“As the bride and groom wish…” says the well-known Greek proverb. However, 2024 seems to have been recorded decline in couple preferences who chose to get married in general – and especially in the town hall of Thessaloniki, compared to the years of the pandemic, a period during which the mysteries had skyrocketed.

The civil marriages which were held in Municipality of Thessaloniki from the beginning to the close of 2024, according to data from Census Departmentthey amount to 483. The marriage licenses are also reduced – 945 were issued as the newlyweds requested the license, but possibly wanted to perform the ceremony somewhere else, beyond the town hall.

It is indicative that in 2020, the year when the coronavirus pandemic “exploded”, 408 civil weddings took place in the city hall, after several decided to postpone them, so that everything would be as they had planned and dreamed. In 2021, with the restrictive measures and with the guests counted on the fingers, 605 weddings took place and in 2022, with the relaxation of health protocols, the number increased to 684. In contrast, in 2023 a decrease was recorded as 550 civil weddings took place, while this year there was an additional drop of 14%.

Of the total of 483 marriages that took place this year, at the Thessaloniki City Hall, twelve were same-sex marriages after the passing of the relevant law in the Parliament since last February.

The most sought after months for wedding crowns!

Based on Census data, the most sought-after months for newlyweds are the first two months of summer, June and July, as well as the first two months of fall, September and October, as newlyweds may want to take advantage of the good weather. .

Of course, many people choose to get married in February as well, perhaps because of St. Valentine’s Day, while the month with the least demand for marriage is December.

“The submission of an application for the granting of a civil marriage license or the performance of a civil marriage in the municipality of Thessaloniki is done in person at the town hall, with our employees serving them in a minimum period of time. Alternatively, however, it is possible for interested parties to submit the application electronically,” Pantelis Kazantzidis, the deputy mayor for Entrepreneurship of the Municipality of Thessaloniki, told APE – MPE.

The data also show that the most “fanatics” of civil marriage are men and women who belong to the age group 31-40 in a percentage that almost reaches 50%, followed immediately by the youngest, aged 18-30.

The youngest and oldest grooms and brides

The youngest girl, who wore a wedding dress this year and got married in the town hall of Thessaloniki, was 20 years old, while the youngest groom was 21. On the contrary, the oldest man who got married in 2024 was 78 years old, while the same age was also the oldest woman who decided to marry.

In the 325 civil marriages, which took place in the town hall, the men were older, in the remaining 111 the women were older, while there were also 47 same-age couples.