How to i get married in santorini

Santorini weddings

How to i get married in santorini

Getting married in Santorini: A complete guide

If a destination wedding appeals to you, consider marrying your beloved in Santorini. With the mild weather, the beautiful scenery and the delicious food, you have all the ingredients of a dream wedding. In Santorini, it’s common to get married outdoors in a beach or villa setting, without depleting your life savings in the process.

In this article, we’ll discuss what you need to make a Santorini wedding happen, from legal requirements and paperwork to popular locations and Santorini wedding customs.

Weddings in Santorini: What types of weddings are possible?

The legal definition of a marriage can be complicated to a foreigner. While Santorini doesn’t legally recognize gay marriage, same sex civil unions and registered partnerships are legally recognised.

Civil ceremonies are common. They must take place in a town hall or other authorised venue. A venue may become authorised by paying a fee and obtaining a license. In fact, couples of mixed religion often choose to marry in Santorini if they cannot marry at home. Many countries don’t allow civil ceremonies, but will still legally recognise those that were conducted abroad.

Religious weddings are also common in Santorini, no matter your faith. Catholic marriages are typically preceded by civil ceremonies. Otherwise, marriages in Santorini are internationally recognised to be legally binding. For Anglican weddings, civil wedding ceremonies aren’t required.

What are the legal requirements to get married in Santorini?

The legal requirements to get married in Santorini aren’t very strict. Most importantly, you

you must apply for your wedding day in person or by your wedding planner for the wedding with a marriage officer. You can do so in the municipality where you’ll be marrying. You must provide all required documentation, and be in Santorini for three clear business days before your wedding day. You’ll need two witnesses for the ceremony or we can provide witnesses for you with no extra cost.

These rules apply whether you’re an expat in Santorini or a foreigner and whether you’re marrying a foreign citizen or a Santorini.

What do you need to get married in Santorini?

Necessary paperwork and documentation

You’ll need the following documents to complete your marriage application:

  • A valid passport with a minimum validity of six months
  • A photocopy (or two just to be safe) of the photo page of your and your fiance’s passport
  • A photocopy (or two) of the photo page of each of your two witnesses
  • Your birth certificate
  • If you plan to change your name, you’ll need a name change deed poll certificate
  • A sworn affidavit or statutory declaration from a solicitor for oaths or notary public

If you or your partner are divorced, you’ll also need to provide a decree of the absolution of the previous marriage. If your partner is widowed, you’ll need a death certificate of your prior spouse.

If you’re a non-UK citizen, you’ll require a certificate of no impediment bearing the apostille stamp. The process of obtaining this will require different steps for different countries. Check with your country’s Office of Authentications for specific details.

The process

To apply for a civil marriage or a civil partnership in Santorini, you must make a reservation at Santorini Town hall via your wedding planner  or in-person to the marriage officer in the municipality of Santorini.

For religious weddings, you must contact the registered officiant at the house of worship where you plan to marry.

Normally, you must marry within 15 days at the earliest and three months at the latest from the time you apply. Therefore, plan to stay in Santorini for around 20 days. Alternatively, you can pay a fee to get married within three business days. If you wait until after three months from your application, that application is considered void.

After the wedding, the marriage officer will send a certified copy of the marriage certificate to your home country’s embassy in Santorini.

What fees are involved?

For wedding packages and fees for marriage in Santorini, you should check packages below :

When considering your wedding budget, you and your guests can save money on cross border payments using TransferWise. The Borderless account allows you to hold and manage money in multiple currencies, without steep bank fees or bad exchange rates. TransferWise uses the same real exchange rate you’ll find on Google and applies a low fixed fee.

What should I know about wedding ceremonies in Santorini?

Many couples opt for an outdoor wedding in Santorini in private wedding venues, because of weather and beautiful beach escapes. Whether it’s in a church, outside, in a villa or within the town hall, if you complete your paperwork you’re free to marry where you please. Agencies and wedding planning companies can assist you with required paperwork and other planning.

The following embassy and consulate websites will give you additional information:

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The cost of a wedding in Santorini

To get a headstart on budget planning, here are some cost estimates for wedding-related items in Santorini. Some luxury villas and hotels will provide package deals that include food, venue hire and a wedding planner for a set cost. These can average around €5,000 for 30 guests, depending on the level of formality you seek. See below for individual estimates for a 30-person, moderately formal wedding:

Item Approximate cost in Santorini
Seven night accommodation at a villa for all Guests €3,000
Paperwork and administrative costs €200 – 400
Reception Site €1,000
Flowers €500
Decorations €300
Dress, Shoes, Accessories €600
Wedding Planner €800
Photographer €325
Cake €100
Drinks €900
Food €900

Top wedding locations in Santorini

You’ll often find couples getting married in the following Cypriot locations:

Wedding traditions and customs in Santorini

Santorini culture is rich with tradition. You may want to include some or all of the following wedding traditions in your ceremony:

  1. Bread – Santorini often bake glstarkes for guests, and bake koulouria for decorations
  2. Music – In village weddings, ceremonies often commence at the groom’s house with the playing of traditional songs
  3. Dance – In Christian weddings, a priest may lead the couple around a table three times to symbolize ancient Christian traditions
  4. Bouquet – in traditional heterosexual weddings, a groom may wait outside the church with the bride’s bouquet until her father walks her up to him
  5. Scarves and crowns – traditionally, guests wrap red scarves around the couple and place crowns, or stefana, on their heads

Santorini is an exotic and beautiful destination for weddings. It’s also a more budget-friendly choice, and because destination weddings there are so common, you’re sure to find lots of companies and websites to help plan your big day.