The setting is yours to choose. Knowing how it works is ours.
counsel, not coordination — the celebration remains entirely yours
You chose the place for the obvious reasons. Light on a Douro terrace at seven in the evening. A Tuscan hillside turning gold. A courtyard in Budapest that has stood four hundred years.
What follows is less romantic. Contracts drafted in a language you do not read. A registry office keeping a timetable of its own. A supplier market you cannot assess from a thousand kilometres away. None of it is difficult with the right counsel — only with the wrong assumptions.
We advise across Portugal, Spain, Italy and Hungary, exclusively for couples who live elsewhere.
We do not take a percentage of your budget.
What we offer is clarity, protection and expert oversight, for a transparent flat fee.
How we work together
Three steps, each complete in itself
every destination celebration begins with clarity and alignment
Step one · 15 minutes · Complimentary
Discovery call
An introductory conversation to map your vision, the European country you have in mind — Portugal, Spain, Italy or Hungary — and your timeline. Its purpose is to establish whether an independent advisory model suits your celebration, before either of us takes a further step.
Step two · 45 minutes · €300
Deep-dive strategy session
A focused working session addressing your immediate venue and legal questions: initial feasibility, preliminary budget architecture, the paperwork roadmap. Priced for couples who want expert guidance from the outset — a number take this alone and proceed independently.
Step three · Priced to scope
Ongoing advisory
Should you wish to continue, we move into a tailored engagement shaped strictly around your needs: paperwork and legal roadmap, venue search and contract review, or full strategic guidance. Fixed in writing before anything begins.
a flight, a time zone and a language between us — every recommendation accounts for it
i.
Four countries, properly known
Portugal, Spain, Italy and Hungary — their seasons, their regions, and how each treats a foreign couple. We shortlist against your budget, your guest list and the journey you can reasonably ask of people, then tell you which country genuinely suits you. Occasionally it is not the one you arrived with.
ii.
The legal file, mapped before you book
Each country requires a different dossier: apostilles, certified translations, certificates of no impediment, a registry that corresponds only in its own language. We map the precise trail for your two nationalities and your chosen country, together with the dates that govern everything else.
iii.
Contracts read before you sign them
Venue agreements arrive in the local language, and the minimum-spend clause is usually where the true cost sits. We read the document properly, set out in plain English what you are agreeing to, and identify the points worth raising while there is still room to raise them.
Considered counsel, at the distance you are planning from
one adviser, four countries, and few questions we have not met before
Independent counsel for weddings abroad·Independent counsel for weddings abroad·Independent counsel for weddings abroad·Independent counsel for weddings abroad·Independent counsel for weddings abroad·Independent counsel for weddings abroad·
Where
Four countries, four sets of rules
the country decides your paperwork, your guests' travel day and a third of your budget
Portugal
The most straightforward legal route of the four, and the widest range of settings — Douro quintas, Sintra palaces, Alentejo estates, Algarve cliffs, the islands.
Season
May to October. September is harvest in the Douro: the vineyards are working and the light is at its finest.
Legally
No residency requirement: two foreign nationals may marry here. The dossier runs through the Conservatória do Registo Civil and takes longer than most couples anticipate.
Consider
Inland summer heat of 35–38°C without an ocean breeze, and older estates without air conditioning. In the Algarve the catering minimum, rather than the venue hire, sets your true floor on a peak Saturday.
Guests
Lisbon (LIS), Porto (OPO) and Faro (FAO), all heavily served, Faro by low-cost carriers.
Our fee
€1,200–€1,800 paperwork only · €3,500–€5,500 venue & contract audit · €5,000–€8,500 full advisory.
Spain
The best connected for a large, dispersed guest list, and the country where the legal route most often sends couples home to marry.
Season
May to June and September to October. Andalusia and the central plateau are unforgiving in high summer.
Legally
Civil marriage between two non-resident foreigners is the most demanding of the four to arrange, and practice varies by region. Most couples we advise marry legally at home and hold a symbolic ceremony here, which removes the question altogether. Confirm your own position before committing.
Consider
Inland temperatures above 40°C through July and August. On Mallorca and Ibiza, summer demand sets prices closer to peak hospitality rates than to wedding ones.
Guests
Madrid (MAD), Barcelona (BCN), Málaga (AGP) and Palma (PMI) — the easiest arrival day of the four.
Our fee
€1,400–€2,000 paperwork only · €4,000–€7,000 venue & contract audit · €6,000–€10,000+ full advisory.
Italy
The most photographed and the most expensive, with the widest margin between a well-negotiated contract and a poorly read one.
Season
May to June and September to early October. August is best avoided: much of the country closes, and what remains open prices accordingly.
Legally
Foreign nationals may marry civilly, though the dossier runs through the individual comune and through your own consulate for the nulla osta. Requirements, fees and lead times differ from town to town; the comune, not the region, has the final word.
Consider
Suppliers here quote confidently and negotiate discreetly. This is the country in which a contract review most reliably justifies itself.
Guests
Rome (FCO), Milan (MXP), Florence (FLR), Naples (NAP), Venice (VCE) — frequently followed by a long transfer.
Our fee
€1,500–€2,200 paperwork only · €4,500–€8,000 venue & contract audit · €7,000–€12,000+ full advisory.
Hungary
The considered choice. Western-European settings and craft at roughly two thirds of the cost, in a country few of your guests will have been asked to visit.
Season
May to June and September. Budapest is at its busiest in high summer; the countryside is not.
Legally
Among the more straightforward EU routes for two foreign nationals, though a statutory waiting period separates notice from ceremony. Short enough to accommodate, long enough to unsettle a date left uncounted. Confirm the current period for your nationalities before booking.
Consider
A narrower pool of suppliers accustomed to international couples. The saving is real; the number of teams working at this level is smaller, so commit earlier than the budget would suggest.
Guests
Budapest (BUD), well served across Europe. From North America, assume one connection.
Our fee
€1,000–€1,500 paperwork only · €2,500–€4,500 venue & contract audit · €4,000–€6,500 full advisory.
What we charge
Agreed in writing, before we begin
fixed at the outset, so it can be planned around
Free · 15 minutes
Discovery call
An introductory conversation: your vision, the country you have in mind, your timeline, and whether our model suits it.
€300 · 45 minutes
Strategy consultation
A focused working session covering venue feasibility, preliminary budget architecture, the paperwork roadmap and your most pressing questions. A number of couples take this alone and proceed independently.
Beyond the consultation, ongoing advisory is priced by scope. The ranges below indicate where that typically settles.
Estimates reflect standard regional market dynamics for advisory at this level. Your fee depends on the complexity, scale and duration of the celebration, and is fixed in writing before any work begins.
Before you fall in love with a venue
What the wedding itself costs
wide ranges on purpose — a Saturday in June and a Thursday in October are not the same wedding
70 people
Level
Venue hire & exclusive use
Food & drink
Photography & film
Flowers & styling
Music & entertainment
Guest transport & logistics
Legal file: fees, apostilles, translations
Our advisory fee — flat
Estimated total
Our own fee is set by scope and agreed in advance; it holds while everything else moves. Drawn from published European wedding pricing for 2025–2026. These are planning ranges rather than quotations — a venue's minimum spend on a peak Saturday can establish the floor on its own. Excludes rings, attire, honeymoon and your own travel.
The part nobody warns you about
Four countries, four different dossiers
the paperwork, not the venue, determines whether your date holds
The pattern is consistent: every foreign document requires an apostille and a certified translation before the local registry will consider it. What differs, country to country, is who files it, how long they take, and whether two non-residents may marry there at all.
Portugal
The most accommodating
No residency requirement: two foreign nationals may marry here. The dossier goes to the Conservatória do Registo Civil in the district of the ceremony, and a registrar may travel to an approved venue by arrangement. Expect apostilled birth certificates, proof of marital status and certified Portuguese translations. Approval precedes genuine confirmation of your date, which is why invitations should wait for it.
Spain
Usually the symbolic route
Civil marriage between two non-resident foreigners is the most demanding of the four, and practice varies considerably by autonomous community. Most couples we advise marry legally at home and hold a symbolic ceremony in Spain, which removes the obstacle entirely and costs nothing in atmosphere. Should you want the legal ceremony here, the decision must be taken very early.
Italy
The comune decides
Foreign nationals may marry civilly, though the dossier runs through the individual comune and through your own consulate or embassy for the nulla osta — a declaration that nothing impedes the marriage. Requirements, fees and lead times differ from town to town, not merely region to region. The comune has the final word, and it is worth confirming in writing with that particular office.
Hungary
Straightforward, but count the wait
Among the more workable EU routes for two foreign nationals. Documents are apostilled and translated into Hungarian, then notice is given at the local registry, after which a statutory waiting period applies before the ceremony. Short enough to accommodate, long enough to unsettle a date left uncounted. Build it into the timeline from the outset.
British couples
A Certificate of No Impediment, apostilled by the FCDO and translated into the local language, alongside passports and full birth certificates. The route is unchanged since Brexit; the lead times are less forgiving.
American couples
Typically an affidavit of eligibility to marry, sworn at the US Embassy or Consulate in the country concerned, plus the same civil documents apostilled at state level.
Same-sex couples
Portugal and Spain have had full marriage equality since 2010 and 2005. Italy recognises civil unions rather than marriage. Hungary recognises registered partnership, not marriage. This is the single most important thing to establish before choosing a country.
Two nationalities
The same process, two document trails to legalise in parallel. Begin earlier: this is where six weeks quietly becomes twelve, and where most missed dates originate.
One caveat, and it matters.
The above is an orientation, not legal advice, and reflects the position as we understand it in 2026. Requirements change, and they vary by nationality, by consulate and — in Italy particularly — by individual town hall. The local registry has the final word in every case. Before you book a single flight, we confirm the current document list in writing with the specific office for your two nationalities and your chosen country. Should anything have moved, you will hear it from us first.
Cultural weddings
Not every beautiful venue can hold every kind of wedding
Indian and Chinese celebrations, and the questions worth putting early
Estates across Portugal, Spain, Italy and Hungary will welcome a multi-day Indian wedding or a Chinese tea ceremony warmly, and many have simply never hosted one. That is not in itself a difficulty. It becomes one only when the questions are put late, after the deposit has been placed and the room to manoeuvre has closed.
Indian celebrations
Not a single day
Mehndi, sangeet, haldi, the ceremony, the reception — three to five days in practice. That requires multi-day exclusive access written into the contract, rather than a Saturday hire with goodwill attached.
Fire
The agni is central to a Hindu ceremony, and many European venues cannot permit open flame indoors — sometimes for insurance reasons, sometimes by law. Worth establishing while the shortlist is still open.
The mandap
Build and strike time, ceiling height, floor loading, and whether an external structure is permitted at all. Historic buildings are where this most often falls quietly short.
Catering
Vegetarian, Jain, halal or no-onion-no-garlic at scale is rarely within a local kitchen's range. Specialist caterers operate across Europe, though the venue must permit an external kitchen, and many charge substantially for the permission.
The baraat
A procession, on occasion a horse, invariably noise. It requires a route, the venue's written agreement, and neighbours informed in advance.
Numbers
Two to five hundred guests is ordinary, and worth testing against genuine capacity early. A good many estates photograph beautifully at eighty and cannot comfortably seat three hundred.
Legally
Across most of Europe the religious ceremony is not the legal marriage. Couples marry civilly as a separate act — entirely ordinary, provided it was in the plan from the beginning.
Chinese celebrations
The date may not be yours
Where an auspicious date has been chosen, it is fixed — and it may fall on a Tuesday in February, or on the one Saturday in September every venue has already sold. We work backwards from the date rather than from the venue.
The tea ceremony
A private room, good morning light, seating for elders, and thirty to sixty unhurried minutes into which nothing else runs. Straightforward when planned for; awkward in a venue built around a single large hall.
Door games
Where they feature, the bride's accommodation ceases to be a bedroom and becomes a location, with its own access, timing and photographic requirements.
Outfit changes
A white gown, a qipao or cheongsam, an evening gown — often three, on occasion more. That calls for a proper changing room close at hand, and a timeline with the changes built in rather than assumed away.
The banquet
Round tables of ten or twelve, a set course sequence, and yum seng toasts travelling table to table. A different service pattern from a European plated dinner, and one the venue's floor team should know well before the day.
Guests
Arrivals from several continents at once, which alters hotel blocks, arrival-day logistics and how early invitations must go out.
We do not run these days ourselves. We help you identify the venues that can genuinely hold them, ensure the right provisions are written into the contract, and point you toward the suppliers in that country who have done it many times before.
Some places you choose. Others you recognise.
Services
Three levels of engagement
engaged in full, or for a single element
From €1,000
Paperwork & legal roadmap
You have your venue and are managing the rest. We map the legal dossier end to end: the precise document checklist for your two nationalities and chosen country, apostille and translation guidance, who files what and when, and a written timeline of the dates that govern your own.
From €2,500
Venue search & contract audit
We shortlist against your budget, guest count and the journey your guests can reasonably make, then read the contract properly — minimum spend, exclusivity, corkage, overtime, cancellation, external supplier clauses. It returns to you in plain English, with the two or three points worth raising before signature.
From €4,000
Full strategic advisory
Country and region strategy, venue shortlist and review, budget architecture, the legal roadmap, supplier vetting, and a considered second opinion on every material decision from the first call to the last signature. The relationships and the contracts remain yours; we make certain you are content with them.
Send this to your guest list
What your guests need to know
most destination-wedding difficulty begins with a wrongly booked airport
Arrive a day early. A single delayed connection should not cost anyone the ceremony.
Dinner begins late and runs later. A long cocktail hour, dinner at sunset, dancing well past midnight.
Heels and cobblestones do not mix. Old-town paving across southern Europe is beautiful and unforgiving. Block heels.
Cards are accepted almost everywhere. Rural taxis are the exception; small notes help.
Expect the local sparkling rather than champagne — espumante, cava, prosecco or pezsgő, depending where you land. Almost always better than the price suggests.
Lisbon & central PortugalLIS
Porto & the DouroOPO
AlgarveFAO
Madrid & central SpainMAD
Barcelona & CataloniaBCN
AndalusiaAGP
MallorcaPMI
Rome & central ItalyFCO
TuscanyFLR
Lakes & the northMXP
Budapest & HungaryBUD
We do not book the hotel block on your behalf, but we will tell you how many rooms to hold, how far ahead, and which of the venue's recommendations are genuinely worth taking.
Shall we begin with a conversation?
fifteen minutes, complimentary, without obligation
We reply within two working days with a considered read: whether that date holds in that country, what it is likely to cost, and how long your paperwork will take given your two nationalities. If we are not the right fit, we will say so in the same reply.
