Getting married in Greece: the legal steps, the timing and the places

A marriage in Greece is legal in one of two ways. A civil ceremony is held by the mayor or a deputy, at the town hall or at a place the municipality approves, and is open to couples of any nationality. A religious ceremony in the Greek Orthodox Church is legal on its own, and so are those of some other recognised faiths; each church has its own requirements, usually starting with baptism certificates.

Everything else, a blessing on a beach, a celebrant under an olive tree, is symbolic. It can be the most beautiful part of the day, but it does not marry you. Many couples marry at home or at a short civil ceremony in Greece, and hold the celebration they want as a symbolic ceremony.

Since 2024, civil marriage in Greece has been open to same-sex couples. Check how your own country recognises a marriage made abroad before you set the date.

Every town hall publishes its own list, and couples of different nationalities are asked for different things, so ask the municipality you will marry in before you order anything. The usual list for each of you:

• A valid passport.
• A full birth certificate, the kind that names your parents.
• A certificate of no impediment (sometimes called a certificate of freedom to marry) from your own country, saying you are free to marry.
• If either of you was married before, the divorce decree or the death certificate.

Documents from abroad need an apostille, the stamp that makes a public document valid in another country, and an official translation into Greek. Many town halls also want them recent, often issued within the last few months. A certificate of no impediment can take weeks to come, so start three to six months before the wedding.

1. For a civil wedding, a notice of the marriage is published in a local newspaper. The town hall tells you which, and asks for a copy.
2. You apply to the municipality for the marriage licence with your translated documents and a fee. It usually comes within days, and stays valid for six months.
3. You marry on the agreed day, before two witnesses with identity documents.
4. The marriage is registered at the local civil registry, the lixiarcheio, within forty days. Late registration brings a fine.
5. You ask for the marriage certificate with an apostille, to register the marriage in your own country.

Most couples from abroad have a local planner or lawyer handle the steps, and the town hall may still want to see you in person a few working days before the wedding. There is no residency requirement, but there is no rushing the paperwork either.

The season runs from May to October. June and September are the sweet spot: warm, settled, the sea already swimmable, and the islands calmer than in high summer. July and August are hot and busy, and the meltemi, the summer north wind of the Aegean, can make an exposed hilltop ceremony a lot breezier than the photographs suggest.

Spring and late October are cheaper and greener, with a real chance of rain. If the ceremony is outdoors, have a plan for both sun and wind.

Santorini has the caldera views everyone knows, and the crowds and prices that come with them. Paros and Naxos are quieter, with whitewashed villages and long beaches. Crete is big enough to have mountains, villages and two airports. Corfu, in the Ionian, is greener and softer. On the mainland, Nafplio has an old town and a castle above the sea, and the Athens Riviera keeps everything an hour from the airport.

Getting guests there is half the decision. An island with its own airport is easy; one reached only by ferry from Piraeus needs a timetable, a plan for rough-weather days, and more nights away. Tell guests early which it is.

The island and the month first: Santorini in September costs more than Naxos in June, for the same day. Then the venue's minimum spend, which matters more than its price per head, and transport between the airport, the port, the hotels and the venue. The paperwork is the small part, though translations and apostilles are charged per document and add up.

Ask every venue for its minimum, what it includes and what it does not, before you fall for a view.

Send the save the date nine to twelve months ahead, so guests can book leave, flights and ferries while there are seats. The invitation follows ten to twelve weeks before, with the travel details, and replies should close six to eight weeks before the day, earlier than at home, because boats, transfers and venues abroad want numbers sooner.

Put the practical things where guests can find them again: the nearest airport, the ferry, where to stay, how to get from the hotel to the ceremony. A Greek wedding often has guests from three or four countries; every drawn design on MyEventOS reads in Greek, English, German, Hebrew and Russian, and each guest chooses.