This type of ceremony, also referred to as a civil ceremony, is only performed by a judge and is available seven days a week except on Mexican holidays. Although civil marriages performed in Mexico are legal in Mexico, you must legalize your marriage at your local court if you want it to be recognized as legal in your country of birth or residence. You do this by registering your marriage certificate at your local city hall. If you choose, legal and religious ceremonies can be combined. This service is performed in Spanish and translated into English by a member of our wedding team.

Requirements for a Legal Ceremony in Mexico

• Valid passport | Passports are required to enter Mexico and are mandatory for a legal wedding to be performed. Passports must be presented to the on-site wedding team at the time of the wedding consultation.
• Tourist card | These are provided on the airplane prior to arrival at the Cancun International Airport. Names on the tourist card and passport MUST be the same.
• Advanced hotel stay | The bride and groom must arrive at their hotel three business days before the legal wedding ceremony date to complete the blood tests and process the necessary documents. Saturday and Sunday are not considered working days.
• Civil ceremony form | A civil ceremony form, available through your wedding designer, must be completed, indicating the witness's name, age, nationality, home address, and occupation.
• Divorced groom | If the groom is divorced, no additional documentation is needed.
• Divorced bride | The bride must be divorced for at least one year in order to remarry. If the bride is divorced and her passport is in her maiden name, no additional documentation is needed. If the bride is divorced and her passport is under her ex-husband's last name, she must present her birth certificate and divorce certificate translated into Spanish by an official translator and with an apostille seal. The apostille seal is necessary when issuing a document from one country to another for legal purposes. For information on how to obtain the apostille seal, please contact the Secretary of State Office or visit: http://travel.state.gov/law/judicial/judicial_2545.html.
• Wedding certificates | The United States Department of State requires that all wedding certificates from ceremonies performed in the Caribbean, including Mexico, have the apostille seal. This procedure can be done by our wedding department for an additional fee of $250 USD. By requesting this service, you receive an extra copy of your wedding certificate, the apostille seal, translation into English, and FedEx delivery to your home address, usually within 60 days after the ceremony.
• Deceased former spouse | A copy of the death certificate is required if a bride or groom's former spouse is deceased.
• Health certificate | Mexican laws require a health certificate for all legal wedding ceremonies. Blood tests are done to determine blood type, HIV status, and STD status. Tests must be taken at the resort, and results are ready within 24 hours. The approximate cost is $279 USD per couple unless stated as an inclusion in your wedding package.
• Witnesses | Legal wedding ceremonies require four witnesses. The hotel can provide witnesses at no extra cost. If the wedding couple provides their own witnesses, the following is needed from each witness:
  • Valid passport or driver's license
  • Tourist card
  • Witnesses must arrive at the hotel three business days prior to the legal wedding ceremony date in order to complete the legal document process and be present during the onsite meeting with the wedding team.
  • Witnesses must be at least 18 years of age at the time of the ceremony.

Marriage Requirements for Catholic Ceremony

• The bride and groom should visit their parish personally and present:
  • Baptism certificate updated
  • First communion certificate (optional)
  • Confirmation certificate (optional)
  • Four witnesses that the bride and groom have known for at least three years. The price is $20 per witness.
  • Recent passport-sized photographs of the bride and groom.
  • Authorization letter, or carta de traslado, from your bishop to celebrate your marriage in another diocese outside of your home area.
• The bride and groom should participate in their parish premarital wedding course, or pre-cana lessons, and ask for a letter that certifies completion of the course.

When all requirements are met, your parish will provide you with a letter authorizing the wedding celebration outside of your parish jurisdiction and certified by your archdiocese. This letter must indicate the full name of the parish and priest allowing the wedding celebration. A donation fee to the Catholic Church of $600 USD applies and must be paid in advance through your wedding designer.

If you wish to be married by your Catholic priest, we must receive the celebret, or Catholic priest credential letter, in order to verify certification. A $600 USD donation fee still applies.

Send these scanned documents via email to our local parish:

• igdelcarmen@gmail.com
• jbordons@legionaries.org

Or by FedEx 60 days prior to your wedding dates to:

Carmita Rocha
Parroquia de Nuestra Señora del Carmen
15 Avenida / Calle 12 Norte y 12 Norte Bis s/n
Colonia Centro, Playa del Carmen
Quintana Roo, México
C.P. 77710 +52 (984) 87-30-188

Please include in the package:

• An original copy of the baptism certificate for both the bride and groom.
• An original copy of the confirmation certificate for both the bride and groom.
• Four recent passport-sized photographs of the bride and groom.

In order to confirm a wedding date and time, a non-refundable $200 deposit is required.

This type of ceremony, also referred to as a civil ceremony, can be requested seven days a week except on Jamaican holidays. Unlike in Mexico, civil marriages in Jamaica are performed by a non-denominational minister and are considered legal in Jamaica. However, you must legalize your marriage at your local court if you want it to be recognized as legal in your country of birth or residence. All wedding couples hosting a civil wedding ceremony will receive two different documents after the wedding ceremony:

• Certified copy of marriage license | This document is received right after the ceremony but is not the official marriage certificate. It can be used to change social security details, bank accounts, living wills, insurance policies, credit cards, driver's licenses, automobile insurance, mortgages, Internal Revenue Service documents, passport information, and voter registration.
• Marriage certificate | This document is mailed to the wedding couple via FedEx approximately 14 days after the wedding ceremony and should be used to register the marriage at a local courthouse.

Requirements for a Legal Ceremony in Jamaica

• Birth certificate | Jamaica requires the presentation of certified copies of the bride and groom's birth certificates. If the bride or groom's father's name is not on the certificate, an explanation must be included with the documents.
• Valid passport | Certified copies of the bride and groom's passports are required to process the marriage license. Passports are needed to enter Jamaica and are also mandatory for a legal wedding to be performed. Passports must be presented to the on-site wedding coordinator at the time of the wedding consultation.
• Divorce decree | If applicable, a certified copy of the divorce decree is required. If the bride is divorced and has returned to her maiden name, an official document must show the change.
• Death certificate | If applicable, a certified copy of the bride or groom’s former spouse’s death certificate is required.
• Civil wedding registration form | A completed civil wedding registration form is required. This will be provided by your wedding designer and will indicate the witness's names, ages, nationalities, home addresses, and occupations. Legal wedding ceremonies require two witnesses at least 18 years of age or older. The hotel can provide witnesses at no extra cost.
• Advanced hotel stay | The bride and groom must arrive at their hotel three business days before their legal wedding ceremony to complete the document processing. Saturday and Sunday are not considered working days.

Documentation Requirements

• The above documents must be sent by DHL courier to the hotel’s wedding designer at least 45 days prior to arrival. Physical copies are still required at the hotel.
• Documents in any language other than English must be translated and the translations certified.
• A certified copy of any name change document if applicable must be provided.
• Italian nationals must notify their embassy and have a certified copy of their marriage certificate forwarded to their embassy to be legalized and translated.
• French Canadians need a notarized translated copy of all documents and a photocopy of the original French documents.
• Blood tests are not required.

Upon arrival to the resort for their wedding event, wedding consultations are held with each couple. These meetings generally take place in the morning, Monday to Saturday, the day after arrival.

In the Dominican Republic, this type of ceremony is only performed by a judge. An apostille is required to legalize your marriage in your country of birth or residence. You do this by registering your marriage certificate at your local city hall. If you choose, legal and religious ceremonies can be combined. This service is performed in Spanish and translated into English by a member of our wedding team.

Requirements for a Legal Ceremony in the Dominican Republic

• A valid passport is required.
• The bride and groom’s original birth certificates, provided by your country of residence.
• Declarations of single status provided by the Dominican Consulate Office in the country or state you currently reside in.
• Spanish translations by an official translator of all documents must be presented, each with an apostille seal.
• The apostille seal is necessary when issuing a document from one country to another for legal purposes. For information on how to obtain the apostille seal, please contact the Secretary of State Office or visit: http://travel.state.gov/law/judicial/judicial_2545.html
• Two witnesses must arrive three business days prior to the ceremony. Witnesses must be 18 years or older. The hotel can provide witnesses at no extra charge. Please note direct family members cannot be witnesses.
• The bride, groom, and witnesses must be present during the onsite meeting with the wedding coordinator.
• Couples who require a non-shared assets marriage status must bring their own prenuptial agreement. It should be apostilled or legalized for countries not included in the Hague Convention.
• Once the ceremony takes place, the onsite wedding team will ship the marriage certificate 30 days after the wedding.
• For Canadian couples, birth certificates and single-status certificates should be legalized at their Dominican Republic Consulate.
• National holidays and Sundays are not available for legal weddings.

The onsite wedding team should confirm the availability of the ceremony at least 90 days in advance. In order to process a wedding ceremony, it is required to receive scanned copies of all previously mentioned paperwork at least 60 days in advance. Same-sex weddings are not available in the Dominican Republic.