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Thread: Whim weddings in Europe

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    Oliphaunt
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    Default Whim weddings in Europe

    If movies and television are to be believed you can go to Las Vegas or Reno and get married almost immediately. Are there any such places in Europe?

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    my god, he's full of stars... OneCentStamp's avatar
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    Default Re: Whim weddings in Europe

    I can't speak to Europe, but I just wanted to pop in and say that movies and television are indeed to be believed in this case. It's completely possible to go to Vegas or Reno and get married in an hour or two.
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    Elephant CRSP's avatar
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    Default Re: Whim weddings in Europe

    I think Gretna Green in Scotland fits the OP. Wikipedia says:

    In common law, Gretna Green marriage came to mean, in general, a marriage transacted in a jurisdiction that was not the residence of the parties being married, to avoid restrictions or procedures imposed by the parties' home jurisdiction.[2] Other towns in which quick, often surreptitious marriages could be obtained came to be known as "Gretna Greens".[3] These have included Elkton, Maryland,[4] Reno and, later, Las Vegas, Nevada, all in the United States. A notable Gretna marriage was the second marriage in 1826 of Edward Gibbon Wakefield to the young heiress Ellen Turner, the Shrigley abduction.
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    Oliphaunt
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    Default Re: Whim weddings in Europe

    Quote Originally posted by CRSP
    I think Gretna Green in Scotland fits the OP.
    Not anymore, if that article is to be believed. Would have been kind of a drag anyway. Instead of going to Vegas to get a blingy marriage and gamble away the honeymoon fund, you go to a rainy Scottish village?

  5. #5
    MOON GIRL FIGHTS CRIME Myrnalene's avatar
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    Default Re: Whim weddings in Europe

    Quote Originally posted by Harlequin
    Not anymore, if that article is to be believed. Would have been kind of a drag anyway. Instead of going to Vegas to get a blingy marriage and gamble away the honeymoon fund, you go to a rainy Scottish village?
    Helllllls yeah. I'd much rather go to Scotland than Vegas.

    I was going to say Greta Green only because it's mentioned in Pride and Predjudice as a place to get a quickie wedding. Sadly, that's the extent of my learnings on this subject.
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    Default Re: Whim weddings in Europe

    What about somewhere like Monte Carlo? Is there a correlation between gambling and getting married?

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    Default Re: Whim weddings in Europe

    Isn't Denmark pretty popular for quickie weddings?
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    The Queen Zuul's avatar
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    Default Re: Whim weddings in Europe

    Quote Originally posted by OneCentStamp
    I can't speak to Europe, but I just wanted to pop in and say that movies and television are indeed to be believed in this case. It's completely possible to go to Vegas or Reno and get married in an hour or two.
    This is something that, as a Nevada native, I never quite got. Everybody I know had to go to the courthouse and wait in line for hours to get their marriage license first. Sure, it can be done in a day, but it's not that fast. Is there an express lane for out-of-towners?
    So now they are just dirt-covered English people in fur pelts with credit cards.

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    Default Re: Whim weddings in Europe

    % Oh, it's a nice day for a whim wedding %

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    Libertarian Autocrat Vox Imperatoris's avatar
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    Default Re: Whim weddings in Europe

    Quote Originally posted by Caerie
    Quote Originally posted by OneCentStamp
    I can't speak to Europe, but I just wanted to pop in and say that movies and television are indeed to be believed in this case. It's completely possible to go to Vegas or Reno and get married in an hour or two.
    This is something that, as a Nevada native, I never quite got. Everybody I know had to go to the courthouse and wait in line for hours to get their marriage license first. Sure, it can be done in a day, but it's not that fast. Is there an express lane for out-of-towners?
    Well, wiki says that the main thing is non-requirement of a waiting period or blood tests. I'd assume the length of time spent sitting in the courthouse would depend on the location you went to. I still don't understand why anyone would actually want to do it, though. Who needs to elope in this day and age?
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    The Queen Zuul's avatar
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    Default Re: Whim weddings in Europe

    Quote Originally posted by Vox Imperatoris
    Well, wiki says that the main thing is non-requirement of a waiting period or blood tests. I'd assume the length of time spent sitting in the courthouse would depend on the location you went to. I still don't understand why anyone would actually want to do it, though. Who needs to elope in this day and age?
    No clue. I don't see why anyone would want to hurry to go through a life-changing event like that.

    And now I'll stop hijacking this thread with my tangent!
    So now they are just dirt-covered English people in fur pelts with credit cards.

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    Default Re: Whim weddings in Europe

    This thread's made me realize just how 'quickie' the Japanese system is. Both parties need to have their family registers on hand, but if they have that then marriage is simply a matter of filling in a form at the town hall - no more than an hour or so. No blood tests, no waiting periods, no counseling. There are some complications for marrying a foreigner, since I had to get an affidavit from the US embassy that I wasn't married to anyone else (the family register fulfills this role for Japanese citizens), but that's also only takes an hour or so (depending how far you are from the embassy).

    If both parties are amenable to separation and there are no kids, divorces work the same way.
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  13. #13
    Oliphaunt
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    Default Re: Whim weddings in Europe

    Quote Originally posted by alphaboi
    Isn't Denmark pretty popular for quickie weddings?
    I had no idea, but apparently it is. It seems that it's still a couple-of-days-deal at best. I'm looking for a real spur-of-the-moment kind of thing. I'll try to cut out the too-many-hyphens-shtick.

  14. #14
    Elephant TheFlame's avatar
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    Default Re: Whim weddings in Europe

    Quote Originally posted by Vox Imperatoris
    Well, wiki says that the main thing is non-requirement of a waiting period or blood tests
    (bolding mine)
    :shock: :? :?:
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    The Queen Zuul's avatar
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    Default Re: Whim weddings in Europe

    Quote Originally posted by TheFlame
    Quote Originally posted by Vox Imperatoris
    Well, wiki says that the main thing is non-requirement of a waiting period or blood tests
    (bolding mine)
    :shock: :? :?:
    America, land the of the free, home of the "sometimes you have to have a physical exam before you can get married."

    It actually doesn't look like Nevada is all that special for a "quickie wedding" in America anymore, though.
    So now they are just dirt-covered English people in fur pelts with credit cards.

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    Libertarian Autocrat Vox Imperatoris's avatar
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    Default Re: Whim weddings in Europe

    Quote Originally posted by TheFlame
    Quote Originally posted by Vox Imperatoris
    Well, wiki says that the main thing is non-requirement of a waiting period or blood tests
    (bolding mine)
    :shock: :? :?:
    For STDs, particularly syphilis. The laws, where they still exist (my own state has no waiting period and no blood tests, so it's just as "quickie" as anywhere else), were originally passed in the 30s, when people were still very concerned about syphilis, and they were intended to keep these diseases from being passed from parents to children (not to mention that it was slightly more reasonable in that era to suspect that the people getting married had not yet had sex with each other, so it could work for that, too). Most states no longer require them.
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    Default Re: Whim weddings in Europe

    I believe that you can get a quickie in Albania - read this in one of my travel magazines. Hold on, let me go find a cite.

  18. #18
    Oliphaunt The Original An Gadaí's avatar
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    Default Re: Whim weddings in Europe

    Here it takes 4 months but in Northern Ireland it's way quicker, might only be a day or two.

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    Stegodon
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    Default Re: Whim weddings in Europe

    Quote Originally posted by Myrnalene
    Quote Originally posted by Harlequin
    Not anymore, if that article is to be believed. Would have been kind of a drag anyway. Instead of going to Vegas to get a blingy marriage and gamble away the honeymoon fund, you go to a rainy Scottish village?
    Helllllls yeah. I'd much rather go to Scotland than Vegas.

    I was going to say Greta Green only because it's mentioned in Pride and Predjudice as a place to get a quickie wedding. Sadly, that's the extent of my learnings on this subject.

    As I recall the marriages there were performed by the village blacksmith for some reason.
    In British literature it was always the place where young couples who didn't have their parents approval eloped to rather then a place for "whim" marriages.
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    Default Re: Whim weddings in Europe

    [quote="lust4life...As I recall the marriages there were performed by the village blacksmith for some reason...[/quote]

    I think Scots law only required (requires :?: ) that the bride & groom declare themselves married in front of witnesses. A cleryperson isn't strictly needed.
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  21. #21
    Stegodon
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    Default Re: Whim weddings in Europe

    Quote Originally posted by lust4life
    As I recall the marriages there were performed by the village blacksmith for some reason.
    Agh. I was just reading about this tradition, and I can't remember where. Something about anvil being strong?

    Ah, now I remember! It was on the Colonial Williamsburg website. It was in a slideshow about colonial courtship practices. It just says, "The anvil confers strength to bonds forged above it," which sounds all pretty and everything and hell, who knows? Maybe they're just blowing smoke up your ass. But there's a longer tradition of making contracts over anvils in Great Britain. In medieval law, it wasn't necessary to have a contract drawn up in legalese by a lawyer. A verbal agreement was just as binding, and was more binding if you had witnesses, so if somebody reneged, you could take them to court and have witnesses to back you up. What does the blacksmith's shop have going for it? It's public! More witnesses. The anvil is also a powerful symbol of strength and durability. There are lots and lots of references to anvils and hammers as very hard things, sort of the embodiment of strength. William Marshall's father famously (maybe apocryphally) replied when King Stephen threatened to hang William that he had the hammer and anvil to make more sons. There's also this whole slew of saints that were supposedly martyred when some person in power commanded their arms and legs to be broken with an anvil and hammer. So, don't mess with anvils.

    Anyway, the reason Scottish law is different from English law is that Scotland retained some legal rights after incorporating (I'm not sure what word to use there; Wikipedia says "joined in political union") with England, so marriage laws made in England didn't necessarily apply in Scotland. That a clergy member or other legally certified person was not required to be present to join a couple in marriage is something that dates back to (pre)medieval times. The church and government didn't insert themselves into the marriage ceremony until it became obvious that they had a vested interest in what was going on. It wasn't until The Council of Trent in the 16th century that marriages without a Catholic priest present weren't recognized by the Church, and the Protestant churches shortly made similar rulings. Prior to that, the Church was just for registering and blessing marriages (which was optional), and all that a couple needed to do was agree that they were married, with or without witnesses or a ceremony. Witnesses just increased the likelihood of other people recognizing your union, and decreased the likelihood of your spouse taking you to court when you broke your marriage vows.

    Is that all clear as mud?

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