After the wedding:
After the ceremony has be performed the couple have a legal obligation to register the wedding at the local council within 4 days, failure to do so will result in the marriage having no validity.

Important
Please note that the paperwork that you provide to the Greek authorities is NOT returned to you after the wedding, they are kept on record.

USEFUL NOTES

Here are a few thinks you need to know before you decide if you want to have a legal or symbolic WEDDING in Santorini. No matter which country you come from, you have to gather a bunch of papers which they will need special stamps called Apostille and then translate your papers in Greek by the Greek Embassy of your area. After you get all your wedding documents, you have to send them to us via email so that we can finally start the Greek part of the paperwork.

Please keep in mind the below rules for a perfect and hassle free wedding:

• Greek translations are accepted only if they have been done by the Greek Embassy of your area.
• We need the wedding documents 1 month before the wedding, you have to email us copies to make sure nothing is missing.
• The wedding documents can not be dated older than 3 months from the day of your wedding date.
• You must follow the instructions listed on this website and our instructions only. Do not listen to any other sources no matter what these sources are, as we are here and they are out of country and they are not updated daily by our local authorities. Each part of Greece has different legal requirements. The information inside my pages, are only for Santorini.
• All documents that will submit us, will be held for ever by our Piece of Justice, so please request for new copies to send us if you need the old ones you have.

After you will get legally married here, it takes 1 month before your wedding planner will be able to send you the Greek marriage certificate in Greek, which needs to be translated back in English. So, although you will be married, it will take you another month before you will be able to register it to your country because our Town Hall registry is really busy and there is no way to get it sooner than this.

According to the Greek law, all the wedding documentation stays in our registry otherwise the wedding will not be legal.

You can obtain new documents by applying to the registry of births, deaths and marriages of your area.

So, if you wish to avoid all these expenses, headache and bureaucracy, the solution is to get legally married in your country and come to Santorini for a symbolic wedding which will be exactly the same in terms of ceremony. You miss nothing and you gain the money you would spend to prepare your paperwork.

Your guests will never know the difference and of course exists Confidentiality between you and our agency.

*All translators should be approved by the Greek Consulate or Embassy.

An independent translator with notary stamp is not accepted by the Greek authorities or church.

To keep you out of stress we can Official translate your wedding documents for you on low cost.

We inform you that the best months to get married are between May and November.

We organize Civil weddings, Symbolic ceremonies, Greek Weddings, Catholics weddings

Before you read the below legal requirements, it is important to understand that the these requirements are from the Greek government and not by us, therefore they might change so you have to contact your wedding planner 3 months before your wedding to get any updates and visit often our website

If you think that gathering all this paperwork is too complicated for you, know that many couples that happens to find difficulty with their paperwork as well, they are getting married back home with by just signing the papers at their town hall without taking the ceremony part and then they come here and they have the actual ceremony with the views of the ocean and the breathtaking sunset and all these times, their guests don’t even know about it

it is NOT acceptable to authenticate all your papers with only one Apostille!!! Each paper need a separate Apostille stamp!

CIVIL WEDDINGS

Wedding Documentation

Find here all appropriate documents for your wedding in Santorini

The documents required for a legal Civil Wedding in Santorini or elsewhere in Greece can vary slightly depending upon the country you will take them from and individual circumstances.

As a guide, please find some examples below;

However PLEASE CONTACT US DIRECTLY TO FIND OUT EXACTLY WHICH DOCUMENTS YOU WILL NEED TO PREPARE BACK HOME FOR A WEDDING IN SANTORINI!!!!!!

Please note that without the correct documents the civil wedding cannot be performed!!

 FOR EUROPEAN UNION CITIZENS:

• FULL BIRTH CERTIFICATES (with both parents names inside) with an APOSTILLE stamp, translated into Greek
• MARRIAGE LICENSE/SINGLE STATUS LETTER/ CAPACITY TO MARRY/ LETTER OF NO IMPEDIMENT with both of your names written on it, with an APOSTILLE stamp, translated into Greek.
• DIVORCE CERTIFICATE (if you have been married previously)
• Death Certificate, Deed Poll Certificate or Adoption Certificate (if appropriate)
• PHOTOCOPIES of your PASSPORTS

Please contact us for more information.

  FOR UNITED KINGDOM & AUSTRALIAN CITIZENS:

• FULL BIRTH CERTIFICATES (with both parents names inside) with an APOSTILLE stamp, translated into Greek
• SINGLE STATUS LETTER or LETTER OF NO IMPEDIMENT (one for each of you) with an APOSTILLE stamp, translated into Greek. “Single Status” is a document issued from your local Registrar and insures that you are free to get married.
• DIVORCE CERTIFICATE (if you have been married previously)
• Death Certificate, Deed Poll Certificate or Adoption Certificate (if appropriate)
• PHOTOCOPIES of your PASSPORTS

 FOR UNITED STATES OF AMERICA CITIZENS:

Actually there are two different options available to you!!!!

Please find both of them below (you will need to select the one that works for you)

OPTION 1 (DOCUMENTS TO BE TAKEN ONLY FROM USA):

• FULL BIRTH CERTIFICATES (with both parents names inside) with an APOSTILLE stamp, translated into Greek
• SINGLE STATUS LETTER or LETTER OF NO IMPEDIMENT (one for each of you) with an APOSTILLE stamp, translated into Greek. “Single Status” is a document issued from your local Registrar and insures that you are free to get married.
• MARRIAGE LICENSE with APOSTILLE (one license covers both of you), that is valid for a wedding outside of the state, translated in Greek
• AFFIDAVIT of SINGLE STATUS (no translation and no apostille is required) We will email to you this form for completion – it must be stamped from the Registrar’s office
• DIVORCE CERTIFICATE (if you have been married previously)
• Death Certificate, Deed Poll Certificate or Adoption Certificate (if appropriate)
• PHOTOCOPIES of your PASSPORTS

OPTION 2 (YOU WILL PASS BY IN PERSON TO THE USA EMBASSY IN ATHENS):

From the USA Embassy in Athens you will take in person an Affidavit of Marital Status to cover both the bride and groom INSTEAD of the Marriage License and Single Status letters as mentioned in Option 1 (above).

For more information you can contact the Embassy at:

91 Vasilisis Sophias Avenue

10160 Athens, Greece

Phone (Main Switchboard/Info): 30-210-721-2951

E-mail: [email protected]

The embassy requires that an appointment is booked  in order to issue the Affidavit of Marital Status.  You can book your appointment online here: https://athens.usembassy.gov/notaries.html

The following documents will be taken from USA (if you were born there) or from your country of origin.

• FULL BIRTH CERTIFICATES (with both parents names inside) with an APOSTILLE stamp, translated into Greek
• DIVORCE CERTIFICATE (if you have been married previously)
• Death Certificate, Deed Poll Certificate or Adoption Certificate (if appropriate)
• PHOTOCOPIES of your PASSPORTS

 FOR CANADIAN CITIZENS:

• FULL BIRTH CERTIFICATES (with both parents names inside) translated into Greek
• SINGLE STATUS LETTER or LETTER OF NO IMPEDIMENT (one for each of you) translated into Greek. “Single Status” is a document issued from your local Registrar and insures that you are free to get married
• AFFIDAVIT of SINGLE STATUS (no translation and no affidavit is required) We will email to you this form for completion – it must be stamped from the Registrar’s office
• DIVORCE CERTIFICATE (if you have been married previously)
• Death Certificate, Deed Poll Certificate or Adoption Certificate (if appropriate)
• PHOTOCOPIES of your PASSPORTS

As the documents from Canada do not carry Apostille all the documents must be stamped and translated ONLY by the Greek Embassy or Consulate, otherwise the Registrar cannot accept them.

  FOR RUSSIAN CITIZENS:

• BIRTH CERTIFICATES both of you with APOSTILLE STAMPED for each and translated to Greek
• SINGLE STATUS LETTER or LETTER OF NO IMPEDIMENT for each with APOSTILLE STAMPED and translated to Greek
• MARRIAGE LICENSE for each, you need to take it from ZAGS of your region with APOSTILLE and Translated to Greek
• PHOTOCOPY of your international PASSPORTS and VISA

 For more information regarding the required documents for Brazilian, Turkish, and Lebanon citizens, please contact us.

ADDITIONAL, IMPORTANT INFORMATION:

Apostille:

This is a pre-printed form prescribed by the Convention.

Only those nations party to the Hague Treaty will recognize the apostille certification.

The documents need Apostille stamp as they are official documents to be used outside of your country.

It is different in each country. Some have it as a stamp on the document whilst others as a separate sheet, together with your original document.

For more information how to obtain Apostille stamps in the US, please visit apostilleinfo.com/usa.htm

Translations:

The documents which require translation to Greek MUST be translated and authenticated ONLY by your local Greek Embassy or Consulate or official translators who are affiliated from the Greek Embassy or Consulate.

Original Documents:

We would like to inform you that in line with Greek law ALL the original documents you will provide to us for your wedding will be kept in your marriage file at the Town Hall.

This will include your birth certificates. Therefore it is a good idea to obtain certified copies of these if you want to keep them.

Issue Date:

The letter of No Impediment or Single Status letters must be issued NO more than 3 months prior to the wedding date or else the document will not be valid.

Timescales:

We need to receive the documents (including Apostilles as appropriate), first by e-mail two months prior to the wedding date to check them at the Registry office, and be sure that everything is correct.

In return we will send you a confirmation issued by the Municipality verifying that all the documents are in order.

The next step will be the translation.

Once all of your documents and the translations have been approved by the Municipality either you will send them with courier or you will bring all of the originals with you, but only if you are here on the island 5 days prior to the wedding date.

Marriage Certificate:

Your marriage certificate will be issued in Greek, about 3-4 weeks after your wedding and will be sent to you by registered mail.

If you like, we can also arrange translation of this from Greek to English and send it by courier to your home. This service is subject to an additional cost. Please ask us for what this is.