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Frequently Asked Questions 

How does planning a wedding with Happily Forever go?

Planning your wedding is as simple as you make it. After years of extensive experience in the field, organizing almost 200 weddings, we at Happily Forever have curated a system that gives you a stress-free wedding. Here are the steps on how to plan your civil wedding:

  • You reach out to us through our contact forms, filling in necessary details and wishes in regards to your desired wedding. 

  • Once we have received this form, we will get back to you with suitable venues and availability during your travel period. All exchanges will be made through email.

  • Once you make your choice of venue, we will check their availability for the chosen wedding date.

  • If availability is confirmed, you send us your filled in application to marry and your desired add-ons from the proposal. From those we will put together a schedule of your wedding day and send it to you for approval.

  • Once this is approved by you, we can forward you the invoice. When we receive your instalment (usually 30%), we will secure your date, venue and reserve all the wedding vendors like singers, photographers and others that were listed in the invoice.

  • 3 months or no later than 6 weeks prior to the wedding day, you will send us your relevant documents by email. 

  • Once received, we will print them and bring them to Port Louis for authorisation (we will only get the confirmation 1-3 weeks before the wedding and we cannot accelerate the process unfortunately).

  • Right after your arrival in Mauritius we will meet you in person, get to know you and discuss the events of your wedding day.

  • 1-2 working day(s) before your wedding we will pick you up between 09:00 and 9:30 and drive with you to Port Louis for the verification of your original documents (here you will need to bring your original documents). After Port Louis we will have to do another stop which is the civil status office close to your wedding venue where you will meet your personal civil status officer and agree on a time for a wedding (Monday - Friday 16:15 - 17:30 & weekends and public holiday anytime) and the ceremony language.

  • Then finally, YOUR WEDDING DAY - you will be more relaxed than ever,  because everything is being taken care of! ☺️

  • 2-3 working days after your civil wedding, we will bring you the wedding certificate with the apostille (official stamp) on it to your accommodation.

  • By latest 2 weeks after the wedding we will send you the link of your wedding photos (if you have booked a photographer with us). Wedding videos however can take up to 4 weeks. 

And how would a Symbolic Wedding be different?

A Symbolic Wedding is almost the same but:

Instead of sending us the application to marry, you just send us both your full names and your home address (for us to be able to send you the invoice)

Instead of sending us the relevant documents you will send us your personal story. Here are some questions that will help you write it: 

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  • How and where did you meet? 

  • What is your favourite thing about your significant other? 

  • What is a tradition you both have had together since you first started dating? 

  • Who is more romantic between the two of you?

  • Who proposed and how did it go?

  • Any mutual hobbies, relevant vacations, job(s)

  • Children, house, pets, parents, other family members

  • Has the civil ceremony already taken place? If so, when and where? If not, will there be one in the foreseeable future

  • There won't be a drive to Port Louis for verification of your original documents.

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What is the difference between a Civil and Symbolic Wedding?

The civil wedding is the legal foundation of love and the prerequisite for a legally valid marriage in your home country. Whereas Symbolic or secular ceremonies do not possess legal validity and are therefore not bound by legal conventions in form and content. 

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Read more on the different types of weddings.

WhatsApp is so much faster, can we organise our wedding through that rather than Email?

As tech-savvy as we are, unfortunately WhatsApp is not at all an easier option. For administrative and booking reasons, email simplifies the wedding planning process by a big stretch. 

 

There is no clear way of backtracking your choices and your documents through WhatsApp the way emails allow. We are available through email more than readily. Feel free to send us one at any time!

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Can we call our dedicated Wedding Planner?

Sure! There is a link on the website where you can schedule your zoom call in advance.

 

We kindly invite you to submit the contact form prior to scheduling your zoom call as we get many inquiries every day and we need to prepare for the zoom call with you. We will look at your submitted contact form and think about what venues and options to offer you.

Are Legal/Civil Weddings possible- if so what documents are needed for that?

Marriages in Mauritius are legally valid in all member states of The Hague Convention (and in many other countries when involving the specific embassy). Only the registration has to be done after the return in the home country. Even if you find your country in the list of the member states, it is advisable to check with the relevant registry office in your home country/countries before traveling for further information. Some countries require additionally for the wedding certificate to pass through the relevant embassy or consulate before being taken home for registration.

 

Generally speaking, the following copies are always needed:

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  • Filled in application to marry

  • Birth Certificates of the bride and groom

  • Passports of the bride and groom

  • If you were married before we would also require the divorce decree. 

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If your names do not EXACTLY match your passport AND your birth certificate, you will have to swear an affidavit here in Mauritius (which is only a little detour and will be done with you right after your appointment in Port Louis - we pay ☺️). 

 

More information for civil weddings in Mauritius 

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Can you help us with information on VISA and Entry Requirements?

Whilst we are wedding planners and we do work with clients all over the world, VISA details and entry requirements to Mauritius are not our expertise. 

We recommend official websites and hotlines set up for these questions. Here are some that might be handy:

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How sure am I to get what I paid for?

The simplest way for you to make up your mind on whether or not we can meet your requirements is to check out our Reviews on google and on our website. More than 100 of the couples we have worked with have let us know about their experience.

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What happens if it rains on our wedding day?

Whilst it is a likely possibility especially between January and March, after years of experience we can say that rain is not the end of the world for a wedding.

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Our advice is to reschedule the wedding for a day after. This is one of the reasons why we will always try to schedule your wedding rather at the beginning of your stay in Mauritius. 

In case of light showers, we choose to merely wait it out a bit.

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Up until now we always managed to reschedule in case of heavy rain but this is subject to availability of all involved wedding vendors and ourselves. Some venues also offer covered areas should you not be able to reschedule.

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Can I use a Photographer of my choice?

We, at Happily Forever, work with a variety of talented photographers that Mauritius has to offer. You may go through the pictures on our Facebook page and let us know which photos most attract you and (upon their availability) we will book that specific photographer for the day of your wedding. 

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If you have done your own research and would like to book a photographer on your own, please let us know who it is - it might be that we already work with them. And if not, you most definitely may go ahead and book the photographer on your own, we will simply deduct (if applicable) that sum from your package and continue to assist you on the other parts of your wedding.

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Can I see the work of your Hair and Makeup Artist? Are there different ones to choose amongst?

Our Hair & Makeup Artists’ works are all available on our Facebook page, a simple glance at the brides faces in the pictures might help you come to the decision of whether or not you would like the help of our artists. 

We do however work with two ladies (one for hair and one for the make up) for almost all of our weddings, so they would be the go-to option. Every bride’s photo on our website and social media represents them.

 

In case of doubts, you can add a trial to your package (this is an added cost) to see for yourself if you like their work. In all the years, no bride has ever been disappointed.

Since you most likely are being photographed on the day of your wedding, we do suggest that you take the option of having our Hair & Makeup duo take care of your needs. These women are very experienced and know what looks best to make you glow in the pictures on your wedding day.

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What kind of songs do the singers perform?

Our singer(s) have a list of their most popular requests, the list is as follows: 

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  • All of Me - John Legend 

  • Nothing at all - Ronan Keating

  • Fields of Gold - Sting

  • What a Wonderful World - Louis Armstrong

  • I’m Yours - Jason Mraz

  • Perfect - Ed Sheeran

  • Marry You - Bruno Mars 

  • Have I Told You Lately? - Rod Stewart

  • Somewhere Over the Rainbow - Israel Kamakawiwo’ole

  • Wonderful Tonight - Eric Clapton 

  • Wonderwall - Oasis

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Our singer(s) can also add french and/or creole songs upon request. Should your favourite song be in English, they can also try to perform it but please give them at least 3 weeks to learn your song.

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What if we do not want to hire a singer?

If you would prefer your favourite songs in their original versions, please send us at least 3 songs for your wedding. I will play them from my speaker. The first song (entry song) should be rather calm and romantic. The second one shall also be very calm without singing, only instrumentals (during signatures), the third one very joyous (for when we applaud at the end). And then if you want 2-5 songs for the drinks and the cake.

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How do we have to pay?

After having agreed on the venue and the various vendors, we will send you the schedule of the day (for you to approve) and after that the invoice. 30% of the total amount will have to be paid to our Mauritian bank account (we kindly ask you to tick the option “transaction fees to be charged to the sender”) for securing the date, the venue and the vendors. The remaining 70% will have to be wired to us by latest 1 month prior to the wedding.

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