DOCUMENTATION
Full Birth Certificate
Both parties must obtain a ‘full’ Birth Certificate, as the ‘shorter’ version of the
Birth Certificate will not be acceptable.
Certificate of Impediments to Marriage or Single Status
This document certifies that both parties are free to get married and for Civil Ceremonies can be obtained from their local Superintendent Registrar Office. It may take up to 1 month to obtain and the certificate must not be issued more than 3 months before the wedding day.
Please note that for Greek Orthodox Marriages the Single Status Document must be obtained from the Greek Orthodox parish priest of the bride and groom or the Greek Orthodox Bishop of the country of origin. In the case of a Greek Orthodox person marrying a Catholic person, the Greek Orthodox parish priest or Bishop will issue the document for both, provided the Birth Certificate of the Catholic person is presented to him.
Without the Single Status documents, a Greek Orthodox Marriage License will not be issued. Nothing can substitute this document, not even a Civil Marriage Certificate, of the same two people if it has preceded the church wedding.
Degree Absolute
If any of the parties is divorced, a Certified Copy of the Decree Absolute must be obtained.
Death Certificate
If any of the parties is a widower, a Death Certificate must be obtained
Deed Poll Certificate
If any of the parties has changed his/her name by Deed Poll, written proof must be obtained
Adoption Certificate
This certificate is necessary if any of the parties was adopted
Baptismal Certificate
This certificate is necessary for Catholic Church & Orthodox Church weddings.
Translation of documents
All the above documents have to be translated in Greek at the Greek Embassy or Consulate and sent to our office four weeks before the wedding. If you unable to translate the documents in your home country, we can arrange for the translation to be done at Lesvos. The originals need to be send to " The Greek Islands Wedding Services" of The Vatera Specialists eight weeks before the ceremony and there will be an extra cost for the official translation.
CIVIL WEDDINGS
The documents listed above must be obtained by the bride and groom then be translated and forwarded to " The Greek Islands Wedding Services" of The Vatera Specialists at least five weeks before the wedding. We can arrange for the translation, if you unable to translate the documents in your home country. Costs of translation will be established at the time.
CATHOLIC CHURCH WEDDINGS
Catholic Church wedding can only be arranged:
if the bride and groom have not been previously married,
if either the bride or groom is Catholic and
if both have been baptized .
They must inform the Catholic priest of their local parish of their intent to marry abroad. He will then need to view both parties’ Birth Certificate and Baptism Certificate and confirm the further documentation required. When all the necessary documents are obtained they must be forwarded translated to The "Greek Islands Wedding Services" of Vatera Specialists which will forward to the Catholic priest of the Church where the ceremony will be performed.
GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCH WEDDINGS
Greek Orthodox church weddings can only be arranged:
If the bride and groom are both Greek Orthodox and baptised,
If one partner is Greek Orthodox and the other Catholic and both are baptised in their respective faiths
If one partner is Greek Orthodox and the other Church of England or Scotland (Presbytarian, Episcopalian etc), the later must be baptised in the Greek Orthodox faith. This requires lengthy preparation (catechism with a Greek Orthodox priest, before baptismal), which is more practical to be conducted at home. However once this is done, the baptismal can be conducted before the Greek Orthodox Wedding.
They must inform the Orthodox priest of their local parish of their intent to marry abroad. He will then need to view both parties’ Birth Certificate and Baptism Certificate and confirm to them the further documentation required (Single Status Document). When all the necessary documents are obtained they must be forwarded translated to The "Greek Islands Wedding Services"of The Vatera Specialists who will arrange for the marriage license to be issued and forward it to the Orthodox priest of the Church where the ceremony will be performed.
WITNESSES AT CEREMONY
Two witnesses are required for all the types of the weddings. In the case of Greek Orthodox weddings they are called Koumbaros and Maid of Honour.
If the groom and bride travel on their own, our Wedding Coordinators will be glad to act as witnesses.
DAY/TIME OF THE CEREMONY
- Civil Ceremony at Town Hall or other Community Office
: Monday to Friday, office hours
- Civil Ceremony at Hotel: Monday to Sunday, any time
- Catholic Church Ceremony: Monday to Saturday, any time
- Orthodox Church Ceremony: Monday to Sunday, any time
CIVIL MARRIAGE VALIDITY
In order for the marriage to be valid, after the wedding the couple must declare that the wedding has been performed at the Registry Office of the Community within forty days.
OFFICIAL WEDDING CERTIFICATE
Civil marriage: the official certificate is issued within 3 working days after the wedding. It is sent for official translation and then forwarded to the married couple’s home address by the Wedding Co-coordinator.
Catholic & Orthodox Church marriage: the priest who performed the ceremony issues the wedding certificate, which needs to be recorded at the Town Hall, by the Town Hall Recorder. Both documents are send for official translation and then forwarded to the married couple’s home address by the Wedding Co-coordinator.
Costs of translations will be established at the time.
