FAQs
It’s your wedding day, and we are certain you have many questions! We have walked thousands of couples through the process of eloping, and so we have the experience necessary to make this an easy, stress-free process for you. Below are our most Frequently Asked Questions so that you can better understand the whole process of getting married with Elope Asheville.
Booking
It all begins with contacting us!
We will take as long as you need to answer questions, discuss your needs, go over the process, etc.
The first step we like to do is either book your flights or ensure your flights are booked. It’s good to have that range of dates set so we know the window to book everything else.
When booking your flights through us, there is usually a $600 deposit to hold your flights, with the remainder due one month before departing.
To solidify and book your wedding day, we will send you a contract and an invoice for 20% of your wedding day.
The last step is to look for accommodations. We can book most hotels and castles for you. While we highly recommend AirBnB, their policies won’t allow us to book that for you. However, we can tell you if a selection would be a good location for what you want to do.
Airfare tickets vary wildly based on the time of year, the day of the week you travel, which airport you leave from, and countless other factors.
However, most couples can expect anywhere from $1300-1800 for two round-trip tickets and a rental car with required Irish insurance included.
It is!
We have financing options through Square or Paypal. You can finance a part or all of your trip.
When financing, we would get a lump sum for all aspects of your trip, and we would your travel, wedding day, and accommodation (if possible) on your behalf.
Contact us to learn the details of financing!
Marriage License/Legal
Not at all!
You can opt to get married at home at a small private ceremony or even at the local courthouse, either before or after your Ireland wedding day.
If you choose to do this, there will be no restrictions on how you wish to plan your wedding. It can be anywhere you dream on any day of your trip.
There are many considerations involved when deciding how you wish to get married. The full process is described on our Legal page.
If you wish to have all of the legalities performed in Ireland, there are a few main points to consider.
- You will need to be in Ireland a minimum of 9 calendar days, and your wedding would be toward the end of this stay.
- You will have to work with an approved venue, as per Irish law. This will incur additional costs and restrictions.
- While it’s technically possible for divorcees to be remarried in Ireland, it’s exceptionally difficult.
The choice between having the entire process legalized in Ireland vs. the legalities done at home are personal, and we will work with you and support you either way you decide!
There are several additional fees having a legal wedding in Ireland will cost.
The marriage license fee is €200, paid directly to the Registrar of Marriage. You will also incur the venue fee, which varies greatly. Some venues require additional insurance to be purchased. A legal officiant is an additional €150.
Expect to pay, at a minimum, an additional €500 for a legal Irish ceremony.
You must send in your Postal Notification of Marriage before three months ahead of your wedding day. The required paperwork, stamps, and forms needed will take an additional month. For the most stress-free experience, you should start the process at least five months ahead of your wedding date.
For the Postal Notification of Marriage, you will need your passports, driver’s license, original birth certificates with Apostille stamps (we will tell you how to get this stamp), and a completed Postal Notification of Marriage form (which we will provide you).
If divorced, you will need your ex-spouse’s original birth certificate with Apostille stamp as well as your divorce decree.
If previously married, to be legally married in Ireland, you will need your ex-spouse’s original birth certificate with Apostille stamp as well as your divorce decree.
Absolutely! Just let us know ahead of time, and we will provide witnesses for you at no additional cost.
After your meeting with the Irish Registrar of Marriage 7 calendar days before your wedding date, he or she will process your paperwork and be in contact with your venue and officiant. The Registrar will send your marriage license to your officiant, who will bring it with him/her on your wedding day.
After the ceremony, your officiant will file it, and it will be available for pickup the next business day at your Registrar of Marriage office.
You will need to pick up (or arrange beforehand having it mailed home) your marriage license from the Registrar of Marriage’s office.
When you get back home, you will need to file this marriage license with your local Register of Deeds, Probate Court, or other local agency that records marriages. We suggest contacting them beforehand to inquire how to properly register your foreign marriage.
Wedding Day Logistics
For the most part, no. Nothing – other than legal paperwork (if choosing to do the legalities in Ireland) – is specifically required for you to bring. Some couples have keepsakes or heirlooms they wish to incorporate in their ceremony. Feel free to let us know before your wedding day if you have anything specific you’d like included in your ceremony.
Most of our venues have rain backups available on-site with equally stunning views. The options that do not, we have backup options that we can offer you that will be just as exciting and beautiful! We are also not opposed to getting a little wet. We think it will add a touch of excitement and romance to a wedding story!
Due to agreements with our venue owners, we ask that couples, family, and friends arrive no earlier than 10 minutes before the agreed-upon start time. Arriving earlier may cause additional charges to be incurred against Elope Asheville that would unfortunately have to be passed along to you. We will be waiting for you at each venue’s parking area. If you run into any issues finding us, you can always give us a call or send a text message to 828-301-2959.
For the vast majority of our weddings, all of our services will meet you at your rental/hotel at a time we arrange with you. You will get dressed, have hair/makeup, and some pre-wedding pictures taken where you are staying so you won’t feel pressured to run around an unfamiliar place the day of your wedding. We will then caravan to your wedding location for your ceremony!
Once we select your wedding day and it is confirmed through a signed contract and deposit, you will be contacted by our Irish wedding coordinator.
She will work with you about all of the finer details of your wedding day. She will schedule all of the vendors for you – photography, hair/makeup, flowers, venue reservations, etc.. She is a specialist at making sure your wedding day is stress-free, fun, and memorable!
You can tell your coordinator what you want for your wedding day, and she will make sure it happens! We want your wedding to be a day on your own terms!
Not at all.
Every service we offer is the best option we can find for the most requested services we have received over the years. However, we realize other options are out there and don’t want to force you into an option you don’t want.
Some of our couples have brought along their own photographer. Others have found photographers whose style they prefer.
We have had couples who made and brought brooch bouquets. Some people just prefer to do their own hair and makeup.
Just let us know, and we will reduce the price of your overall package accordingly.
Certainly!
Our package is just our most requested services. We can get much more for you!
- Professional Videography
- Antique Irish car rental and driver for your wedding day
- Professional musician
- Restaurant reservations
- And much, much more!
There are a number of options!
The first is to simply pack it securely in your luggage or carry-on. Some airlines offer garment storage in the main cabin. Contact the airlines to see what options you have for checking or carrying your wedding gown on your flight. We will direct you to a nearby dry cleaner to steam and press your dress once you get to Ireland.
Another option would be to ship your dress ahead of time to our coordinator in Ireland. She will receive it and take it to the local cleaners for steaming, having it ready for you when you arrive.
Let us know you will need to get your dress to Ireland, and we will work with you to find the best option for your needs!
There will never be a point on your wedding day where you wonder what you are supposed to do or where you are supposed to go.
We will be available to you all day long, helping you get dressed and getting you to your venue. Afterwards, you will be at the hands of our gifted photographer and/or videographer to be sent on a personalized “tour” of the most scenic spots in the area.
Your wedding day session with Elope Ireland will last several hours – from when you start getting your hair and makeup done until we say goodbye so you can go have a romantic dinner and drinks at the pub.
We will not rush you or make you feel hurried. Your wedding day comes but once in your lifetime. We want you to fully experience its potential!
Certainly!
While we welcome your closest friends and family, every addition to your guest list adds a layer of difficulty that we, as destination elopement-style wedding planners, aren’t as experienced in providing the perfect experience.
We like to cap the total guests that we provide planning for at ten guests.
However, if you would like to add more, we just ask that you assist them with the planning: airfare, accommodations, transportation, etc.. We will still gladly plan your wedding day around the two of you as a couple!
Travel to/around Ireland
- Flying to Ireland
Absolutely! We only offer it as a convenience!
However, we can get unpublished rates at a fairly steep discount if you want to check and see.
You are not at all obligated to get your flights through us, though.
Most flights from the United States to Ireland depart early to late evening, flying throughout the night to land in Ireland early the next day.
You can definitely bring some snacks/candy for your flight! However, international flights will serve a dinner meal as well as breakfast. If you have dietary restrictions, make sure to contact your airline ahead of your trip so they can prepare that for you.
For the most part, it’s a lot of standing in line.
Before landing, the flight attendants will hand out forms for you to fill out about who you are, why you are visiting Ireland, where you plan on staying, etc.. Fill it out to the best of your ability.
When you land in Ireland, you will walk for quite a long distance to get to customs/immigration. There will be a line for EU citizens and Non-EU citizens.
You can approach the customs officer as a couple, and give him both of your forms. He will ask a question or two, then will stamp your passport and send you on your way!
Outside of a small number of larger towns and cities, Ireland is largely rural. Public transportation (trains and buses) is not as expansive as it is in other parts of Europe. Therefore, a rental car is necessary unless you plan to rarely leave Dublin or other larger towns.
Unless requested, your rental car will be a small economy car. We recommend this because Irish roads are incredibly narrow – many times no wider than a single car. Irish roads are also very curvy. Having a larger car would put you at a disadvantage.
Irish rental cars are almost exclusively manual-shift cars. Please let us know when booking if you will need an automatic as that will have to be specially reserved.
Yes you will! Don’t be too nervous, though, as your brain will quickly adjust.
You will also be driving on what we consider the “Passenger Side” of the car. Everything inside of the car will be reversed.
We recommend driving around the rental car parking lot for a few minutes to make sure you know how things work before going out onto Irish roads.
At least a day before leaving, you MUST contact your banks and/or credit card issuers to “add travel notes” to your account. This will allow the banks to know this was a planned trip and that your card was not stolen and used in another country.
If you do not do this, your debit and credit cards will likely be locked.
You may want to get a small amount – €100, for example – from your bank before departing. This would just be emergency funds in case your card quit working on your trip, or you find yourself without an ATM when you land. You can usually do this by contacting your local bank and requesting foreign currency. Sometimes they will have it on hand, and sometimes they will have to order it. Do not go to a currency exchange store in the airport. You will get a horrible exchange rate.
When you land in Ireland, you can use your debit card to withdraw cash from an ATM. We recommend taking out a single large sum instead of numerous small withdrawals since you will likely be charged a foreign transaction fee every time you use your debit/credit card.
There are several credit cards that have $0 foreign transaction fees. It would be beneficial to have one of these. In the larger cities, you can request your transaction be made in US Dollars, which is another way to avoid a foreign transaction fee.
Save all of your receipts from your purchases while in Ireland. Before you leave Ireland, you can get a refund of all taxes paid from your purchases. This can be processed in the airport.
- Our Time in Ireland
This varies widely based on what you want your experience to be while in Ireland. We can definitely assist you in finding the perfect place to stay based on what you dream. We have had couples camp for much of their time, and we have had couples stay only in castles!
However, for most people, we highly recommend AirBnB as their provider. You can spend countless hours just as a virtual tourist looking at AirBnBs around Ireland! The prices cannot be beat, either. A full Irish house, in an authentic Irish neighborhood, usually costs the same – often less – than a single hotel room. You will also save on food costs since you can buy ingredients to make a few meals at “home.”
If you do not have an AirBnB account, you can click this link and get a discount on your first booking.
It depends on location and time of year. But the average cost is about $75/night. Many options are available for cheaper, and some are more expensive.
It’s free to
Ireland has a completely different electricity grid than North America.
Their electricity runs on 220 volts at 50hz. What this means is, if your electronics aren’t dual voltage (110/220V), it will fry them.
Almost all computer/phone equipment is dual voltage. However, a lot of bathroom appliances are only rated for 100V – blow dryers, curling irons, etc.. Check your appliance to ensure it is not single volt. If it is single voltage, you may need to purchase one in Ireland.
For everything else, you will need an international travel adaptor in order to plug them into the wall. We recommend having at least 2 outlet adaptors for your time in Ireland. Most cars also have multiple USB outlets to charge your phone.
Until very recently, it was prohibitively expensive to use your cell phone in another country.
Most wireless carriers now have pay-by-the-day international plans that start around $10/day. It will only charge you when you use your phone while in another country, so you can elect to have it at any time before you leave. Contact your provider for details.
With this plan, you can use your normal voice/text/data plan while in Ireland. Ireland has fairly good cell coverage, so you can use your normal apps like Google Maps, iMessage, Facetime, Skype, etc. as normal.
If you do not wish to pay for such a plan, you can remove your SIM card before arriving in Ireland. It’s totally possible to get by using the many public wifi hotspots throughout even the most rural Irish locations.
While we could (and have!) accompanied couples and given private tours around Ireland, we realize for the vast majority of couples, they would rather go on their own adventures!
We have two guide books we highly recommend that, together, give a comprehensive list of nearly everything you would want to see and do while in Ireland.
- Back Roads Ireland is broken up in “Chapters” based on where you are in Ireland. Some chapters even overlap other chapters. In the cover is a big map of Ireland with squares drawn that show where the chapters are. What we like about this book is that it gives you off-the-beaten-path routes to drive, see, and do. While it may bypass large cities, it will take you to towns that you won’t see with any other guide book. If you want to have adventures and see amazing things that many tourists bypass, this is the book that will take you there!
- Rick Steves Ireland is a must-have. We are a bit of Rick Steves worshippers here at Elope Ireland, though. So, we may be biased. His guides are more of a general “here’s how to travel around in Ireland. Here are some of the bigger tourist spots to see and how to see them so you aren’t crammed in like sardines with other tourists.” Here are four Rick Steves Ireland videos on Youtube:
Video 1
Video 2
Video 3
Video 4
Ireland Travel Skills
We also have a long list of things to do while in and around Dublin! Just ask, and we will email it right over!
- Leaving Ireland
You will need to get to the airport at least three hours before departure. Lines are often very long.
When returning your car, follow signs on the highways that say, “Car Hire Return.” The car return location is away from the airport. You will park your car, go through the check-in process, and a shuttle bus will take you to the airport, dropping you off at the airline where your tickets are booked.
Retrieve your tickets and check your bags, then follow signs for travel to the US. You will go through Irish security, then you will make your way to a second American security checkpoint (which is a bit more thorough).
Immediately after the security check, you will go through an automated customs clearance – it is not dissimilar to using an ATM. It will check your passport and take your picture, printing out a “receipt” that you will take to a customs officer.
After passing through US clearance, you will be in the terminal. You can make your last-minute purchases of Irish whiskey or buy some gifts. It’s not uncommon for there to be free whiskey shots given as “samples” to convince you to buy a bottle.
Irish post offices are plentiful, and postal staff is always very happy to help you ship things home.
Going over the weight limit on your bags will cost $75+. Shipping your excess weight will only cost $10-15.
Similarly, you can box your wedding dress and ship it home. It usually takes about a week to 10 days for items to arrive.
Flights departing Ireland almost always leave in the morning. Because you are flying with the spin of the earth, your flight time will be the same as flying to Ireland, but your clock will only change by a couple of hours.
An example would be leaving Ireland at 10am, flying for seven hours, and arriving in Atlanta at 1pm.
There will be one to two meals served on the flight back, depending where your plane will land. They will also have snacks and full drink services.