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 an authorized source before you send them to me so I can start on my end the Greek part of the paperwork.

But that first part, before the papers get in to my hands, will cost you around 500 euro to 1000 euro (depending where you come from) which you are called to pay.

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 and you will pay for that as well. 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.

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.

Wedding documents require to be translated only by Greek authorities,
such as a Greek Consulate or Embassy (in your city or country) or
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Athens.
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.

Santorini legal Wedding documents

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 Wedding Legal Requirements

UK * AUSTRALIA * USA * CANADA * HONG KONG-CHINA * BRAZIL * SOUTH AFRICA * SWEDEN * NETHERLANDS

Please read below the documentation required.

WE UPDATE THIS SITE AS YOU READ SO WE DON'T HAVE LISTED YET ALL THE COUNTRIES. PLEASE COME BACK IN A FEW DAYS OR SEND US AN EMAIL FOR MORE INFORMATION.

FOR UNITED KINGDOM

1. Bride's and Groom's copy of their passports and you must be older than 18 years old. (If you will have your own witnesses, we require a copy of their passports as well).

2. Birth certificates for both with all the information in print and not handwritten.

3. Non Impediment form for both, not older than 3 months from the date of your wedding.

4. Divorce Certificate or Death Certificate if any.

5. If you have changed your name, we need the court certificate for that.

6. Apostle stamp for ALL your papers from :

The Legalization Office
Foreign & Commonwealth Office
Old Admiralty Building
The Mall
London SW1A 2LG (for more information please click here

7. ALL papers must be translated and authenticated ONLY by a Greek Embassy or Consultant OR via our agency. NO OTHER SOURCE IS ACCEPTABLE.

8. You have to be in Santorini 1 working day after the wedding to register the wedding and the Town Hall will send you the marriage certificate by post.

If you want to see samples of the papers you have to gather please click the links below:
birth certificate non impediment form divorce apostille stamp

FOR AUSTRALIA

1. You have to be in Santorini 1 working day after the wedding to register the wedding and the Town Hall will send you the marriage certificate by post.

2. Bride's and Groom's copy of their passports and you must be older than 18 years old. (If you will have your own witnesses, we require a copy of their passports as well).

3. Birth certificates for both with all the information in print and not handwritten.

4. Certificate of Non Impediment for both from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, not older than 3 months from the date of your wedding.

5. No Records Result from the Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages for both, not older than 3 months from the date of your wedding.

6. Divorce Certificate or Death Certificate if any.

7. If you have changed your name, we need the court certificate for that.

8. Apostille stamp for each Australian paper separately from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. For more information please click here.

9. ALL papers must be translated and authenticated ONLY by a Greek Embassy or Consultant OR via our agency. NO OTHER SOURCE IS ACCEPTABLE.

If you want to see samples of the papers you have to gather please click the links below:
birth certificate non impediment certificate no records result divorce Apostille stamp

FOR UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

There are 2 different ways to gather your paperwork:

*First way*

Send your birth certificates and your divorce if any for Apostille stamps (total 3 stamps) to your Secretary of State and contact your US Embassy in Athens to give you an Affidavit, 2 papers in total, 1 for you and 1 for your fiance. You can contact the embassy here 91 Vasilissis Sophias Avenue, Athens 10160, Greece, Telephone: 30-210-721-2951 and email them here AthensAmEmb@state.gov

*Second way*

1. Marriage license from your country (we know it is valid only in the USA but we still require this)

2. Bride's and Groom's copy of their passports and you must be older than 18 years old. (If you will have your own witnesses, we require a copy of their passports as well).

3. Birth certificates the long form for both with all the information in print and not handwritten.

4. Single Status letter from your State registrar.

5. A notary public statement saying you are free to marry. To see how it looks like, please click here.

6. Divorce Certificate (final decree) or Death Certificate if any. (If the bride and/or groom have been divorced, a divorce decree is needed. The bride may not marry if she has been divorced for less than 10 months.)

7. If you have changed your name, we need the court certificate for that.

8. Apostille stamp for each US paper separately from your State Department. PLEASE NOTE THAT THE BIRTH CERTIFICATES NEED THE APOSTILLE STAMP FROM THE STATE THEY ARE ISSUED AND NOT FROM THE STATE YOU LIVE. For more information please click here.

9. ALL papers must be translated and authenticated ONLY by a Greek Embassy or Consultant OR via our agency. NO OTHER SOURCE IS ACCEPTABLE.

10. You have to be in Santorini 1 working day after the wedding to register the wedding and the Town Hall will send you the marriage certificate by post.

Because in every State the certificates and apostille looks different, we didn't publish samples to avoid confusion.

FOR CANADA

1. You have to be in Santorini 1 working day after the wedding to register the wedding and the Town Hall will send you the marriage certificate by post.

2. Bride's and Groom's copy of their passports and you must be older than 18 years old. (If you will have your own witnesses, we require a copy of their passports as well).

3. Birth certificates the long form for both with all the information in print and not handwritten. For more information please click here.

4. Notice of Search Marriage from the Ministry of Consumer and Business Services. For more information please click here.

5. A notary public statement saying you are free to marry. The sample you will see in a while is for USA but the text is the same for Canada too. To see how it looks like, please click here.

6. Divorce Certificate (final decree) or Death Certificate if any. For more information please click here.

7. If you have changed your name, we need the court certificate for that.

8.. ALL papers must be translated and authenticated ONLY by a Greek Embassy or Consultant OR via our agency. NO OTHER SOURCE IS ACCEPTABLE.

FOR HONG KONG - CHINA

1. Marriage ordinance for both bride and groom.

2. Birth Certificates for both bride and groom. (please note that mainland China has different birth certificate from Hong Kong which is acceptable)

3. Divorce Certificate (final decree) or Death Certificate if any.

4. If you have changed your name, we need the court certificate for that.

5. ALL papers must be translated and authenticated ONLY by a Greek Embassy or Consultant . NO OTHER SOURCE IS ACCEPTABLE.

6. Apostle stamp for ALL your Chinese/Hong Kong papers except copies of the passports. For more information click here

7. ALL papers must be translated and authenticated ONLY by a Greek Embassy or Consultant OR via our agency. NO OTHER SOURCE IS ACCEPTABLE. See contact information below:

*Embassy of Greece in Beijing, China - Guang Hua Lu 19, Jianguomenwai, Beijing 100600. Tel: (008610) 65321391, 65321317, 65321588. Fax: 65321277. E-mail: grembpek@163bj.com

*General Consulate of Greece in Hong Kong - Two Pacific Place, 88 Queensway, Suite 2503, Hong Kong. Tel: (00852) 27741682. Fax: 27059796.

9. You have to be in Santorini 1 working day after the wedding to register the wedding and the Town Hall will send you the marriage certificate by post.

If you want to see samples of the papers you have to gather please click the links below:
birth certificate marriage ordinance

FOR BRAZIL

1. Marriage license

2. Birth Certificates for both bride and groom.

3. Divorce Certificate (final decree) or Death Certificate if any.

4. If you have changed your name, we need the court certificate for that.

5. ALL papers must be translated and authenticated ONLY by a Greek Embassy or Consultant . NO OTHER SOURCE IS ACCEPTABLE.

If you want to see samples of the papers you have to gather please click the links below:
birth certificate marriage license

FOR SOUTH AFRICA

1 working day after the wedding to register your wedding.
Copy of passport
birth certificate (originals)
certificate of marital status (no impediment)
divorce if any older than 10 months or death certificate (original)
if you have changed your name we need the court order. (original)
All the above papers need to be translated by a Greek Embassy or Consultant (except the copy of the passport)
All the above need apostille stamp (except the copy of the passport)
it will help you a lot if you will visit http://www.dfa.gov.za/consular/legalisation.htm for the Apostille stamp.

FOR SWEDEN

1. Marriage license

2. Birth Certificates for both bride and groom.

3. Divorce Certificate (final decree) or Death Certificate if any.

4. If you have changed your name, we need the court certificate for that.

5. Apostle stamp for ALL your papers except copies of the passports. For more information:

Ministry of Justice
Division for Family and Business Law (L2)
103 33 STOCKHOLM
Sweden
tel.: +46 (8) 405 1000
fax: +46 (8) 202 734
e-mail: registrator@justice.ministry.se

6. ALL papers must be translated and authenticated ONLY by a Greek Embassy or Consultant OR via our agency if they are in English. NO OTHER SOURCE IS ACCEPTABLE.

If you want to see samples of the papers you have to gather please click the links below:
birth certificate marriage license

FOR NETHERLANDS

1. You have to be in Santorini 1 working day after the wedding to register the wedding and the Town Hall will send you the marriage certificate by post.

2. Bride's and Groom's copy of their passports and you must be older than 18 years old. (If you will have your own witnesses, we require a copy of their passports as well).

3. International Birth certificates for both the bride and the groom.

4. International Marriage License

5. International Certified copy of the data from the Basic Administration of Personal details.

6. Divorce Certificate or Death Certificate if any.

7. If you have changed your name, we need the court certificate for that.

8. Apostille stamp for each Netherlands paper separately from:

Staatscommissie voor het Internationaal Privaatrecht
p/a Scheveningseweg 6
2517 KT DEN HAAG
tel.: +31 70 363 3303
fax: +31 70 360 4867

If you want to see samples of the papers you have to gather please click the links below:
birth certificate marriage license Basic Administration of Personal details

All your documents (in English/Your language and Greek) will be acquired by the Santorini Town Hall by John Kavallaris the civil marriage celebrant for proper documentation.

	For more Santorini weddings information's For your legal papers you can e mail Santorini Town Hall at : info@santoriniweddings.net

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

Wedding documents require to be translated only by Greek authorities, such as a Greek Consulate or Embassy (in your city or country) or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Athens. 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.

Santorini legal Wedding documents

Wedding documents require to be translated only by Greek authorities,
such as a Greek Consulate or Embassy (in your city or country) or
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Athens.
An independent translator with notary stamp is not accepted by the Greek authorities or church.