using a wedding planner they will sort this part out for you.

You then need to go to the Ministry of Home Affairs, this needs to be booked in advance. It used to be a walk in situation but due to lack of space/social distancing rules you now need an appointment which is a much better system, hopefully it stays. Keep in mind there is a strict dress code for government buildings here (colonial oppression at it’s best) so no flip flops, shorts, strapy dresses etc. You need to bring with you your letter from the minister, your passports, birth certificates if you have them (we didn’t), flight info and any docs relating to dissolution of previous marriages. The appointment lasts around 30 minutes, you will be asked to swear on a bible and of course there are 3 people involved when it could really just be one, but this is Barbados after all! Pay your money ($225 BBD/£80) and you have your licence.

Then you are good to go! We had our appointment on the Monday and were due to get married on the Sunday (had to pick a day when there was no football on!). We had picked a beach called Paradise, how very appropriate I thought, and everything was ready to go. I had got a dress from a lovely boutique in Limegrove shopping centre in Holetown, hairdresser and various beauty appointments were booked for the later part of the week.

But this is 2021 so nothing is going to go exactly to plan. I knew that doing something like this in the ‘rainy season’ was a risk, but so far it had just been the odd isolated afternoon shower, and the general consensus was that it does not usually kick off until August/September. But by Wednesday we knew there was a tropical storm headed our way — Elsa, and she was due to hit on Friday morning. Barbados is not usually in the direct path of tropical storms/hurricanes but often feels the effects of passing ones, but this one was due to pass right over the top of us. By Thursday afternoon the mood had shifted and businesses started to close early and there was talk about people going to shelters if their houses were not sound. People were panic shopping and the queues at the supermarkets were back to lockdown sizes. Thankfully I had put some dry food away, as well multiple containers of water just in case (much to Carl’s amusement at the time).

8am on Friday morning, Elsa is right on top of us

The wind started to pick up around 2am on Friday and by 8am we were right in the middle of it. Elsa was upgraded to a category 1 hurricane, the first to hit Barbados in 65 years, due to winds of over 70mph. At around 12pm we lost power, although I think this was island wide as they had turned off the supply to make urgent repairs. This lasted for around 5 hours, at which point we lost water (glad of those water containers now eh Carl?) which lasted another 5 hours. All in all, we were extremely lucky in our area, others were without power and water for several days, many roofs were destroyed and a hell of a lot of trees came down on power lines and across main roads. Thankfully no lives were lost.

Damage on the main coast road in Worthing

By Saturday we were back to blue skies. I went out to have a look at Paradise beach to make sure it was not too badly damaged, and it looked horrendous. Sewage was leaking somewhere in the area so the smell was awful, most of the greenery from the trees was on the beach and there was a LOT of seaweed (which also smells) that had been brought in by the hurricane. So now I needed to find a new beach and pronto. The west coast, having previously been seaweed free, was now covered in it, although not as bad as the south. I finally came across a patch of beach on Paynes Bay that had been cleared by the apartment building it was in front of. When I asked the lady at security she said that no one was staying there at the time so we were more than welcome to set up there — it was actually kind of ideal! I just had to hope there were not too many people around on Sunday as it is a busier beach than Paradise.

So finally the day arrives, the main thing I was nervous about was the Zoom working! All goes well, if anything it was too sunny….made it a bit harder to see us on the computer as the sun was directly behind us, and of course there were a few people who I had to ask nicely to move away from our little area so they were not in the background (they literally had the entire beach, why pick right there to play beach tennis or paddle board?!!). We had champagne and nibbles after on the beach and then a lovely dinner at Champers. Thank you so much to Bianca at Elope Barbados who put everything together.

Our four witnesses and another 80+ from 5 countries on Zoom!

A honeymoon seems a bit of an odd concept when we live in a typical honeymoon destination, plus we have travelled to so many amazing places already, but we are heading to Disney World, Florida in September. I used to work there when I was 19 and I was keen to show Carl the sights! We are lucky as there is no issue travelling to the US from here, unlike the UK, plus no jet lag, bonus!

Disclaimer — these are all my own views and opinions and experiences, not those of Red Quokka, others may differ. If you like gratuitous pictures of beaches and sunsets follow me on Instagram Katie_in_Barbados