Five nights is the practical minimum to get married in Seychelles and leave with your apostilled certificate. Seven is comfortable. There is no residency requirement, the 11 day notice of marriage is lodged for you before you fly, and the certificate and apostille are usually ready within 48 to 72 hours, with five working days as our standard. Arrive two days before, marry Monday to Thursday, fly home married.
Couples plan their flights before they plan anything else, so this is the guide to read first. It gives you the shortest stay that works, the stay we actually recommend, and a day by day plan for each, built around the only two dates that are fixed: the ceremony and the moment the certificate is in your hand.
Seychelles asks less of a visiting couple than almost any country we know. You do not have to live here first, you do not have to appear at an office before the wedding, and the paperwork that would normally eat a week is lodged by our team while you are still at home. That leaves the trip itself, and the trip has a shape. Land, settle, marry, collect the paper, go home or go to the next island. Everything below is about spacing those five things so nothing is tight.
The short answer, and the honest one
The short answer is five nights. Arrive on a Sunday, marry on the Tuesday, collect your apostilled certificate on the Thursday, fly on the Friday. That works, and we have run it many times. The honest answer is that five nights is a schedule and seven nights is a wedding. With seven you arrive without watching the clock, you have a full day to meet your coordinator and see the beach before the ceremony, and your certificate usually comes back with days to spare, which is exactly the margin that turns a spelling correction from a crisis into a footnote.
Both plans rest on the same facts. The Civil Status Office publishes the notice of marriage for 11 days before the ceremony, and we lodge it from your scanned documents at least two weeks ahead, so the clock is already running when you land. The certificate is drawn up the working day after the wedding and the Supreme Court apostille follows, usually within 48 to 72 hours, with five working days as our standard. Our guide to the certificate and apostille timeline explains every stamp. Here we only need the dates.
Seven nights, day by day
This is the plan we send most couples, and it is the one a family of four chose for their October wedding, two small boys in tow. Two days for the children to settle, the wedding on the third, a mini honeymoon while the paper comes back, and home with the certificate. Swap the days of the week to suit your flights, but keep the ceremony between Monday and Thursday.
- Day 1, Saturday
Land, clear immigration, hand over your originals
Seychelles is visa free for every nationality. You complete the electronic travel authorisation online before you fly, and a visitor’s permit is issued free on arrival against a return ticket, confirmed accommodation and enough funds for the stay. Your chauffeur meets you and, if you like, our coordinator collects your original passports and apostilled birth certificates the same evening so the file is complete before you have unpacked.
- Day 2, Sunday
Settle, swim, meet your coordinator
Nothing is scheduled except a short meeting with the person who will run your wedding day. We walk through the timing, confirm the beach, and if you have booked the stylist she does a trial. Couples with children use this day to find the pool, the shade and the ice cream, in that order, so that on Tuesday everyone is calm.
- Day 3, Monday
A free day, or a Praslin day trip
Use it. The Vallée de Mai on Praslin is an hour by ferry and the coco de mer forest is unlike anywhere else on earth. Or stay on Mahé, hire a car for €50 a day and drive the coast road to Anse Intendance. The one rule is to be back and rested by the evening, because tomorrow the stylist knocks at half past eleven.
- Day 4, Tuesday
Your wedding, ceremony at two
Stylist in the morning if booked, chauffeur at quarter past one, welcome drinks on the sand, the 20 minute legal ceremony, cake and sparkling wine, two hours of photographs. The whole afternoon is mapped in our hour by hour wedding day guide. You sign the register on the beach and you are married from that moment.
- Day 5, Wednesday
Certificate day, and the honeymoon starts
The Civil Status Office issues your marriage certificate and our coordinator takes it straight to the Supreme Court for the apostille. You do nothing. Sleep late, take the boat to Ste Anne Marine Park, eat grilled fish at Beau Vallon. We text you when the stamp is on.
- Day 6, Thursday
The apostilled certificate arrives at your hotel
Delivered by hand, in a sleeve, with any extra copies you asked for. Photograph both sides before it goes into your hand luggage. If a correction was needed on Wednesday this is the day it comes back anyway, which is the whole point of the buffer.
- Day 7, Friday
A last full day, married
The day most couples remember. No schedule, no paperwork, nothing left to sign. A sunset at Anse Soleil or a drive to the tea plantation above Port Glaud. This is the day the trip was for.
- Day 8, Saturday
Fly home with the certificate in hand
Your chauffeur takes you to the airport. The certificate with its Hague apostille is accepted in more than 120 countries, and our country by country guide tells you what, if anything, to do with it when you land.
Five nights, if that is all you have
Arrive Sunday. Marry Tuesday. Certificate Wednesday, apostille Thursday, fly Friday. It works because the notice was lodged from home and because the Civil Status Office and the Supreme Court both sit in Victoria, twenty minutes from the beach. What it does not leave is slack. If a name needs correcting on Wednesday, Thursday becomes the certificate day and Friday morning becomes the apostille. If it is not ready before your flight, we send it on by DHL or FedEx. We have done that. We would rather not, and neither would you, so if the choice is between five nights and a shorter honeymoon somewhere else afterwards, take the extra two nights here.
| Arrive | Wedding | Certificate | Apostille in hand | Fly home | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 nights | Sunday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday |
| 7 nights | Saturday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Saturday |
| 10 nights | Saturday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Tuesday, after 3 nights on Praslin or La Digue |
Ten nights, the honeymoon version
Marry on Mahé in the first week, collect the certificate, then take the ferry to Praslin or La Digue for three or four nights with nothing to do but be married. It is the best sequence there is. The paperwork is finished before you leave Mahé, so the second island is pure holiday, and the ferry back connects with the evening flights. Couples who want to marry on Praslin or La Digue itself can, at €1,990 and €2,090, but the certificate still comes from Victoria, so the Mahé first pattern is faster and simpler. Our honeymoon itinerary has the island by island detail.
Why we say Monday to Thursday
The Civil Status Office and the Supreme Court keep government hours, Monday to Friday, and Seychelles has thirteen public holidays under its Public Holidays Act. A Friday wedding pushes the certificate to Monday and the apostille to Tuesday, which turns a five night trip into a seven night one for no reason. A wedding on the Thursday before Easter, when Good Friday, Easter Saturday and Easter Monday close everything for four days, is the one date we will actively talk you out of. Tuesday and Wednesday are the sweet spot. Both offices are open the next day, and if anything needs correcting there is still a working week ahead.
The same logic applies to your flight home. Most European carriers arrive and depart Mahé in the morning, so a Saturday departure after a Tuesday wedding gives the paper three full working days. We check the public holiday calendar against every date before we confirm it, and if your preferred day is a bad one we will say so and suggest the one next to it.
What you do not have to be here for
This is where Seychelles is quietly generous. You do not have to be resident, and there is no minimum stay before the wedding. You do not attend an interview. The notice of marriage is published from scanned copies of your passports and apostilled birth certificates, which you email to us at least two weeks ahead, and the originals are simply shown when you arrive. There is no blood test and no medical. If either of you was married before, the apostilled divorce decree or death certificate goes in the same email, and that is the one document that couples send late, so send it first. Our documents guide lists exactly what your nationality needs.
The one thing to do before you fly. Seychelles requires an electronic travel authorisation for every arriving visitor, applied for online before departure and tied to your accommodation booking. It takes minutes and costs a small fee. Do it the week before, not at the airport.
Coming with children or family
Two days before the wedding is not a luxury with small children, it is the plan. Jet lag, a new bed and a new pool need a day and a half to become normal, and a wedding photograph with a rested three year old in it is a different photograph from one with a tired one. For parents and friends flying in, the same two day cushion means they see the beach before the ceremony and nobody is meeting the venue for the first time in their wedding clothes. Ten people change the chairs, the cake and the car, so tell us numbers early and we build the day around them.
Frequently asked questions
How many days do you need to stay in Seychelles to get married?
Five nights is the practical minimum and seven is comfortable. Arrive two days before the ceremony, marry between Monday and Thursday, allow five working days for the certificate and Supreme Court apostille, though it is usually 48 to 72 hours, and fly home with the document in hand or let us courier it. There is no residency requirement and no minimum stay before the wedding.
Do we have to arrive early to file paperwork in Seychelles?
No. The 11 day notice of marriage is lodged by our team from scanned copies of your passports and apostilled birth certificates at least two weeks before you fly. You show the originals on arrival. There is no interview, no medical and no appearance at an office before the ceremony.
Can we get married and leave Seychelles in three days?
It is possible but we do not recommend it. Marrying the day after you land and flying the day after that leaves no margin for a spelling correction on the certificate, and the apostille would have to follow you by courier. Five nights usually lets you leave with the document in your hand, and if not we courier it to you.
What day of the week is best for a Seychelles wedding?
Tuesday or Wednesday. The Civil Status Office and the Supreme Court are open the next day, so the certificate and apostille come back within the same working week. A Friday wedding pushes the paperwork to the following Monday, and the four day Easter closure is the one period we ask couples to avoid.
Do we need a visa to get married in Seychelles?
No. Seychelles is visa free for all nationalities. You apply for an electronic travel authorisation online before departure, and a visitor’s permit valid for up to three months is issued free on arrival against a return ticket, confirmed accommodation and sufficient funds. Marrying does not change your status.
Can we marry on Mahé and honeymoon on Praslin or La Digue?
Yes, and it is the sequence we recommend. Marry on Mahé in the first week, collect the apostilled certificate, then take the ferry to Praslin or La Digue for three or four nights. The paperwork is finished before you leave Mahé, so the second island is pure honeymoon.
- Immigration and Civil Status, Republic of Seychelles. Marriage registrar FAQ, publication of banns for 11 days and documents for foreign couples. www.ics.gov.sc
- Immigration and Civil Status, Republic of Seychelles. Visitor’s permit, issued on arrival for up to three months against a return ticket, accommodation and funds. www.ics.gov.sc
- Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Diaspora, Seychelles. Apostilles at the Supreme Court, Ile du Port, and processing times. mfa.gov.sc
- Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Diaspora, Seychelles. List of public holidays under the Public Holidays Act. mfa.gov.sc
- Hague Conference on Private International Law. Status table of the 1961 Apostille Convention. www.hcch.net
- Seychelles Meteorological Authority. Climate guide, month by month. www.meteo.sc
Mahé from €1,645, certificate and apostille included
Send us your flight dates. We will fit the wedding to them.
Tell us when you land and when you leave. We will reply with the best ceremony day inside that window, checked against the registrar’s diary and the public holiday calendar, usually the same day.
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