Weather / Hurricanes ??

Hello and thanks for taking the time to read this. Can anybody help with the following ?, I would like to know if any Hurricanes are predicted in the next few weeks ??? also what is the weather like at the moment ? . I will be flying from the UK on the 3rd August to get married on the 11th August. The thought of an impending Hurricane is not nice, but at least we will be prepared. Also has anyone else got married in the D.R ? ( what happens if its raining at the time of the wedding ??). Thanks for your time and trouble,...... Jules

There presently are no hurricanes or tropical storms expected for early August and no weather formations that presently look like potential storms. Normally, the greatest possiblity of hurricanes near the DR is in September and October.

There are a number of good weather sites on internet that give you the eastern Caribbean weather conditions. Putting weather: eastern Caribbean up for search on yahoo, for example, will lead you to some good sites.

Good luck, Ken

USA official weather for DR:

<A HREF="http://weather.noaa.gov/weather/DO_cc.html">http://weather.noaa.gov/weather/DO_cc.html</A>

I got married in the DR civilly in a government office. Are you planning a church wedding or what?

A church wedding is better. If the Dominican is willing to marry you in a church wedding, it means that he or she is more likely to be serious about you. As I understand it, after a church wedding in the DR, a person can't get a divorce in the DR. Please correct me if I'm wrong about the church wedding/ divorce issue. If the Dominican insists on a civil ceremony instead, he or she may be planning to marry you to leave the country. Then, they'll legalize, divorce you, and bring over a Dominican that they had promised to marry long ago. The people waiting in the DR know full well that it may take years, and the person will have kids with the American spouse, but they don't care, they wait. Ask your fiance about a church wedding and watch his or her reaction, then make your informed decision. I believe in love but I believe in thinking too. Good luck.

Hola arcoiris, Could you please provide me some info on where abouts one could get married like you did? i.e. civilly in a government office? Which office would I go to in Puerto Plata? Thanks in advance.

Sorry...message was for arcoiris

See prior message from me. Gracias

Gio...How to arrange?

Hola Gio, How would one go about getting married in a church? I just don't want to go the resort route. I thought the only way was through a civil government office. Pls advise Thanks.

Re: Gio...How to arrange?

people who get married in the Catholic Church are Catholic, maybe they could marry a Protestant. in the Catholic Church there is no divorce. so it is harder to get married in the Catholic Church and harder to get divorced. there are Protestan Churches and you would find out from your denomination how to hook up to one in the DR. Civil marriages are the other alternative. The issue of marrying for American residency is another issue. we could discuss that separately. It helps to really know the person and be sure of the relationship before you commit to marrying at all; but that is true whether the partner is Dominican or American. the divorce rate among Americans who marry Americans is 50%, so what does that say? There are people who marry quickly for residency in Ireland, Poland, China and other countries. the tip off is that they ask you before they even know you.

Re: Gio...How to arrange?

I'll find out on Monday 8-2-99 and let you both know!

From what we saw, the weddings take place under waterproof canopies and still take place no matter what the weather. I have go back yesterday after 3 weeks in the Dominican, just a few torrential downpours and a few thunder storms, nothing more than you get anywhere really.

Another web site for weather information.

Church weddings in the DR

Dominican law (Special Divorce) allows foreigners or Dominican citizens not resident in the DR, divorcing by mutual consent, to divorce rapidly (in less than 24 hours). This is valid for those married in the DR by the Catholic Church as well as by the law. In fact, the Church where you married will send your documents to the legal registry so that it may be registered.

Cardinal Nicol?s L?pez Rodr?guez, head of the Catholic Church in the DR, himself has recommended that couples should first marry by the law and then (after a year's time) by the Church. There is a about a 50% divorce rate in the DR, regardless of income.

While it can be done, it is a difficult procedure to get a marriage annulled by the Church. All this means is that for you to get married again, you will have to do so only by the law, unless you successfully complete the procedure to have your marriage annulled.

If you are both foreigners, and want to marry in a church, we recommend you choose Casa de Campo. The resort wedding counsellors can assist you with arranging your wedding for the San Estanislao church.

If you are both foreigners and want to marry by the Dominican Roman Catholic Church at a church outside of the San Estanislao Church, where weddings of foreigners are held frequently, your Archbishop may need to request permission from the Archbishop of the Diocese where you would like to marry in the DR.

If you are marrying a Dominican, if he has residence in the DR, or has good contacts with his neighborhood church or through his family, this can be arranged.

If you are foreigners, we recommend you keep things simple and either marry at San Estanislao or marry with the help of a resort wedding consultant that will make arrangements for a civil wedding.

The correct URL for the Caribbean Hurricane Page is:

<A HREF="http://gobeach.com/hurr.htm">http://gobeach.com/hurr.htm</A>

Re: Church weddings in the DR

the Cardinal could get in trouble for that recommendation. Civil marriage is not recognized by the Catholic Church if it is between Catholics as a valid sacramental marriage. Thus a civil divorce of a civil marriage doesn't even count. A sacramental marriage within the church is valid. The couple must go through a preparation process first. An annulment is required along with a civil divorce in this case. A Catholic couple civilly married is considered "living in sin" if they are having sex without being sacramentally married. In the US, a couple must be both civilly and sacramentally married, but this is done at the same time. This process is good because it does tend to eliminate marriages such as many of your contributors warn about; these marriages are likely to be for the right reasons and be successful. It could be that the Cardinal is having to adapt to the realities of practice in the DR. If the preparation process has been completed in another country, the two parishes can arranged for the wedding to be done in another parish.