Marcela and Boris’s Wedding in Mauritius — An Interview with the Bride

Marcela kindly shared the story of her legally recognised wedding in Mauritius with us, from everything that led up to the big day to how the day itself unfolded.

Marcela and Boris were married on 11 November 2021.

You’ve just returned from your wedding in Mauritius. What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you think back to it?

The scent of frangipani, the delicious taste of curry and lychee wine, the constant chatter of Mauritian birds, a gentle sea breeze, warm African sunshine and an endless sense of peace in the most magical place on earth.

Why did you decide to get married in Mauritius?

My husband and I love travelling. It gives you this feeling of freedom, but also a deep sense of humility in the face of the world and all its variety. He proposed at sunrise on a boat in the middle of the Pacific, on our way to Mexico. So we thought, if the Pacific had already witnessed one chapter of our lives, why not take the next big step beside the Indian Ocean? :))

It was a beautiful idea, but we still hesitated. We imagined how complicated all the paperwork for getting married in another country must be. Looking back, I laugh at how worried I was about it. There was hardly any paperwork — and an endless number of wonderful experiences instead! 🙂

What do you think you’ll remember most in years to come?

Our wedding day, without question. That was the most powerful moment of the whole trip. And of course we’ll remember all the places we visited after the wedding: tasting local rum, seeing the Seven Coloured Earth and the waterfalls around Chamarel, feeding giant tortoises, receiving a blessing from a Hindu priest at the sacred Grand Bassin, the Pamplemousses Botanical Garden, vast tea plantations, beautiful palm-fringed beaches and swimming in the ocean with dolphins. Mauritius has so many wonderful places, and I’m glad we got to experience at least a few of them for ourselves.

How did getting married in Mauritius compare with weddings in your home country?

In Slovakia, most weddings are big, traditional celebrations with around a hundred guests. It’s almost an unwritten rule: that’s simply how a wedding is supposed to be done. You’re supposed to invite everyone, send guests home with boxes of wedding treats, and even invite the second cousins you haven’t seen since you were five. In my opinion, weddings in Slovakia can be far too focused on everyone else — the guests and the wedding party — rather than on the couple themselves.

All of that can involve an enormous amount of organising and stress. Much of it falls on the bride and groom, who spend the day making sure their guests have everything they need and are happy, right from early in the morning.

That wasn’t what we wanted. We wanted something that was more about the two of us. No worries, no stress. Something more intimate, something that would make the moment when two lives become one feel even more magical. That’s what our beach wedding gave us. 🙂

How did the people close to you react?

Weddings like ours still weren’t very common in Slovakia at the time. When we told some people we were getting married in Mauritius, they couldn’t believe it would actually be a legally valid marriage. At first they were surprised, even a little taken aback, haha. But later they understood that this was our dream, our day and our decision — and they were happy for us, even from a distance. 🙂

What was it like preparing for the wedding? What did you have to arrange?

The preparations were quite straightforward. The first thing was choosing a hotel and a wedding date. We were lucky enough to win three nights at the Paradise Cove Boutique Hotel through YachtWedding, so the agency made the hotel choice easy for us, haha. And I have to say, the hotel was perfect. We decided to add a wedding package and a few more nights to our prize. Looking back, winning that stay was really the nudge we needed — a sign that getting married somewhere exotic was the right choice for us.

As for the ‘paperwork’, the agency took care of most things for us (so another huge thank-you to their wonderful team ;)). All we needed to do ourselves was visit the registry office in Slovakia, which gave us official copies of our birth certificates. We had them translated by a sworn translator, then simply emailed all the documents off.

The agency also prepared the official marriage application and the other documents. We just had to fill everything in, sign it, scan it and send it back. It’s incredible how simply it can all be done online.

Of course, then there were the travel arrangements: flights, insurance and choosing a photographer. The agency could help with all of that, too. And we couldn’t forget the dress, shoes and wedding rings. With a beach wedding, choosing shoes is a little easier: sandals for the bride and loafers for the groom. 🙂

We also made our own themed wedding announcements, with a big map of the world and an aeroplane flying from a little heart in Slovakia to another one in Mauritius. That was how we let everyone know we were going to celebrate our eleven years together by getting married on the magical date of 11 November 2021. 🙂

Because of the difficult times we were living through, the remaining preparations before our flight revolved around COVID-19 and pandemic restrictions. Mauritius had fairly strict entry requirements at the time, which of course we followed. I have to say that, despite the pandemic raging around the world, they helped us feel safe once we arrived. And every single step we took to get there was worth it in the end. 🙂

How did you choose your wedding dress?

That was hard, haha. After all, you only wear your wedding dress once in your life (well, in most cases), which makes it special. I knew I wanted a comfortable, light and airy fabric and a simple cut — something that would suit a beach wedding. I also wanted my dress to be sustainable and made by a local designer, because I think it’s important to support talented people close to home. 🙂 And that’s how my dream dress came to life: beautifully light, and something that made me feel genuinely special on our big day.

You combined your wedding with your honeymoon. What were you most looking forward to at the hotel?

Rest, and days spent doing absolutely nothing. After those two pandemic years, we really needed that. Packing our bags and flying somewhere far away — in our case, straight to paradise. 🙂 When we first saw photographs of the hotel, we couldn’t wait for the private lagoon, tropical gardens and romantic ‘love nests’: little thatched-roof pavilions made for relaxing together.

One of the hotel’s big advantages was that it was a smaller boutique hotel with fewer rooms, which gave it a lovely intimate atmosphere and its guests plenty of privacy.

Our wedding package also came with some lovely extras prepared by the hotel: an hour-long lesson in cooking an exotic dish, a drink-making lesson, tropical fruit, dessert and a bottle of sparkling wine delivered to our room, a handy beach bag and a hat. All those little touches added to the wonderful impression the hotel made on us. And because we both love food, we were especially excited to try all the specialities coming out of the hotel kitchen. 🙂 And yes, they were amazing!

What was your strongest first impression of Mauritius?

The greenery. That was the very first thing we noticed, looking out of the plane window as we landed. Mauritius was so green, and so much of its nature still seemed untouched, giving the island the feel of an unspoilt paradise. Besides the scenery, we were really struck by how helpful and kind everyone was — at the hotel and as we travelled around the island.

What preparations were needed after you arrived on the island?

A private driver and our local representative met us at the airport. She was there for us throughout our stay and accompanied us on all our visits to the authorities. Before the wedding, we had to go to the capital, Port Louis, and then to a local office to confirm the final documents. It was there that an official told us the exact time of the ceremony. We were told weddings in Mauritius weren’t held before 4 p.m. There was an upside, though: you avoided the hottest part of the day, and your make-up didn’t melt in the sun! :))

Besides our representative, the hotel had its own wedding coordinator to help us once we were in Mauritius. The day before the ceremony, she went through our choice of ceremony location, wedding song, cake and decorations with us. After that, we didn’t need to worry about a thing. If you have particular wishes about flowers or your hairstyle, it’s a good idea to tell the hotel or agency beforehand — everyone we met was wonderfully helpful and happy to accommodate us.

Did being on your honeymoon make the trip feel different from an ordinary holiday?

Definitely. These days were much more about the two of us. We spent so much time remembering, laughing, making plans and celebrating. It’s time that’s just for you as a couple, and a unique chance to fall in love with each other again and again. We loved those moments together.

What was your wedding day like?

It was a beautiful and incredibly moving day. The best part was that we didn’t have to worry about a thing — apart from remembering not to leave our wedding rings in the room, haha. We woke up, had an amazing breakfast in the hotel restaurant, even managed a swim in the pool and relaxed on the beach for a little while. Of course, we knew not to overdo the sunshine on a day like that. :))

The ceremony was at 4 p.m. About two hours beforehand, I went somewhere else to get ready so the groom wouldn’t see me before the wedding. At the hotel spa, the make-up artists did my hair and make-up and helped me into my wedding dress. Then, all ready, I walked through the gardens to our ceremony to the sound of live music. My groom and the others were waiting for me there.

We’d decided to exchange our own wedding vows during the ceremony. I’m so glad we wrote them and read them to each other. It was incredibly moving, and saying those words made the moment even more powerful. After the ceremony, we opened the champagne — well, the groom actually opened it with a sabre, and he really enjoyed that bit, haha! Then we cut the wedding cake and even had our first dance as newlyweds.

Then came a romantic little boat trip to the nearby bay of Cap Malheureux, where the photographers took more wedding pictures of us at sunset. And because a wedding deserves good food, when we returned to the hotel we had a romantic candlelit wedding dinner waiting for us in one of the pavilions right on the beach. The menu was exquisite. I can honestly say I’d never eaten anything so delicious, from starter to dessert. :)) Now that’s what I call a perfect day! 🙂

How did you feel as the bride? And what about the groom?

I enjoyed it all, though of course I was a little nervous, too. But everything was taken care of, even while I was getting ready, so I could savour the fact that I didn’t have to organise anything and could simply enjoy being in the moment. I have to let you in on a little secret about the groom: he was actually more nervous than I was, haha. When our wedding coordinator came to collect me from the room and take me to the spa, he was left alone for two hours. Apparently, he spent the time pacing up and down, playing the same two songs over and over. I still don’t know what he was so worried about. We were on a tiny island thousands of kilometres from home — it wasn’t as if I had anywhere to run away to, haha.

Did the groom help with the wedding planning?

He brought me coffee when I was working on things on my laptop, haha. He gave me free rein, and I took care of everything else. He’s wonderful at so many things, but planning and organising aren’t exactly his strongest suits. Of course he was interested before we left and liked hearing me tell him all about our upcoming stay, the wedding day and the trips we’d planned around the island. I must have done a pretty good job in the end, though, because he was delighted! 🙂

What did you need to do once you got home?

First of all, come to terms with the fact that we were home again, haha. Getting back to everyday life was tough. But we came back with beautiful memories that will keep us going for a very long time.

Just before we flew home to Slovakia, we received our marriage certificate in English, with an apostille. Once back home, we had it translated into Slovak by a sworn translator and went to the registry office again to apply for the marriage to be registered.

In Slovakia, marriages like ours were dealt with by the special registry office in Bratislava. But we could also go through our local registry office, which sent the documents on to Bratislava. A few weeks later, the authorities issued our Slovak marriage certificate, so we were officially married on ‘Slovak paper’ as well. And then, of course, the bride has a whole new round of paperwork to deal with when changing her surname. 🙂 But those are all rather lovely tasks to have.

What would you say to couples who are only just thinking about getting married abroad?

Don’t be afraid to go for it. Don’t worry about what other people will think. If it’s what feels right to you, it’s the best decision you can make. You’ll enjoy it and take away wonderful memories for life.

Thank you for such a lovely conversation. We wish you both all the very best for your life together.

Photographs: YachtWedding archive