Weddings in Cyprus. Your guide to getting married in Cyprus

Cyprus is one of the top wedding destinations in Europe. Thousands of couples visit Cyprus and get married every year and almost all of them feel more than happy for choosing Cyprus for their wedding.

If I had to describe your wedding in Cyprus in three short bullet points, then: 

• Legal weddings in Cyprus are absolutely legal, valid and recognized worldwide.
• The procedure, provided that you have all the necessary documents with you, is very simple and fast. 
• Getting married in Cyprus is a great opportunity to combine your dream wedding with wonderful holidays and an equally special honeymoon.

By making your wedding in Cyprus, you will have a few pleasant headaches to solve. Like, to which of all those fascinating wedding venues to get married? Or which one of those wonderful places to choose for my wedding reception? With many professional companies and wedding planners to support you, a lot of the worries vanish, and you concentrate on what really matters, your wedding.

 

General information about Cyprus weddings

Every year thousands of couples from Europe, Russia, Israel, the Middle East and all over the world get married in Cyprus. This created a weddings industry in Cyprus which is now mature and experienced. By now, there are many well established, professional companies and wedding planners that are ready to successfully undertake any kind of wedding. For anyone planning to marry in Cyprus, this means that the couple can expect a wonderful and memorable wedding day, with no problems 
Many of these companies and wedding planners offer wedding packages. The packages can be as simple as just preparing the documents required for your wedding, making the necessary paperwork and closing a wedding venue for you, and go all the way to wedding packages that include just about everything. Prices, of course, vary accordingly. You will be able to find a wedding package that is cheap, affordable or expensive. Decide whether you will let the professionals prepare everything for you, or if you will actively take part in the wedding preparation. It is your unique day and your decision about how to make it unforgettable!
Wedding packages are not, of course, the only option to get married in Cyprus. Whether you plan a small, intimate wedding or a bespoke wedding, again Cyprus is your place to be!

 

Legal requirements, wedding procedure, and weddings legal issues

If you require to have a wedding that is legal both in Cyprus and abroad, then there are certain formalities you must follow.

Are weddings in Cyprus recognized? Yes, they are recognized all over the world. 
How many days in Cyprus before the wedding? Residency and waiting period requirements.
Where to start in order to make arrangements for your marriage in Cyprus.

 

 

Necessary paperwork and documentation: the absolute must-have in order to be able to get married

All non-Cypriots need to provide the following certificates in order to get married in Cyprus. If any of them is missing, then there is no way to get married, so please be careful with these:

1. Recent Certificate of marital status from an official Government Authority, like Town Hall, Ministry of Interior, Registry Office, Embassy, etc.
2. Birth Certificate
3. In case one of the spouses was married before, then an official Divorce Certificate is required
4. In case one of the spouses widowed, then a Death Certificate of the deceased spouse is required
5. Valid original Passport or European ID Card. The passport must be valid for at least six months from the date of the wedding
6. In case one of the spouses is less than 18 years old, evidence that parents agree to the marriage is required

All the above documents, to be valid and recognized, must be original and legalized with an APOSTILLE Stamp. This applies for couples that come from countries that are a member of the Hague Convention. For other countries, not members of the Hague Convention, the documents must be legalized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Cyprus Embassy or Consulate in the country. All documents must be officially translated into the English language and issued a maximum of six months before the date of application. 

This information was correct as of July 2020. Please check here for up to date required documents and certificates.

 

Wedding procedure

After coming to Cyprus for your marriage, there is a procedure to follow. Again, please make sure that you have all the necessary documents with you. 

Before the wedding, both the couples must present in person to the Municipality of their choice to officially apply for their wedding. During this procedure, they are required to take with them a set of original documents.

The couple needs to bring with at the Municipality the following ORIGINAL documents during the application procedure for the wedding:

• Passports (from both spouses). The passports must be valid for a minimum period of six months from the date of the marriage application.
• Official certificates of single status, confirming that each person is single and free to marry. These documents must be valid for at least 6 months.
• Copies of the passports of the photo page of two persons who will be witnesses to the wedding. These persons must be over the age of 18.

Also, you should bring with you the following original documents, if they are applicable:

- If anyone of the couple was previously married, then a Decree absolute - official proof of divorce.
- Deed poll proof in the case of any one of the couple had a name change.
- Death certificate of spouse in the case any one of the couples has widowed in a previous marriage
- Evidence of parental consent (parents agree to the wedding), if any of the spouses is under 18 years old

Religious Ceremony
In case the couple wishes to have a religious marriage, the same legal requirements and procedure apply as in the civil wedding. However, in addition, during the application procedure, the couple is given a “Certificate of notice and fixing date and place of the celebration of marriage”, thus allowing them to have a religious ceremony at a church or any hotel, beach or villa within the municipal borders. Anglican clergy are Licensed Marriage Celebrants of the Republic of Cyprus. You do not need an additional civil ceremony prior to your wedding.

The wedding procedure, in general, is like this. In-depth information about the wedding procedure can be found on the website of the Union of Cyprus Municipalities. They have a very informative article for the procedure of a wedding in Cyprus. You can read this article here.

After these formalities, the couple is free to marry between 15 days at the earliest and 3 months the latest from the date of given notice. After the three months period, the whole procedure becomes void and has to be repeated from the beginning. If the couple wants to get married earlier than 15 days from the date of the notice, they can pay for a date within three working days from the notice.

 

 

Types of Cyprus weddings 

A couple visiting Cyprus for their marriage has an option of two types of ceremonies: civil marriages or church marriages. They are both perfectly legal and recognized worldwide. The same paperwork is required for either type of ceremony. One thing to stress out is that even in the case of a religious (church) wedding, the necessary wedding license is issued by the municipality where the church is located. For example, to get married in a church in the city of Limassol, the Limassol municipality will issue the necessary permit. 

Civil weddings

Civil weddings are the main type of wedding couples come to Cyprus Cyprus to get married. The simple, straight forward procedure and the fact that a civil wedding in Cyprus is recognised all over the world make them very attractive. Even if the couple cannot have a civil wedding in their home country, and make a civil wedding in Cyprus, then their marriage is still officially recognised in their countries.

Civil wedding venues

Primarily, a civil wedding is held in a municipality's town hall. But this is not the only place to have a civil wedding. Beach weddings, yacht weddings, weddings at hotels, beautiful places and even a few ancient monuments are also very popular wedding venues. Weddings at ancient monuments are only allowed at places where the Cyprus Department of Archaeology gives permission. For weddings, at venues outside the town halls an extra, special fee applies.

Civil marriages in Cyprus - documents required and procedure

Documents and procedure required are as described above. 

After the wedding formalities

The official wedding ceremony as such is very simple and takes little time. The duration of the wedding is about 10 to 15 minutes. When the ceremony is completed, the couple receives the original signed wedding certificate from the wedding officer in charge. In case needed, extra copies of the wedding certificate can be issued for a fee.

 

Civil weddings – link to the articles about civil weddings and venues to get married

Civil weddings with blessings – write about hotels that have chapels and can combine both civil wedding and blessings

 

Religious weddings (church weddings)

In addition to Greek Orthodox Christian weddings, a couple can marry following the Catholic or the Anglican churches.

First of all, please have in mind that, as we already wrote above, in the case of a religious marriage, the same legal requirements and previous to the wedding procedure apply as in the civil wedding. 

An Anglican church wedding is considered legal by just attending the religious ceremony in the church. This applies because the Anglican Church is a Licensed Marriage Celebrants of the Republic of Cyprus. This means it is not required an additional civil ceremony prior to your wedding with the Anglican Church, in order to be considered official, valid and recognized.

For a catholic church wedding however to be recognized and considered legal abroad, then a civil ceremony has to precede the religious (church) wedding.

 

For details about a Catholic wedding:

For information about Catholic weddings in Cyprus in general, and Catholic weddings in Paphos, please follow this link.

For information about Catholic weddings in Nicosia, please follow this link.

For contact details of Catholic churches in Cyprus, regarding a Catholic wedding, please follow this link.

 

For details about an Anglican wedding:

For information about Anglican weddings in Nicosia, please follow this link.

For information about Anglican weddings in Limassol, please follow this link.

For information about Anglican weddings in Paphos, please follow this link.

 

link to the article with wedding churches and chapels

 

Top wedding locations in Cyprus

 

 

Wedding locations (wedding venues)

Municipalities for civil weddings
Special places with license, like Petra tou Romiou
Church Weddings
Other places, like hotels
Beach Weddings

 

Wedding reception venues

Hotels

Special venues

Restaurants and tavernas

 

 

 

Planning your wedding - Can you arrange your wedding in Cyprus from home?

We have already mentioned that there are many professionals you can rely on. You can undertake the preparation of your wedding from scratch, but we really do not recommend this. The reasons are simple:
• It will take you a very long time just to write down what you will need for your marriage and even more time to make the necessary research.
• And then are the preparations, paperwork, what legal documents to bring with you, where to get married. And what about simple things like a hairdresser or a photographer? Your wedding cake? Your wedding reception venue? And the list goes on and on.

These issues are very serious for your dream day to take light-hearted. Even if you try really hard to include and plan everything, it will be a very long procedure. At the same time, nobody can be sure that you will not leave anything behind. Compared to this, a professional who has done this, again and again, will prepare everything for you very easily. I really believe that these are money well spent. They save you lots of time and you get rid at least from the technical worries of a wedding.

A few tips on this:
• If you decide to make your wedding in a hotel, there are hotels that have their own wedding planner. His or, more usually, her services are free and you get invaluable help, but you limit yourself regarding accommodation and wedding reception at a certain hotel. No need to say, this is not necessarily bad, as there are so many excellent hotels to choose from.
• Even if you decide to undertake the preparations to reduce costs, at least hire a wedding planner to prepare for you the necessary documents. They offer this as a package, it is very affordable and it’s really worthy.
• Regarding the UK, many of the major travel agents offer wedding planning as a service, you can use them as well. Our advice, however, is to use one of the local companies, this is usually cheaper for you and they offer a lot more options, as they know Cyprus better than any tourist agent.
If you are worried about differences in mentality with locals, have in mind that they are very experienced as they have done hundreds of weddings each one of them. Also, there are professionals with nationalities other than Greek, like Britons, Russians and Ukrainians, to name a few. So, if you are English or Russian, then you can choose a wedding planner of your nationality if this will make you feel more comfortable. But, again, all are very good and experienced in what they do and this should not be a matter in any case.

There are, of course, many other professionals able to offer top services, but this is far beyond the scope of this guide. Here we just recommend a few companies, we are sure that they will do the best for you. And they will give you a 5% discount just because you contacted them through our guide. :)
All the professionals we recommend here are fully licensed to work in Cyprus. We also endorse them for their professionalism and their honesty. 

 

Cyprus wedding planners – explain why hiring a wedding planner is a good decision

By applying for a quotation through our website:

1) Your application goes directly to the wedding professionals we work together, and they will answer to you directly. Although I repeat that we endorse all these for both their professionalism and honesty, please bear in mind that we do not undertake any responsibility for any disagreement between you and the wedding planner you will choose. In the uncommon circumstance that an incident like this appears, we will do our best to help if you ask us to do so, but our responsibility ends there. 

2) All these professionals have agreed to make a minimum of 5% discount on their prices. Please ask for your discount if it is not clearly stated on an offer that is made to you.

 

 

Cost of a wedding in Cyprus compared to the UK

 

On average, a wedding in the UK cost more than B£ 30000 – thirty thousand pounds sterling in 2018. And the trend is to increase even more. Source for this is the Independent, read this article here. https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/love-sex/wedding-cost-uk-average-how-much-marriage-ceremony-bridebook-a8460451.html
Other related articles:
Hitched - https://www.hitched.co.uk/wedding-planning/organising-and-planning/average-wedding-cost-uk/
Also according to Hitched, the average cost for a wedding destination abroad is B£ 7500 – you can read this article here: https://www.hitched.co.uk/wedding-planning/honeymoon-articles/your-guide-to-getting-married-abroad/
Marie Claire magazine - https://www.marieclaire.co.uk/life/weddings/average-wedding-cost-480668

These numbers vary as they do not include always the same things. However, they all have one thing in common: when including the same things in the wedding package, getting married abroad is cheaper that getting married in the UK.
There are common expenses (other, better word) like rings and wedding dresses
Cost of a wedding planner not included
Forget the costs associated with a honeymoon journey, you are already on your honeymoon!

 

FAQ's about marriages in Cyprus

Can you legally get married in Cyprus?

How long do you have to be in Cyprus before getting married?

How much does a wedding cost to marry in Cyprus?

Are marriages in Cyprus legal in the UK?

Are marriages abroad legal in the UK?

Is my marriage in Cyprus legal in the UK?

Can you get legally married in Cyprus?

Who can be a witness at a wedding in Cyprus?

What is an affidavit or a statutory declaration for a wedding in Cyprus?

Is my marriage valid in another country?

Do I need to register my marriage in the UK?

Can you marry someone from another country?

Can foreigners get married in Cyprus?

What is the best time of the day to have my wedding?

When / which months are the best time to get married in Cyprus?

What do I wear to a wedding in Cyprus?

 

 

 

Other FAQs:

a. How Much Do Weddings Abroad Cost?
b. How Do I Choose My Destination Wedding Location?
c. Do I Need To Use A Wedding Planner?
d. How Far In Advance Do I Need To Book When Getting Married Abroad?
e. How Many Times Should We Visit The Location Before The Wedding?
Explain that everything can be arranged from abroad with a wedding planner. Also, give this as the ideal: You should visit at least twice: first to choose a venue and again once your plans are in place. Ideally, you should taste the menu, meet suppliers and have a hair and make-up trial. Change this text to avoid duplication!!
f. Do I Need Insurance for My Wedding Abroad?

 

 

A questionnaire / check list for getting married abroad. 10 or 15 most important things you must have in mind when getting married abroad – tell again why a wedding planner is a good idea because she / he undertakes to do the hard work, plus their knowledge and their experience by having done hundreds of weddings

 

 

Same-sex (gay / homosexual) marriages

Same-sex weddings are allowed and are legal in Cyprus. This is possible by signing a memorandum of cohabitation / Civil Partnership agreement (i.e. an agreement for the couple to living together). This is a legal type of wedding in Cyprus and applies to both same-sex and opposite-sex couples. But for same-sex couples, in Cyprus, this is the only way for a legal wedding.

The ceremony only takes place at the offices of the District Administration of each district in Cyprus. Needless to say, after the ceremony is finished, a feast can take place anywhere they want.

By attending this ceremony and signing the Civil Partnership document, the gay couple is officially recognized as married in Cyprus. However, this does not mean that this same-sex / homosexual marriage will be recognized in the couple's home country/countries. For this, the couple must check with their country's authorities.

In order for a gay couple to get married, both persons must bring with them official certificates from their country's authorities that they are free to marry. They must also sign an affidavit in a Cyprus court, confirming that neither of them is married. In other words, all the legal requirements for a Cyprus wedding apply on this occasion as well.

 

Cyprus wedding traditions and customs

If you are invited to a local wedding in Cyprus, there are a few things you should know about local weddings.

• The vast majority of local weddings in Cyprus are religious. They take place in churches and mainly follow the Greek-Orthodox Christian dogma.
• The number of persons invited to a wedding is usually very big. Persons attending a small wedding in Cyprus are usually a few hundred, just to give an idea. 
• The wedding can be divided into two parts: the ceremony at the church and the celebration, usually at a hotel or another special place like a restaurant for example. The ceremony in the church follows the Greek Orthodox Christian dogma as we said and lasts for 45 to 60 minutes. The celebration is where people congratulate and wish the couple. Usually, there is an interval of two-three hours between these two parts. The relative hours can be found in the invitation to the wedding.
• Family and close friends must attend both the ceremony at the church and the celebration later on. If you do not feel very close to the couple, then just attending the ceremony without going to the church, to congratulate the newlywed couple, is acceptable and enough.
• It is commonplace to offer presents to the couple, while you congratulate them. The usual present given is a small envelope with cash money in it. For a casual or not so close acquaintance, an amount of forty-fifty Euro in the envelope is the usual amount. For persons with a closer relation, then the amount must be bigger. The idea behind this approach is that cash money is a good way to help the couple in their first steps as a married couple.
• After congratulating the couple, you will receive a special wedding dessert, the loukoumi. There is also an area where you can have a drink or two, accompanied by finger food. Sometimes after this, a separate feast for the very close family and friends take place. You must be invited to attend this.

 

 

Create a list with links to official websites of the main countries that interest us (UK, USA, Israel, Lebanon, Russia, Ukraine – check for other countries to include)

 

MY SELLING POINT: we are not experts in weddings, for this, we shall bring you in touch with 4-5 experts in the field.
What we can do for you, is to offer you accommodation at very competitive prices.

*Include wedding insurance?
** Maybe think 2-3 other services (like activities in Cyprus after your wedding) to propose or offer.