Sunday, Town Hall or Beach Wedding in Greece: Rules

Can You Marry in Greece on a Sunday, in a Town Hall, on a Beach? The Rules

The short answer to all three: it depends on the town. Greek law leaves the days and places of civil weddings to each mayor, so a Sunday sunset ceremony on a harbour front is routine in one municipality and impossible in the next.

We read the published decisions of several municipalities popular with couples from abroad. They differ more than most guides suggest, and they show which questions to ask yours.

TL;DR:

• A civil wedding happens wherever and whenever the local mayor's decision allows: the town hall, and often parks, squares, harbour fronts or beaches the municipality has designated.
• Sundays: allowed in some places (Hersonissos at weekends and holidays, Chania's outdoor spots in summer, Platanias in summer) and not in others (Rhodes, in its 2018 decision). Corfu's central municipality marries couples on Thursdays and the last Saturday of the month.
• Beaches: only where the municipality lists the beach as a ceremony place. Rhodes lists several, from Faliraki to Tsambika and Vlicha near Lindos.
• Hotels and private venues: the decisions we read list municipal buildings and public spaces only. A legal civil ceremony at a private venue is something to confirm with the town hall first.
• Symbolic ceremonies have no legal effect, so they can be held wherever your venue allows.

Who decides where and when you can marry?

Each mayor does. Under Greece's civil marriage rules (Presidential Decree 391/1982, article 5, as amended by Law 4483/2017), the mayor sets by standing decision the regular days and the places for civil weddings in the municipality. The 2017 wording expressly allows Saturdays and Sundays, and more than one municipal building plus outdoor municipal spaces. Municipalities publish these decisions on Diavgeia, the Greek government's transparency portal.

The places are usually the town hall and the offices of the smaller communities within the municipality, plus outdoor municipal spaces the mayor names one by one. Fees vary too. Greece's register of public procedures (mitos.gov.gr) lists the civil ceremony fee as €0 to €150, depending on the municipality.

Can you get married on a Sunday in Greece?

Sometimes. From the decisions we read:

• Rhodes (2018): any day except Sunday, starting from 11:00 and finishing before 21:00.
• Chania, Crete (2018): outdoor municipal spaces on Saturdays and Sundays from June to October, 18:00 to 20:00. The town hall itself marries couples on weekday hours and on some Saturdays.
• Platanias, Crete (2018): Wednesday to Sunday from May to October, Wednesday to Saturday in winter.
• Hersonissos, Crete (2026): weekdays from 08:00 to 15:00 at its town halls, and weekday evenings, weekends and public holidays from 08:00 to 19:00, at town halls or outdoor spaces.
• Central Corfu (2020): Thursdays from 11:00 to 14:00 and the last Saturday of each month, with other days only in exceptional cases by arrangement. Corfu was split into three municipalities in 2019, and this is the one covering Corfu Town.
• Thessaloniki (2025): Wednesdays and Thursdays, plus one Saturday a month, at 18:00.

Mayors change these decisions. We found newer rules for Hersonissos, Corfu and Thessaloniki. For Rhodes, Chania and Platanias, the latest schedules we could find are from 2018. Use them as a picture of how much towns differ, and ask yours for the current schedule before you set a date.

Do you have to marry in the town hall?

No, if your municipality designates other places. Some examples:

• Central Corfu names the Maraslio building, the historic San Giacomo town hall and the Ionian Parliament, plus Faliraki, the Boschetto garden, Mon Repos and the People's Garden.
• Chania names spots along Akti Tompazi on the harbour front, the Koundouros villa park, a park in Nea Chora and the Sabbionara gate. Separately, in 2025 the Chania Municipal Port Fund was granting couples up to 20 square metres at the Agios Nikolaos bastion in the Venetian harbour, or on the breakwater east of the lighthouse, for €200 a day, after the local archaeological service approved those two spots and turned down others in the old town.
• Hersonissos allows outdoor spaces for its evening, weekend and holiday ceremonies.
• Platanias (2018) lists open spaces in its villages, from Kolymvari to the Omalos plateau and the monumental olive tree at Vouves.
• Thessaloniki uses the town hall inside and out, and by exception the gardens of Casa Bianca and Villa Mordoch on weekdays.

Fees for these spaces can differ from the town hall fee, and some sit above the €0 to €150 range on mitos. Hersonissos charges couples who don't live there €200 for a weekday ceremony and €350 for an evening, weekend, holiday or outdoor one (2026). Rhodes lists a €70 fee to the municipality for the ceremony. In a 2018 decision, Chania's municipal council set no fee for weekday ceremonies at the town hall, €100 for a Saturday there, and €200 for a weekend ceremony at an outdoor municipal space. Check what applies today.

Can you legally get married on a beach in Greece?

Yes, where the municipality has named the beach as a place for civil weddings. Rhodes does: its civil wedding page, last updated in January 2024, lists the beaches of Faliraki, Koskinou, Afandou, Kolymbia, Tsambika, Stegna, Agia Agathi and Charaki, and Vlicha beach near Lindos, along with St Paul's chapel and jetty in Lindos, the acropolis of Filerimos and the Kallithea springs. An earlier 2018 decision also named Lindos main beach, which the current page doesn't list, so ask.

If your municipality hasn't designated a beach, a legal civil wedding on one isn't on offer there. A symbolic ceremony on the beach is, as long as the venue or beach owner agrees, and you can marry legally at the town hall or at home.

What about a hotel, a villa or a private venue?

The decisions we read list municipal buildings and public municipal spaces. None lists a private hotel or villa. If a package offers a legal civil ceremony at a private venue, ask the town hall directly whether the mayor will marry you there, and get the answer in writing. If the answer is no, the venue can still host a symbolic ceremony and the reception.

Church weddings follow the Church's rules, not the mayor's. An Orthodox wedding takes place in a church, and a chapel at a hotel or estate needs the local Metropolis to agree, so ask before you book. Our guide to civil, Orthodox and symbolic ceremonies covers who can marry in an Orthodox church.

Questions to ask your town hall

Email the civil marriage office (grafeio politikon gamon) of the municipality, in English or with a short Greek version:

1. Which days and hours do you marry couples, and in which month does the summer schedule start?
2. Which places can we choose: the town hall, and which outdoor spaces?
3. What is the fee for each day and place?
4. How far ahead do we need to book the date, and can we do it before we arrive in Greece?
5. Does the mayor or a deputy come to an outdoor place, and who sets the exact time?

The legal steps before the ceremony stay the same wherever you marry: documents filed in person, a licence about a week later, and registration within 40 days. Our Greece wedding timeline from abroad puts them in order, and the guides for EU citizens and Irish, Canadian and Australian citizens cover the documents.

Telling guests where to be

A harbour bastion at 18:00 and a reception in a village twenty minutes away is two places, two times and a transfer. A wedding website with a map for each, plus wedding RSVP to find out who needs the shuttle, saves a lot of questions. See our destination wedding in Greece page for the rest of the guest side.

Ask us about your town

We're not wedding planners. Email us at [email protected] and we'll explain the paperwork for the town you're considering and suggest Greek vendors that fit your date, place and budget. Neutral advice, free, and we pass your details to a vendor only once you say so.

Frequently asked questions

Can you get married on a Sunday in Greece? In some municipalities. Hersonissos marries couples at weekends and on holidays, Chania's outdoor spaces host civil weddings on summer Sundays, and Rhodes, in its 2018 decision, excluded Sundays. Ask the town hall for its current days.

Can you legally get married on a beach in Greece? Yes, if the municipality has designated that beach as a place for civil weddings, as Rhodes has with Faliraki, Tsambika, Vlicha and others. Otherwise a beach ceremony can only be symbolic.

Can a civil wedding take place at a hotel in Greece? The municipal decisions we read list only municipal buildings and public spaces. Ask the town hall before you rely on a hotel ceremony being legal.

How much does a civil wedding ceremony cost in Greece? Greece's register of public procedures lists €0 to €150, depending on the municipality, but some charge more: Hersonissos asks non-residents €200 on weekdays and €350 for evening, weekend or outdoor ceremonies. Rhodes lists €70.

Can an Orthodox wedding be held outdoors? Orthodox weddings take place in a church. A chapel at a hotel or private estate needs the local Metropolis to agree.

Recommended

• Civil, Orthodox or Symbolic Wedding in Greece
• Greece Wedding Timeline From Abroad, Month by Month
• Getting Married in Greece as an EU Citizen
• Island Wedding Travel: Ferries and Transfers