Weddings in Sri Lanka
How & where to get married
Sri Lanka offers you the chance to have one of the most beautiful & meaningful ceremonies available anywhere in the world.
Sri Lanka offers the perfect destination wedding for an adventurous couple. With spectacular scenery and very friendly and hospitable locals, you'll have a paradise wedding forever to remember...
Overview
Top reasons to get married in Sri Lanka
Why choose the Sri Lanka for your wedding?
- Exotic
Beautiful & spiritually meaningful ceremonies. - Easy to get married
As long as you are legal to marry and have the correct documents, there will be no problems. - Resorts
Fantastic resort hotels offer some of the most worlds most romantic locations.
Overview
Weddings in Sri Lanka are becoming the No.1 location of choice for a spectacular wedding abroad. Fantastic resort hotels offer some of the most worlds most romantic locations, combined with the friendly & enthusiastic locals all makes for an amazing wedding experience.
Sri Lankan people, make Sri Lanka an overseas wedding location hard to beat!
In Sri Lanka you can have a Civil wedding, Christian wedding, Buddhist wedding, Hindu wedding or Muslim wedding. Traditional is the Sri Lankan Poruwa ceremony. Most couples getting married in Sri Lanka have a basis of this ceremony either after their religious ceremony as a blessing or combined into a civil ceremony. The stages of the entire traditional marriage Poruwa Buddhist ceremony in Sri Lanka takes about 45 minutes. Enchanted by the culture, stunned by the scenery and welcomed by the Sri Lankans, couples can easily combine a fabulous wedding with beautiful exotic honeymoon.
Sri Lanka has a pleasant tropical climate. The average temperature of the low lands ranges between 25-30 degrees Celsius.
It is a multi-ethnic, multi-religious country with a diverse and rich culture with a total population of 19 million. English is widely spoken and is studied as a compulsory secondary language in school.
To arrange your Sri Lanka wedding can be relatively simple. Weddings are completely legal & welcomed by local authorities.
Tourism is the major industry and facilities are excellent. As long as you are legal to marry and have the correct documents, there will be no problems.
Often it is wise to use a professional wedding company to arrange your wedding but you can organize the wedding yourself.
Legal Requirements for a Sri Lanka Wedding
It is very easy to get married in Sri Lanka... there is no required waiting period or minimum length of stay. You will have to arrange some paperwork before the wedding at home. Formal proof that you are single is required.
Divorcees should also provide proof that they are not still married. If you are a widow/widower proof is also required.
Photocopy of Birth Certificate - original be presented prior to the wedding day.
Photocopy of Valid Passport - original to be presented prior to the wedding day.
Details of the names, addresses and occupations of the couple to be married.
Details of parents names, occupations and addresses of the wedding couple.
An affidavit confirming marital status of bride and groom prior to the wedding.
If either party to the marriage is divorced, a Decree Absolute proving the lawful termination of the previous marriage must be presented prior to the wedding ceremony.
If widowed, Death certificate of former spouse of the previous marriage.
If names have been changed prior to the wedding, legal proof of change of name.
Wedding Ceremonies in Sri Lanka
In Sri Lanka you can have a Civil wedding, Christian wedding, Buddhist wedding, Hindu wedding or Muslim wedding. Traditional is the Sri Lankan Poruwa ceremony. Most couples getting married in Sri Lanka have a basis of this ceremony either after their religious ceremony as a blessing or combined into a civil ceremony. The stages of the entire traditional marriage Poruwa Buddhist ceremony in Sri Lanka takes about 45 minutes.
The groom is escorted from the hotel to the wedding ceremony location by drummers and typical Kandyan dancers in procession.
An elephant is dressed up & ready.
Kandyan dancers dance near the "Poruwa" - the elevated and exotically decorated wedding stage for the couples ceremony.
The ceremony starts when the couple offers 7 betel leaf bundles to the Gods in order to request for protection for the lives of seven generations that will come to be from the marriage.
The little fingers of the bride and groom are tied with golden thread to symbolize bond and unity - then holy water is poured over. Water and earth being the eternal verities, the water so poured and the earth on which it falls are intended to be the lasting witnesses to the marriage.
The bride and groom then feed each other four times for nourishment for the bone, muscle, skin and soul.
The couple steps down from the "Poruwa" and a fresh coconut is broken in front of the couple to drive away evil spirits.
An oil lamp is lit to signify their resolve to keep the home fires burning and for a bright future.
The elephant whisks away the newly married couple.
Destination-Weddings-Abroad.com
- Four days after we arrived in Sri Lanka it was our wedding day and it was perfect. The hotel did an amazing exotic job of it. We had everything including dancing boys and elephants! The weather was really hot but everything looked and really felt fantastic.