Christian Wedding in Turkey: Church, Outdoor and Orthodox Ceremonies

A Christian wedding in Turkey can be a church service, an outdoor ceremony led by your own priest or pastor above the Mediterranean, or a Greek Orthodox crowning with the stefana.

This guide explains your ceremony options, how the legal marriage fits in, the churches in Antalya, what Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox couples need, and how to plan readings, music and timing.

Your Options for a Christian Wedding in Turkey

Christian couples who marry in Turkey choose between a few ceremony styles. Your faith tradition, your church at home and the setting you love decide which one suits you.

Whichever you choose, the ceremony can follow your own liturgy, with your readings, your hymns, your vows and the blessing your church gives. Turkey has a long Christian history, with places linked to Saint Paul and Saint Nicholas, and today Christian congregations meet in cities along the coast, including Antalya.

Legal Marriage and Your Church Ceremony

A legal marriage in Turkey is a civil ceremony performed by a municipal marriage officer. A religious ceremony in Turkey has no legal standing on its own, so plan the legal marriage and the Christian ceremony as two parts.

• Legal marriage at home, Christian ceremony in Turkey. You marry legally in your own country before or after the trip, and the ceremony in Turkey is your wedding in front of family, friends and God.
• Civil marriage in Turkey, then the Christian ceremony. You marry at a Turkish municipality during your trip and hold the Christian ceremony after it. Our guide to marriage in Turkey for foreigners explains the documents, and British couples can read our legal guide for British citizens.

Ask your church at home how it records a marriage blessed abroad. Some churches want to see your civil certificate before a church ceremony, and some keep their own register.

Churches in Antalya

Antalya has working churches of several traditions, and historic churches that are now places to visit rather than parishes:

• Church of Saint Alypios, Kaleiçi. Built in 1844 in the old town and restored between 2007 and 2011, it serves as an Orthodox church today. It is the centre of the Metropolis of Pisidia.
• Saint Paul’s Church, Kaleiçi. Home to an international evangelical congregation in the old town, with members from around the world.
• The Garden of Tolerance, Belek. A church, a mosque and a synagogue stand side by side in Belek, in the Serik district, and the priest of the Antalya church has celebrated Christmas Mass in its small church.
• Church of Saint Nicholas, Demre. The historic church of the saint, in ancient Myra, is a site to visit on a day out with your guests.

Each church decides for itself whether it can host a wedding for a visiting couple, which minister may lead it and on which dates. Talk to the church and to your own priest or pastor early, before you fix the date, so the venue, the church and your guests’ travel all fit together.

Bringing Your Own Priest or Pastor

Christian couples can ask their own priest, pastor or minister to travel with them. Your minister knows you, has prepared you for marriage and speaks your language, so the ceremony feels personal and familiar to your family. Your guests hear a voice they know from home.

Points to agree with your minister before the wedding:

• Your church’s rules. Whether a ceremony abroad, outdoors or outside a church building is acceptable in your tradition, and what paperwork your church needs.
• The order of service. Readings, hymns, prayers, vows, rings and the blessing, and who reads what.
• Travel and stay. Flights, a room near the venue and time on the day before the wedding for a rehearsal.
• What they need on the day. A table for the Bible, the rings and any candles or a cross, a microphone and a quiet place to prepare.
• Music. Whether hymns are sung by everyone, played by musicians or played as recordings.

Outdoor Christian Ceremonies by the Sea

A Christian ceremony in Turkey can mean vows on a terrace or a beach with the Mediterranean behind them. An outdoor ceremony can carry the full Christian service: Scripture, a homily, prayers, vows, rings and the blessing. A few touches give the space a sense of worship:

• A simple altar. A table dressed in white for the Bible, the rings, candles and a cross, if your tradition uses one.
• Seating like a congregation. Rows of chairs facing the altar, with a clear aisle for the entrance.
• Sound. Microphones for the minister, the readers and the vows, so every guest hears the words over the sea and the wind.
• Timing. In summer, a ceremony in the late afternoon keeps guests out of the strongest sun, with shade and water as they arrive.
• A covered option. In spring and autumn, a covered space nearby in case of a passing shower.

Our beach wedding in Antalya page shows ceremony settings on the sand, and our symbolic wedding guide covers ceremonies held after a legal marriage at home.

Catholic and Protestant Weddings Abroad

Catholic Couples

For a Catholic wedding abroad, at least one partner must be Catholic, and the paperwork starts with your parish priest at home. A parish in England, for example, sets out these steps:

• Confirm the church abroad and the date, with its address and a contact.
• Tell your parish priest, who prepares the Church documents, and allow at least six months.
• The Catholic partner brings a baptismal certificate issued within six months of the wedding, and letters confirming you are free to marry if your priest asks for them.
• Complete a marriage preparation course.
• Your parish sends the file through your diocese to the diocese where the wedding takes place, which passes it to the church.

If one of you is not Catholic, the Catholic partner needs a permission or a dispensation from the Church. Ask your priest about the setting too, since a Catholic ceremony outside a church building needs the Church’s agreement.

Protestant Couples

Rules on place and format differ between Protestant churches. A ceremony led by your own ordained minister can take place in a church, a garden or on a terrace by the sea. Check with your minister and your church how they record a marriage blessed abroad, and agree the order of service early.

Anglican couples can follow a civil marriage with a Church of England Service of Prayer and Dedication, known as a blessing. Banns are not needed because it is not a marriage service.

Greek Orthodox Weddings in Turkey

A Greek Orthodox wedding, the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony, is full of symbols that families treasure: the rings, the crowns, the candles and the common cup. For Greek families in the UK, the US, Canada and Australia, Turkey’s Mediterranean coast offers familiar food, warm hospitality and a meeting point for relatives travelling from several countries.

The Ceremony

• The betrothal. The priest blesses the rings, and the koumbaros or koumbara exchanges them between the couple three times.
• The candles. The couple hold white candles through the service.
• The crowning. The priest places the stefana, two crowns joined by a ribbon, on the couple’s heads, and the koumbaros exchanges them three times.
• The common cup. The couple share wine from one cup, a sign of the life they now share.
• The walk around the table. Led by the priest, the couple walk three times around the table, with the koumbaros holding the ribbon behind them.

Church Rules to Check Early

The rules come from the Orthodox church, not from the venue. In the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, for example, the guidelines for marriage say:

• At least one partner must be Orthodox. The other partner must have been baptised in a Christian church in the name of the Holy Trinity.
• The koumbaros or koumbara must be an Orthodox Christian in good standing.
• The ceremony takes place in an Orthodox church; a non-Orthodox church is possible only in special cases, with the Metropolitan’s permission.
• The couple bring baptism certificates and, after a previous marriage, the divorce decree, plus the church decree if that marriage was blessed in the Orthodox Church.

Your own priest will tell you the rules of your diocese. If he is travelling with you, he will also agree the ceremony with the Orthodox church in Turkey where it takes place.

Dates When Orthodox Weddings Are Not Held

These dates follow the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America and can differ between dioceses, and churches on the old (Julian) calendar keep these fasts about two weeks later, so confirm them with your priest before you book the venue. Easter moves each year, so the spring dates move with it. Apart from the feast days above, May, June, September and October fall outside the fasting periods and give warm weather on the coast.

Stefana, Koufeta and the Celebration

Families bring stefana from home, use crowns from the family, or have floral crowns made to match the wedding flowers. Koufeta, sugared almonds in odd numbers, go to guests as favours in small pouches or boxes. At the reception, plan time for the Kalamatiano, the Tsamiko and the Hasapiko, with a Greek band or a DJ who knows the music, and agree napkin waving and any plate traditions with the venue. Wedding music ends at 00:00 as standard; some venues stop at 23:00 or 23:30, and a venue with permission can continue to 02:00 or 03:00. Our guide to Antalya wedding venue curfews explains music times.

Readings, Vows, Music and Communion

Readings

Readings bring the heart of a Christian wedding: 1 Corinthians 13 on love, the creation of man and woman in Genesis, Ephesians 5 on marriage, or the wedding at Cana in John 2. Ask family members or friends to read, and give them printed copies for the day.

Vows and Rings

You can take the traditional vows of your church, a modern version, or vows you write together with your minister’s approval. Our guide to writing wedding vows for a destination wedding has ideas.

Hymns and Music

Hymns sung by all the guests bring a church feel to any setting. Choose music for the entrance, a hymn or two during the service and joyful music for the exit, and agree with your musicians or DJ which pieces are live and which are recordings.

Communion

Whether communion forms part of the wedding depends on your tradition and your minister. A Catholic wedding may be celebrated within Mass, and some Protestant churches include communion. If you include it, plan the bread and wine, the vessels and a moment in the service when it fits.

Ceremony and Reception

The ceremony carries the faith of the day, and the reception is the celebration with your families. A reverent service can be followed by an evening of dinner, dancing and joy, in whatever style your families love.

Mixed and Multicultural Christian Families

When your families come from different churches, agree early whose order of service leads the day and how the other tradition is honoured, with a reading, a hymn or a blessing. Between Catholic and Orthodox or Protestant families, the Church permissions take time, so ask both ministers at the start. Families can also bring their own cultural traditions into the celebration, such as a zaffe entrance at a Lebanese wedding.

Planning Timeline for a Christian Wedding in Turkey

Frequently Asked Questions