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Abby & Dan - 20th August 2009.....

The lead up to the wedding was pretty stress free as they took care of every detail, all I had to worry about was the financial side but if we had married in England, it would have been four times the cost.

Well everyone I have just come back from Bodrum after doing all my paperwork for our wedding in October and I will tell you that after everything we had to do we feel we earnt the right to get married there!!!!

Costs aside, the paperwork route was a bloody nightmare and we are very glad that we had a Turkish friend with us to help with translation and to run us around to all the places we had to go to. All in all, it took 2 days to get it all done.

Firstly, we went to Izmir (3-hour drive each way from Bodrum with the maddest driver ever and glad we lived to tell the tale!!) to the British Consulate to get our papers translated. They were very friendly although the consulate is very small so not easy to find. Parking was a bit of a mare. We paid using the credit card as they use a good rate of exchange (2.4 as opposed to the current currency rate of 2.13) which meant it cost a little less in sterling (£129.60 in total). This process took about 15-20 mins.

We then had to take the papers to the governor’s office to get them stamped and signed, which legalised the papers. This cost nothing but the governor’s office is a 10-minute drive away from the consulate.

We then had to go the town hall in Bodrum where they sent us to a smaller office (Nufus Mudurlugu) just down the road where they do the paperwork for English people. The staff are not very friendly or helpful in this office at all and on the first day we went there they sent us away saying to come back tomorrow as the person we needed to see was not there (would have been a bit annoying if we had travelled for an hour or so to see them). The next day we went in to see the registrar who looked at the papers and the 5 photos each we gave him and took all the details down, booked the wedding date in his calendar (he does not speak English), kept our official Turkish paperwork and gave us some more papers to take to the local state run Bodrum hospital.

When you get to the hospital, you have to register at reception and you will need your passport and the forms from the registrar. You then get given a little sticky label each with your details on which you need to carry with you. We then had to go to a small window where we had to pay for a blood test (52TL each) and medical (31TL each).

We had to see the doctor who looked at the papers and did nothing and we were directed to the blood laboratory.

We went through by the lifts to the blood laboratory where you have your blood taken in a room where 3 other people have theirs done at the same time. We were told to come back in 3 hours time for our results so went, had lunch back in town, and came back.

When you come back, you have to see the reception lady at the blood office where she will hand you a detailed analysis of your blood samples. You then have to go back to the room where you had your blood taken and they will give you a vial of your blood each to take with you. We then had to go back to the doctor who stamped the blood results form and signed it as 'normal'.

After this we had to go to a small tatty clinic in Bodrum (I cannot tell you where it was but at the back of the marina and down a very narrow, busy one way street). We queued at reception where they took our paperwork and gave us another form as well. We were charged 19TL in total but the receptionist let us off as she thought it was lovely we were getting married in Bodrum. She gave us a card with a number on to see the doctor in the administration office. We went to another small blood laboratory where the man looked at our papers and took the vials of blood from us. We then had to queue outside a small administration office where there was a doctor and an assistant. Everyone queues and goes in when they can see the person with the number before them on their card has gone in. Our papers were then stamped and signed.

We then had to go back to the Nufus Mudurlugu and went in to see the registrar who took all the papers except the blood test results (as these details were abbreviated on another form). He then confirmed that the wedding was all booked. All we have to do now is go back in October with a photocopy of our passport and a photocopy of the entry visa and then it is all completed. The registrar is costing us 300TL and he is coming out on the boat for 5 hours with us (we are getting married on a friend’s gulet). He did not want the money until we come back in October.

Phew...... well I think that is it!! We were very lucky to have a Turkish friend with us to help out with the translation as not many of the officials spoke English and I really don’t think we could have done it all on our own as we had to go to so many different places and departments. The reason we have to go back with the passport and visa photocopies is that the visa needs to be current as at the date of your wedding and obviously, October is 5 months away and the visa is only valid for 90 days. If you are doing your paperwork within the 90-day visa validity then make sure you take the photocopies with you when you first go to the Nufus Mudurlugu.

I hope this helps you all and if you have, any questions just ask!

We got all our wedding and reception arrangements organised so all we have to do is look forward to our big day!

Avril and Nick

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Hi,
I have just been reading your post on getting married and was very impressed by it!
We organise weddings in Kalkan, Turkey and I am hoping that you will give me permission to use your post on our website. The reason being that we can help other brides who wish to marry in Kalkan, Turkey.
If you have any queries I am on bohemia.images@gmail.com our website is www.kalkan-weddings.co.uk
Best wishes for your Wedding in October and I am sure you will have a wonderful day.

Wendy.

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Many thanks for your message.

I would be more than happy for you to use my post on your website. After everything we went through to get our wedding organised I am pleased that our experience can help other people.

Thanks for your good wishes on our wedding. Not long until our big day on 10/10/10 and we are all very excited.

Regards,

Avril

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Brilliant, Thank you Avril.

You have chosen a brilliant time of year to get married at too.
Jus a point - I'm not sure if it varies from beledere to beledere but if you wish to register your marriage in the UK you will need a *FORMUL B obtained from the local Register Office in Turkey (Nufus Mudurlugu) in some places the mayor has 10 days to register it and if you only have limited time it could make it awkward.
Cheers
Wendy

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Thanks for your advice. We knew we had to go to the Nufus Mudurlugu to get it done but didn't realise there was a time limit. Luckily, the mayor of Bodrum and the head registrar are apparently coming to our wedding as well (as they know one of our very good friends) so hopefully it won't be too difficult.

We have been VERY lucky having Turkish friends to help with our wedding and we would never have been able to get it all sorted without their help. I have been looking at your website and you are offering a really good service. I don't think people realise how much red tape there is to go through, how different the attitude is of the Turkish authorities (compared to people in bars and shops) and the many places that you have to visit at various times to get things done and in what order.

It is great that you offer the full package including accommodation (looks great), flowers, meal for 20, photographs, champagne toast (wine and champagne is not cheap in Turkey) and all the running around.

Good luck with your venture and feel free to use any of my comments.

Avril :-)


*The Formula B form mentioned in this post is a multilingual record of the marriage. It is optional to obtain this document following a ceremony. It is issued by the local Office for Population Registry (not just the one in Ankara) and it may take up to a week for it to be ready. The registrar who marries you would be able to advise you where to go and how long it would take for it to be issued.  Although it is optional to take this document if you are a foreign national getting married in Turkey, I'd advise you to get this form when you get married and put it to one side as it is more difficult to get it later on.