Santorini’s caldera rim faces west, so nearly every terrace on it looks at the same sunset. That is why the island’s smallest venues can carry a wedding that would need a large estate elsewhere: the view is already built in, and what remains is choosing where to sleep, dine and marry within it.
Why the island works for a wedding
Santorini is what remains of a volcano. A huge Bronze Age eruption, usually dated to around 1600 BC although sources differ by a few decades, collapsed the centre of the island and left a crescent of cliffs around a flooded caldera. Oia, Imerovigli and Fira sit along that rim, with whitewashed houses cut into dark lava rock and the sea falling away below them.
The villages are close together but feel different. Oia is the famous one and the busiest at sunset. Imerovigli is the highest point on the rim and quieter. Fira is the island’s main town, with the shops, restaurants and the museum.
Two places built for small, private weddings
The directory lists two Santorini venues, and they suit different couples.
Ikies Traditional Houses, Oia
Ikies is a hotel of fourteen caved-in houses at the edge of Oia, carved from old captains’ cliff houses, the first six opening in 1999. Each has a terrace facing the caldera, eleven of the fourteen have a hot tub, and dining can be arranged privately on your own terrace. Weddings are arranged directly with the hotel, which agrees guest numbers and dates with each couple. The hotel stands at the start of the village, about ten minutes’ walk from the centre of Oia.
La Maltese Estate, Imerovigli
La Maltese is a five-star hotel of eight rooms and suites, and for a wedding the whole hotel is taken for one party, with the terraces, the infinity pool and the veranda included. The main building is a restored early twentieth century house with high ceilings, groined vaults and arches, with newer suites beside it. Couples marry on the caldera-view terraces or beside the pool, and numbers are agreed with the hotel. Thira airport is about fifteen minutes away and Fira about ten.
Other settings in the films
Several other Santorini names appear in wedding films, among them Le Ciel, Canaves Oia and El Viento. They are not yet in the directory, so confirm capacities and packages with each before planning around them.
When to go
The island is warm and dry from spring into autumn, with the rain arriving later in the year. Summer brings the largest crowds and the highest prices, so couples who want more room on the cliff paths often look at the shoulder months of late spring and early autumn. Whatever the month, ask your planner to time the ceremony for the last part of the afternoon so the sunset falls on the dinner.
Getting there
Flights from Athens take about fifty minutes. Santorini’s airport is a short drive from Fira and Imerovigli, and Oia is a little further, so arrange private transfers for guests. Cliff villages mean steps and narrow lanes, so ask the venue how to reach the terraces if anyone in the party has limited mobility.
The legal side, in plain terms
Foreign couples can marry in Greece without living there, in either a civil or a religious ceremony, and the municipality issues the licence. Expect to supply passports, birth certificates and proof that you are free to marry, and to have documents legalised with an Apostille and translated into Greek, or certified through a Greek consulate if your country is outside the Hague Convention. The rules and timings change, so confirm the current list with the Thira municipal registry, the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs guidance or your planner before booking flights.
Many couples marry legally at home and hold a ceremony on the island, which keeps the paperwork to a minimum and the day itself free of administration.
Who to plan it with
The directory lists planners who work on the island, including Stella and Moscha, a sisters’ studio based in Fira in summer and Athens in winter, and The Diamond Rock, which plans civil, symbolic and religious weddings and runs two venues of its own. Wedding in Greece, Mitheo Events and Eventuries also plan weddings here, and for photography and film Photomad works across Greece.
Beyond the day itself
The archaeological site of Akrotiri, a town buried in volcanic ash, and the Museum of Prehistoric Thera in Fira tell the story behind the landscape, and boat trips run to the hot springs around the volcano. Guests who arrive early have plenty to do before the wedding.
Staying on for the honeymoon
Santorini was a honeymoon island before it was a wedding one, and both venues work for the days after. Ikies offers a Diamond Honeymoon Package from 450 euros, with flowers on arrival, champagne at breakfast, two massage treatments and a cheese platter with wine. Its houses range from the 20 square metre Gardener’s Petit House to the 50 square metre Captain’s Suite, so a wedding party can be spread across sizes. At La Maltese the rooms start from 17 square metres, and the original main building keeps the stone and timber of the old house.
Which one suits you
Choose Ikies if your guests want to stay in separate houses, each with its own terrace and perhaps its own hot tub, and you are happy to be in Oia. Choose La Maltese if you want the whole hotel to yourselves for a small wedding and a quieter village. The practical question for both is steps and access: these are cliff buildings, so plan transfers and check mobility needs early. For more of the island, read about Ikies in The Edit or browse all of Santorini and Greece.
Check your date
Dates on the island fill early. Read the venue pages, then ask Ikies or La Maltese whether your date is free before you commit to flights.
