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OUR BEACH WEDDING IN CAPE VERDE
*article contains affiliate linksOur beach wedding in Cape Verde was full of excitement, joy, laughter, music, dear people and delicious local food. A beach wedding abroad is certainly a dream of many and for us this was also a natural choice, because our home island Sal offers a truly fairytale-like setting for a beach wedding and several beautiful locations by the turquoise sea.
OUR STORYMy husband and I met in March 2022, when I traveled to Cape Verde for the first time from my previous country of residence, Portugal, to meet my friend who worked in Sal as a tour guide. At first, mostly my husband and I just said hello to each other on the street and exchanged some quick words. After traveling to the island again a few times, in the summer something special happened between us and the pieces just fell into place.
I strongly believe in fate and that everything that is meant to happen will also happen when the time is right. The purpose of my summer month-long trip was to get to know the island more deeply and see if I could enjoy living in Cape Verde even longer, because I wanted a change from Lisbon‘s city life.
In August, it was time to move to Sal and my husband had promised to pick me up from the airport. All the time I was away from the island in Europe, we kept in touch and called each other daily.
When I then stepped out of the airport on an August night in Sal, my husband was waiting for me and from that moment on, we have been an inseparable duo, and I wouldn’t change a day of this time.
DREAM WEDDING ABROADIt all started when one December evening in our home in Santa Maria, my husband asked if I really wanted to marry him. We had spent the day with work and a normal day at the beach, and in the evening, while watching a movie on the couch, he brought it up for the first time and asked the question. Without a moment’s hesitation, of course I answered “yes“.
We had talked about marriage things before, but only as a thought. Now it was real and no longer just a possibility or a thought.
On the anniversary of our relationship in December, we went to celebrate us at a restaurant owned by our friends, and there was a table decorated with candles and red roses waiting for us. After a few encouraging sips of drink, my husband grabbed the microphone, got down on one knee and proposed in the sweetest way, while being more nervous than I’ve ever seen him, he was literally shaking!
ORGANIZING A WEDDING IN CAPE VERDEFor me it was obvious that I would at least want my mother to attend our wedding. I knew that from my side hardly any family or friends would make it, because the flights are long and expensive. However, my mother had already booked a trip to visit us in March 2023, so we decided to organize the wedding while she was here.
The wedding venue was clear, because my dream wedding has always been a beautiful and intimate beach wedding, and we live on an island full of beautiful beachline so this made it pretty easy. Neither of us belong to a church, and a church wedding has never even been in our thoughts so for us that was never an option.
The first thing to do when getting married abroad is to get all the necessary information about the required documents and how to organize the wedding in your desired country. Of course, it is also important to take into account whether your partner is local or whether both halves come to the destination country from elsewhere just for the wedding celebration. The first thing to do here in Cape Verde is to get a list of the necessary papers from the local registry office, which must be taken care of in order to get married. These required papers certainly vary a bit from country to country and things may also change over time, so when organizing your own wedding, you should primarily seek up-to-date information from the authorities of both your own and the destination country and follow the instructions received there, for this reason I will not list the necessary documents here.
Cape Verde has some companies offering wedding planning services and many hotels and restaurants also offer good wedding packages. The price level varies a lot depending on the place, the content of the wedding and the number of guests. Our wedding venue was the beach restaurant Funana Casa da Cultura, where the lovely owner took over everything and organized our wedding.Our wedding venue was a restaurant, so of course the food and drinks were automatically taken care of through this. The owner of the place, with the help of her contacts, also took care of the wedding cake, decorations, wedding car and music for us. The marriage ceremony took place on the beach in front of the restaurant, so we didn’t need separate permits or people to decorate the ceremony place. If you want an official ceremony at the location of your choice, and not at the registry office, you have to pay a little extra for this. It is also possible to do the official part at the registry office without additional costs, after which you just do a blessing ceremony at the desired ceremony location, for example on the beach. We ourselves wanted everything to happen from the beginning to the end in our beach ceremony, including the official parts.
WEDDING DAY FULL OF LOVE AND JOYOur wedding was exactly like us. After entering the wedding venue, I saw for the first time our cute little white convertible decorated with blue and white ribbons and balloons, I saw our friends and the owner of the wedding venue and it all felt so real. Inside, our magnificent three-tiered, blue-white, beach-style wedding cake was in the center of the hall, and for the first time I got to see how all the decorations had been made. Everything looked really beautiful.
The feeling that I felt when I started to walk towards the beach and the ceremony was something I had never experienced before. When I saw my husband on the beach, handsome in his blue suit, waiting, I cried and I have never smiled more than in that moment and that day.
bag: Ideal of Sweden* 
The ceremony was wonderful and exciting, there were only dear people that are most close to us. My mother walked me down the aisle and my husband’s niece was our ring girl.The wedding was also filmed for the local television and after the ceremonial part it was time to take photos on the beach and move to the party venue. The party was full of great moments, fun, talking, delicious local food and drinks and good music. We didn’t want a lot of special activities, but of course the bouquet throwing and garter tradition had to be a part of our wedding too. The garter throwing is not a part of the local traditions here, and my husband was also a bit uncertain about this at first, but he managed to do it in good style and it was so much fun. Here the local tradition is to go for a drive with the whole wedding party, driving around the city and at the same time honking the horn so much that everyone will definitely hear and pay attention to the wedding party and the ongoing wedding, and above all the wedding couple. This was fun!
I couldn’t have wished for a better wedding and I am forever grateful for all the help and all the arrangements and all the people who were involved in this day (also remotely).
GETTING MARRIED ABROAD – CHECKLIST- Find out the country’s required official documents for marriage
- Find out about your country’s required official documents for marriage abroad
- Get all necessary documents and official translations required for them
- Wedding arrangements: Place, time, wedding ceremony, decorations, food and drink, cake, activities, wedding car, guest list, invitations, flowers…
- Wedding dresses and suits (for example, Cape Verde does not offer a very rich and high-quality selection of dresses, so if possible get the dresses in advance elsewhere)
- Patience and a positive attitude, because everything abroad doesn’t always work as you might be used to in your country
- Be prepared for curious wedding crashers..
CAPE VERDE BEST TOURS AND ACTIVITIES:
ARE YOU DREAMING ABOUT A BEACH WEDDING ABROAD? ARE YOU PLANNING TO GET MARRIED IN CAPE VERDE? WHAT IS YOUR DREAM WEDDING LIKE? SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS AND DREAMS IN THE COMMENTS BELOW! 🙂<3: Tiina Johanna
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Island hopping Cape Verde – Best tips!
*Article contains affiliate linksIsland hopping in Cape Verde is on many people’s bucket lists. Cape Verde consists of ten different islands, and each island offers something unique and interesting to experience and see.
The most of the tourism here is distributed to Sal and Boa Vista because of the wonderful sandy beaches and good services, but did you know that in Cape Verde you can also climb to the top of a volcano, hike in green and rugged mountain landscapes, take a dip in nature’s own swimming pools in the middle of banana trees and snorkel with turtles?
SUNSHINE AND WHITE SANDY BEACHESThe holiday islands of Sal and Boa Vista offer sun and white sandy beaches as far as the eye can see. Large travel agencies make trips only to these islands and that is why a large part of Cape Verde’s tourism is also focused on these islands. I myself live with my new husband and our two dogs on Sal, enjoying the sun every day, and having traveled to other islands, I wouldn’t change my island for anything. I still think that when you travel all the way here, it’s definitely worth checking out the other islands as well, because Cape Verde has so much more to experience than these flat sandy terrains!
Sal 
Sal
CULTURE, HISTORY, CARNIVAL VIBES AND TURTLESCulture, history, city life and a carnival vibes like in Rio in Brazil can be found on the island of Sao Vicente. Sao Vicente is a local, cozy, lively and beautiful island where you can shop and live cheaply, enjoy a wide range of restaurants and the island’s annual carnivals attract people from all over the world. These carnivals are the second most popular right after the Rio carnival. Many people also combine Sao Vicente with the nearby island of Santo Antao or the island of Sao Nicolau, which is a few hours away by ferry, which also combines beautiful green natural landscapes and city life.
On Sao Vicente, you can also snorkel with turtles when you head from the capital Mindelo to the idyllic fishing village of Sao Pedro and jump aboard one of the local wooden fishing boats, which ever happens to be available. A few eager youngsters playing on the beach might also jump in the boat with you to swim among the turtles and keep you company.
Mindelo 
Sao Pedro 
Sao Pedro turtles
GREEN NATURE AND TROPICAL NATURAL SWIMMING POOLSSanto Antao is the number one favorite of many hikers and is a great counterbalance to Sal’s sandy terrain. Santo Antao can be easily reached with a ferry ride lasting less than an hour from the nearby island of Sao Vicente. Santo Antao is full of traditional atmosphere, history, small mountain villages and a magnificent rugged mountain landscape. Santo Antao is green and its nature is full of hills, rivers and great mountains as far as eye can see. On this island, my absolute recommendation is to take a dip in one of the many tropical natural swimming pools, which can be found on hikes in the middle of fruit trees as well as in local small restaurants!
Santo Antao 
Santo Antao 
Santo Antao
BLACK LAVA SAND AND VOLCANO VIEWSFogo is a ruggedly beautiful, black-sand volcanic island in Cape Verde. Here you can climb to the top of the volcano and run in the black sand along the mountainside, as well as take a day trip to the neighboring small island of Brava by ferry.
THE MAIN ISLAND HAS IT ALLThe main island of Santiago combines a little bit of everything, from beautiful beaches to lively city life, as well as the green mountainous nature on the north side of the island. In the capital, Praia, it is also recommended to take more caution in terms of pocket thieves, because there is more crime here than in the rest of Cape Verde. Despite this, the island offers a lot of beautiful things to experience and see, so you shouldn’t miss this.
HOW TO DO ISLAND HOPPING IN CAPE VERDE?Island hopping in Cape Verde can be done like any other island hopping, moving from one island to another either by ferry or by plane. Airplanes are a good and significantly faster option, but also really in demand because of this. There are no daily flights, so you should get your own plane tickets well in advance, and since there are no daily flights, I might not recommend island hopping for a vacation of less than two weeks. Air travel is also a more expensive option, which is why a large number of people opt for the ferry. Flights cost between €80-€150 per person depending on the destination, while the ferry costs between €8-€30 per person depending on the destination.
CHECK OUT MORE INFO ABOUT THE FLIGHTS HERE: BESTFLY CABO VERDE
Ferry trips are a cheap and good option. Ferry trips are also long-lasting and in some places a really tough experience, because the sea can get rough and this can result in a rocking inferno of several hours, even for those who do not generally suffer from motion sickness.Our own ferry ride from Sao Vicente back to Sal (with a short stop in between at Sao Nicolau) took a total of closer to ten hours and we both took no fewer than three nausea meds instead of the recommended dose of one. I think we were the only ones on the whole ferry who didn’t vomit their whole souls out during the whole ferry ride. A woman also told in the port of Sal that she constantly felt so sick and miserable that she couldn’t even go to the bathroom to do her business, but instead urinated under herself without any other option. She still had another trip ahead of her to Santiago, so we really felt bad for her.
On the other hand, the ferry ride from Sao Vicente to Santo Antao only takes less than an hour and is very comfortable and peaceful, and during this trip we relaxed and sipped our morning coffee in the sun on the deck of the ship. The ferries are also in good condition and also serve small food and drinks along the way.
CHECK OUT THE FERRIES AND GET YOUR TICKETS HERE: CV INTERILHAS
Trips can also be purchased from all local travel agencies here on the islands, if tickets are still available. However, small travel agency fees may apply to these prices.
Santo Antao 
Sao Vicente 
Sal
HOW TO PREPARE FOR ISLAND HOPPING IN CAPE VERDE?You should prepare for island hopping with an open mind and a patient attitude, because in Cape Verde everything is slow and not everything always runs so smoothly. You should also reserve a little extra time in the travel calendar for changes, because you never know if your ferry trip will be delayed or moved, or the flight will be canceled and you will have to find an alternative way of travel. So don’t make your schedule too tight! Also reserve a little extra in your travel fund specifically for these possible unfortunate changes, so you can avoid any troublesome situations.
When traveling between islands, you don’t need to do anything else special or do any paperwork, because all the islands are within the same country. A valid passport and your own travel tickets are therefore sufficient.
You should think carefully about your luggage and clothing based on your own island destination, because for example for Sal you should reserve a lot of summer clothes, as for Santo Antao you need more equipment suitable for hiking and slightly cooler moments.
CHECK OUT THE BEST ACTIVITIES AND BOOK THE BEST GUIDED TOURS FOR YOUR ISLAND HOPPING TRIP IN CAPE VERDE:
WOULD YOU LIKE TO DO ISLAND HOPPING IN CAPE VERDE? HAVE YOU ALREADY HOPPED ISLANDS HERE? SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS, EXPERIENCES AND QUESTIONS BELOW IN COMMENTS! 🙂<3: Tiina Johanna
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