A Destination Wedding Guide to Greece

Why Greece

Santorini sits at number one in our top ten destination wedding locations, and the caldera sunset genuinely earns it. But Greece is so much more than one crescent of cliff. There are some six thousand islands and islets, and between them and the mainland I can choose a whitewashed terrace above a volcano, a windmill-dotted party island, a Venetian harbour on Crete or a temple-crowned cape an hour or so from Athens — then feed everyone grilled octopus either way.

And Greeks take weddings seriously, which mostly means joyfully. Dancing in a circle that keeps pulling more people in, a sponsor who crowns you, sugared almonds by the bowlful, and a party that thinks midnight is the warm-up. Your guests will also be easy to convince: the islands are already on everybody's someday list, and you're simply giving them a date.

If you've also been weighing Italy, our Italy guide covers its four very different wedding regions — but Greece is where I'm putting my deposit.

Where to stay (and say “I do”)

Santorini — for the sunset

This is the view: a ring of white villages clinging to the rim of a drowned volcano, three hundred metres above the water, turning gold and then pink at the exact moment you'd want to be saying your vows. Le Ciel in Imerovigli is one of the island's best-known wedding venues — a caldera-edge terrace with a white gazebo — and Santo Wines near Pyrgos lets you marry on a winery terrace with the whole caldera spread out below. Caldera venues are small, steep and stepped, so this is the island for intimate weddings rather than two-hundred-guest marathons, and the sunset slot books first. Guests stay in Fira, Imerovigli or Oia and the ones who skip the stairs get a minivan.

Mykonos — for the party

If Santorini is the vows, Mykonos is the after-party. The island is whitewashed lanes, hundreds of tiny blue-doored chapels and a row of windmills on the ridge above town, and the sunset drinks in Little Venice — balconies hanging right over the waves — are the welcome evening that writes itself. Cavo Tagoo, on the cliff above Mykonos Town with views across to Delos, hosts sleek, intimate weddings; plenty of couples rent a hillside villa and bring the whole thing in. It's glamorous and expensive in July and August, and far more relaxed in June and September. For the same Cycladic look at a gentler pace, neighbouring Paros and Naxos are well worth a look.

Crete — for the big fat Greek weekend

Crete is the one I keep coming back to. It's Greece's biggest island, with two airports, mountains, gorges, pink-sand beaches and tavernas that pour raki before you've ordered — which means room for a hundred-plus guests and a three-day itinerary without anyone getting bored. In the east, Elounda's resorts look out over the old fortress island of Spinalonga: the Blue Palace runs boat trips across to it. In the west, Chania's Venetian harbour is made for a long welcome dinner, and the lagoon at Balos is the hangover swim of everyone's dreams. Venue prices here go noticeably further than in the Cyclades.

The Athens Riviera — for the easy logistics

Under an hour south of the airport, the coast road runs past coves and beach clubs to Cape Sounion, where the Temple of Poseidon has been watching the sunset for two and a half thousand years. You can't marry inside the archaeological site, but Grecotel Cape Sounio, on the pine slope opposite, gives you the temple as your backdrop; closer to the city, Vouliagmeni's Four Seasons Astir Palace does a polished seaside wedding. The great advantage: nobody needs a ferry. Add a rooftop welcome drink with the Acropolis lit up behind you and you have the whole of ancient Greece in one weekend.

Two honourable mentions: Corfu, green and Venetian in the Ionian Sea, with its own direct flights from much of Europe; and Rhodes, where the little chapel at St Paul's Bay below Lindos is one of the most photographed wedding spots in the country.

1. 1 Santorini stay & marry
2. 2 Mykonos stay & marry
3. 3 Crete stay & marry
4. 4 Athens Riviera stay & marry
5. 5 Meteora adventure
6. 6 Samaria Gorge adventure
7. 7 Athens fly into
8. 8 Heraklion fly into

Beyond the ceremony

Greece hands you the adventures between the beaches. Here's what's on my list.

• Walk the caldera rim. The path from Fira to Oia runs about 10 km along the cliff edge through Imerovigli, three to five hours depending on how many photos you stop for. Start early — there's almost no shade — and finish in Oia for sunset. It's the perfect hen do: one long walk, one long lunch.
• Hike the Samaria Gorge. Crete's great gorge is a long day — roughly 16 km and five to seven hours from the mountain plateau down to the sea at Agia Roumeli, through the famous Iron Gates where the walls close to a few metres apart. There's no road out, so you finish with a swim in the Libyan Sea and a ferry along the coast. It's open roughly May to October.
• Sail into the volcano. Charter a catamaran for the wedding party, climb the black lava of Nea Kameni at the centre of Santorini's caldera, and swim to the warm, rust-coloured springs off Palea Kameni. Then watch the sunset from the water, where nobody's elbows are in your photos.
• Climb to the monasteries of Meteora. On the mainland, six working monasteries still sit on top of giant rock pillars above Kalambaka. Hike the old monks' paths between them, or rope up with a local guide and climb the towers themselves. It's the post-wedding road trip nobody else will think of.
• Kayak to Kleftiko. On Milos, a short hop from Santorini, sea kayaks slip through the arches and sea caves of the old pirate hideout at Kleftiko. Bring snorkels and leave your phone in the dry bag.

“Six hours down a gorge, a swim in the Libyan Sea, a boat home at sunset — I want that to be the day before the wedding.

When to go, month by month

The Greek wedding season is defined by the islands: most Cycladic hotels and venues open around April and close by early November, and June and September book out first. The calendar below shows the trade-offs. Temperatures are typical daytime highs for Santorini and the Cyclades (Athens runs a few degrees hotter in July and August); price runs from $ (low-season bargain) to $$$ (peak).

Two things to plan around. In July and August the meltemi — a strong, dry northerly wind — sweeps the Aegean: it keeps the heat bearable but tugs at veils, flattens arches and occasionally cancels ferries, so build in a spare day. And 15 August, the Feast of the Assumption, is the biggest holiday of the Greek summer, when the whole country heads to the islands. Note the Orthodox Easter date too, which often differs from the Western one and fills the ferries.

Getting there

Athens International (ATH) is the long-haul gateway: around 3¾ hours from London, roughly ten direct from New York in season, about five from Dubai, and one stop from Sydney or Melbourne. From Athens, domestic flights reach Santorini (JTR), Mykonos (JMK), Heraklion (HER) and Chania (CHQ) in under an hour, and between April and October many European cities fly straight to the islands. Corfu (CFU) and Rhodes (RHO) have their own direct routes too.

Then there are the ferries, which are half the fun. High-speed boats from Piraeus reach Santorini in around five hours (the big conventional ferries take longer and are cheaper); Mykonos is a few hours from Piraeus or Rafina; and in season a fast ferry links Heraklion and Santorini, so a two-island wedding is genuinely possible. The catch is the summer wind, and a guest list scattered across Athens, two islands and five ferry timetables. Collect flights, ferries and hotels as part of the RSVP rather than chasing them by message — our guide to organising guest travel covers the system.

The paperwork (and the party)

A legal civil wedding in Greece is very doable for foreign couples, but it rewards patience. The town hall of the municipality where you'll marry issues the licence, and typically wants your passports, birth certificates and a certificate of no impediment (proof you're free to marry), with apostilles and official Greek translations. Most municipalities also require a notice of your intention to marry, published in a local newspaper (or posted at the town hall) before you apply. After the ceremony, the marriage is registered locally and the certificate apostilled for home. Requirements vary between town halls, so a local planner is worth every euro here. Same-sex couples can marry in a civil ceremony since Greece legalised it in 2024. A Greek Orthodox church wedding generally needs at least one Orthodox partner; a symbolic ceremony needs no paperwork at all and can happen on any terrace, beach or boat you like.

And then the party. Your koumbaros or koumbara — a sponsor, far more than a best man — swaps the stefana, two crowns joined by a ribbon, over your heads three times. Guests take home koufeta, sugared almonds in odd numbers so they can't be split in two. At some point the circle dances begin and never quite stop, someone will pin money on your clothes, and if you're lucky the venue still allows a little plate-smashing (most now prefer that everyone throws flowers). Before the wedding there's even the krevati, where friends make the marriage bed and toss coins and rice on it for luck. I intend to do all of it.

I came for the ferries and found everything else: caldera sunsets, chapel-dotted islands, a gorge to the sea and a monastery on a pillar of rock. Once you've picked your island, work through the practical sequence — budget, timeline, guest logistics — in our ultimate destination wedding planning guide. I'll be the one at the bottom of the Samaria Gorge, boots off, waiting for the boat.