We found this complaint again and again while researching, in several languages. A couple emails the Civil Status Office wanting a simple registration, gets passed to a planner, and receives a quote of many hundreds for something they assumed was a government fee. So here is the arithmetic, plainly.
What the state actually charges
The government marriage fee for two foreigners is SCR 3,000 on Mahe, Praslin or La Digue, which is roughly 200 euro at the rates through 2026. On any other island it is SCR 4,000, plus the Civil Status Officer's transport, accommodation and meals. If your papers arrive inside the eleven day banns period, a special licence is a further SCR 500, roughly 35 euro.
That is the whole state cost. Everything above it is a service, yours or someone else's, and you are entitled to know which is which.
What you genuinely cannot skip
Four things, and none of them are decorative.
- A valid passport and an apostilled birth certificate for each of you
- The eleven day banns period, or the SCR 500 special licence instead
- Two witnesses present at the ceremony
- The apostille on your finished certificate before you leave the country
What you can decline without losing anything
The beach setup, the arch, the flowers, the chairs, the musician, the car, the cake and the photography are all optional. So is the beach itself. A registration at the Civil Status Office in Victoria is exactly as legally valid as one on the sand at Anse Lazio, and it is the cheapest route there is.
The one thing we would not skip is the witnesses question. If you are travelling as two, someone has to provide them, and asking strangers on the day is a worse experience than people imagine.
Doing it yourself, honestly assessed
You can deal with the Civil Status Office directly at info@civilstatus.gov.sc, and couples do. Two things make it harder than it looks. The April 2025 procedure requires application forms in hard copy, submitted by you or a designated representative, which means being on the island or having someone there. And the same procedure routes the application through a designated representative to the celebrant with the office copied in.
None of that is impossible without help. It is simply the reason a planner exists, and we would rather explain the mechanism than pretend the paperwork is mystical.
If you want a middle option
Many couples who start out wanting legal-only end up wanting one photographer for half an hour, and nothing else. That is a perfectly good wedding and one of our favourite kinds to shoot. You are allowed to want the registration and one real photograph of it.