Planning timeline
Your Santorini Wedding, Month by Month
From the first email to the final signature at the Town Hall — the exact order we plan every wedding in.
The short answer
Give a Santorini wedding about a year if you want first pick of venue and date. The hard deadlines: legal documents issued within 3 months of the wedding, copies with us 2 months before, you on the island 2 days before — and one working day after for the civil signature.
The countdown
The Planning Timeline We Use
12+ months before
Choose your date and reserve it
Available days go fast on Santorini — caldera venues and sunset slots book out a year or more ahead for June and September. Pick a season with our best-time guide, then check the date with us before anything else.
10–8 months before
Decide the ceremony type and the venue
Legal civil wedding or symbolic ceremony? The choice decides your paperwork. Then match the venue to your guest count — chapel courtyard, caldera terrace or free venue.
8–6 months before
Book photographer, menu and the details
Flowers, photography, music, the reception menu — we hold your date with each vendor. This is also when guests should book flights and hotels; summer accommodation on the island fills early.
4–3 months before
Order your legal documents
For a civil wedding, the single-status letter must be issued no more than 3 months before the wedding date or it expires. Check the exact list for your nationality on our legal documents page before ordering anything.
2 months before
Send us your documents
We need copies of the wedding documents, including apostilles, by email two months before the wedding date, so we can check them with the Town Hall and fix any problem while there is still time.
2 days before
Arrive and meet us
Be on the island at least two days before the wedding. We hold a pre-wedding meeting to walk through every detail — timings, flowers, photos, the order of the day.
The day
Ceremony an hour before sunset
Our standing advice: hold the ceremony about an hour before sunset, then step straight into the golden-hour photo shoot while your guests take their seats for dinner.
1 working day after
The final signature
For civil weddings the couple signs at the Town Hall one working day after the ceremony — plan your departure for the day after that. Your marriage certificate follows by registered mail in about 3–4 weeks.
Before you start
Timeline Questions Couples Ask Us
How long does it take to plan a Santorini wedding?
A year is comfortable and gets you the venue and date you actually want. It can be done much faster — the fixed constraints are the legal documents (issued within 3 months of the wedding, with copies to us 2 months before) and venue availability.
Can we plan everything from abroad?
Yes — that is the point of a local planner. Everything up to the pre-wedding meeting happens by email and calls. You need to be on the island two days before the wedding, and for a civil wedding one working day after it for the final signature.
What if our documents have a problem?
That is why we ask for them two months early — we check every document with the Town Hall ourselves and there is time to reissue anything that isn't right.
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