Greece › Santorini › Wedding Planning
Updated: April 20, 2022
By Santorini Dave
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Planning a Santorini Wedding
Getting married in Santorini is not easy. It takes a lot of preparation, planning, and paperwork. I’m not trying to discourage anyone from doing a Santorini wedding, but you need to know from the start what’s involved. Much of the wedding preparation and planning can be done by wedding planners in Santorini (including getting your personal documents translated into Greek), but there is still much you’ll need to do yourselves, so be prepared.
An alternative to an official wedding in Santorini is to have a symbolic ceremony that doesn’t require the legal documentation. The vows, ceremony, location, and wedding reception are all the same but without all the extra hassle. (You would, of course, have to take vows in your home country before or after your trip to make the marriage official.) This is a good idea especially for same-sex couples as currently, same-sex marriage is not legal in Greece.
And don’t forget: The Best Santorini Hotels should be booked many months in advance. (For a large group, I’d aim to book hotels 9 to 11 months in advance.)
A Santorini Wedding with Photographer in Imerovigli.
What documents are needed for a wedding in Santorini?
- Passports for both individuals
- Full birth certificates for both individuals
- Certificate of Non-Impediment to Marry for both individuals
- Death Certificate or Final Divorce Decree for individuals who have been married before
- Additional documents, depending on circumstance
All documents related to the marriage must be translated into Greek in advance and certified in the Greek embassy or consulate in your home country. Certain documents (like birth certificates) must also have an Apostille stamp.
Santorini Wedding Planners
Nicholas at Santorini Weddings and Michael from Weddings Santorini come highly recommended from several people. They’ll have answers on common questions like Santorini honeymoon hotels, wedding costs, wedding packages, venues, dress rental, and Santorini photographers.
Santorini Wedding Venues
Venetsanos Winery with views of the Santorini caldera and volcano. This Santorini winery (along with nearby Santo Wines) are popular wedding venues and should be reserved over a year in advance. (Prices vary by wedding package.)
What venues are available for a wedding in Santorini?
Santorini view hotels and Santorini wineries are popular wedding spots on the island. Some of the best locations for a Santorini wedding are:
- Le Ciel event facility – Imerovigli
- Santorini Princess Spa Hotel – Imerovigli
- Katikies Hotel – Oia
- Dana Villas – Firostefani
- Suites of the Gods Hotel – Megalochori
- Pyrgos restaurant – Pyrgos
- Sphinx restaurant – Fira
- Santo winery – Pyrgos
- Santa Irini Chapel – a small church on the caldera near Fira.
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Can anyone recommend a good wedding planner who is reasonable on price? Also how much easier is it to have a wedding planner?
I can only recommend the wedding planners I listed above. Wedding planners do make the whole process much easier. I don’t think I’d try to plan a Santorini wedding without one. But, of course, they are not cheap.
Hello!
Great article, got some valuable info from it.
Do you, by any chance, know in which hotel would be possible to accommodate 36 people and host the wedding?
Best regards.
There are many hotels that are wedding venues and have space for 36 people. The trouble is coordinating the two and reserving far enough in advance to ensure rooms for 36. Dana Villas and Santorini Princess are two hotels that are on the larger side and offer wedding packages. That’s where I’d start.
Hi Dave, we are getting married next year and need advice on best hotels/suites for large groups of guests. 20 or so. We want the accommodation to be in Fira, close to bars & restaurants. We were hoping for a few different options to decide between. Do you have any suggestions?
In the luxury category I’d book 3 or 4 of the villas at Aria Villas. Cheaper, but still a nice caldera view, is Kavalari (which should be able to fit 20 guests).
Hi Dave,
We’re getting married at Santo Wines next year and choosing an option where we bring our own alcohol to keep costs down. Do you have an idea of any wholesale liquor stores and any links to websites? Or is it best to import from another island?
Thanks in advance!
Nessa
I don’t know of any wholesalers but Carrefour (grocery store) has the cheapest alcohol on Santorini. There are a couple different outlets on the island, including Fira.
Hi Dave, your website has been super informative for us! We are planning a symbolic wedding in September on the beach in Santorini and we have had different feedback from wedding planners in regards to whether or not you officially need a licence to get married on the beach. One service we asked told us we can do the renewal of vows anywhere on the beach that we choose and somebody else said we need to have a licence that is usually attached to a restaurant that would hold the reception. We have been really confused about this and don’t want to get it wrong (or getting busted without a licence). Can you shed some light on this for us? Cheers, Marielle
I do not have any personal insight on this but my educated guess is that if you were doing the ceremony in one of the beach towns (e.g. Kamari or Perissa) you’d want to have a license. But if you were out on a deserted stretch of beach (e.g. Monolithos) then I’d be shocked if you had any troubles.
Hi Dave,
Thanks for the informative site on everything about Santorini! My husband and I would like to have symbolic wedding ceremony at Santorini in early May. Do you have the contacts of celebrant that could hold the simple ceremony? It is just two of us without any guests, may I know if we could do it without a wedding planner? XianYin
This site has good info on wedding venues and packages in Santorini.
Any thoughts on La Maltese for wedding venue and accommodations?
Dima
Great location and views. Not many steps so good if you’re having older/less mobile guests. Small pool.
We have reserved space at Le Ciel for an early September wedding on Santorini. We’re just not sure on where to stay. We are considering West East Hotel (how far is it from Le Ciel) or Cosmopolitan in Fira.
1. Which would you recommend West East or Cosmopolitan? A pool with a view is very important to us. Also, walking distance from Le Ciel.
2. Are there any bars or nightlife close to Le Ciel?
3. For guests, need a hotel with views, not crazy expensive, and close to nightlife. What would you recommend?
Both West East and Cosmopolitan are great hotels but quite different. West East does feel more honeymoonish. It’s in a quieter location (only a few minutes walk from Le Ciel). The pool is larger at West East but while it has great views it’s not right on the cliffside (there’s a foot path between the pool and the edge). The pool at Cosmopolitan is smaller but you can swim right up to the edge and peer down the cliff. Cosmopolitan is far better for proximity to nightlife – a 2 minutes walk vs a 30 minute walk (or bus/taxi) that it would take from West East. Likewise, there is not any nightlife near Le Ciel. Imerovigli town is a 12 minute walk and there are some great restaurants there but not clubs or bars. For that you’ll need to go to Fira (30 minute walk or a bus or taxi ride). Kavalari Hotel in Fira is reasonably priced and has great views of the caldera. Many bars and clubs are within a 3 minute walk of the hotel’s front gate.