If you prefer a religious ceremony there are several chapels and churches of almost every denomination to choose from. To make the necessary arrangements for this you will also need to contact the Registered Minister of the religion of your choice. Evita by Rashael can assist you to organize your religious wedding either you are Orthodox, Catholic, Maronite or Anglican. Evita by Rashael is specialized in Lebanese religious weddings in Cyprus.
Maronite Weddings
For Maronite couples, the most important document to get married in Cyprus is the permission to get married abroad given from the priest of the couples' parish. After they get the permission, they will send it to us in Cyprus to issue the wedding license. The rest of the procedures to register the wedding in Lebanon is same like civil marriage. We will need a certificate from the Ministry of Interior – Individual and Family Civil Status Record (Stamped by Ministry of Justice, Ministry of F.A., Embassy of Cyprus in Lebanon, translator/ notary) along to a power of autorney with all stamps (except the stamps from the embassy of Cyprus) to be able to register the wedding in Lebanon.
We can conduct Maronite weddings everywhere in Cyprus where there is Maronite Church (or any Catholic or Orthodox Church that is approved from Maronite Archbishopric of Cyprus). We can make weddings in beach resorts of Paphos, Protaras, Ayia Napa, Larnaca, Limassol & Nicosia.
Orthodox Weddings
For Orthodox weddings, the procedures are different. Some churches require a proof of a civil wedding before the church wedding, not all the churches require this. For example in Larnaca, civil marriage is required. In Paphos and in Limassol Only if both of them are Orthodox, no civil marriage is required. The Orthodox church also requires permission to get married abroad (same like Maronite). The Orthodox wedding can also be registered in Lebanon following the same procedures with civil weddings and Maronite weddings.
For the church Orthodox wedding:
1. Passport copies
2. Birth certificate
3. Baptism certificate
4. Single certificate from the Church of their area – same as single paper from Church allowing them to get married abroad
5. Civil record (individual & family)
6. All papers to be original with translations , stamp from the ministry of Foreign affairs and embassy of Cyprus
7. Blood tests for thalassemia
Note: Couple should be in Cyprus few days before the wedding to issue the “wedding permission” from the Metropole.
Catholic weddings
The Catholic Church is bringing her own registered priest who is going to sign the papers to be able to register the wedding. If the couple wants to have the ceremony in Arabic, they must bring their own priest but the registered priest has to be also present during the ceremony (so they will have 2 priests).
Moreover, the Catholic Church requires civil marriage before the church wedding. The civil marriage will not be registered. It is just the procedure that they follow (civil marriage fee will be applied as additional)
Main requirements:
1.The couple who want to get married in a Catholic Church should go to the parish priest of the church they have been baptized to inform him that they are getting married abroad.
2.They should get from the church where they have been baptized a copy of their baptism record stating that they are free to marry.
3.The parish priest of one of the couple (groom or bride) should conduct a pre-nuptial enquiry with them.
4.In the case of mixed religion (Catholic and other Christian denomination), the couple should get special dispensation from the regional bishop of the Catholic partner.
5.In the case of widower/widow, he/she should present a death certificate of the previous partner.
6.The parish priest preparing the pre-nuptial enquiry must forward all these documents to the Regional Bishop.
7.The Regional Bishop will then send the papers to Cyprus
These are only the necessary papers that must be sent to the parish priest and be kept in the parish record of marriages.
POST SCRIPTUM:
Before coming to Cyprus, the couple should call the priest of the church where they will get married if he already received the papers required of them. After arriving in Cyprus, the couple should contact the priest and make an appointment with him to discuss details of the wedding. If the couple has other questions, they should contact parish priest before their wedding.
KEEP IN MIND THAT CATHOLICS CAN GET MARRIED IN MARONITE CHURCH WITHOUT THE REQUIREMENT OF CIVIL MARRIAGE
