A Greek wedding is a sequence of named rituals, most of them older than the church that hosts them. The bed is made by friends and called the krevati. The couple is crowned with stefana joined by a single ribbon. Guests leave with koufeta, always an odd number. Here is what each one means, in the order you will meet them.
If you are marrying in Greece, our Greece wedding venues guide covers the islands and the mainland. For the party before the wedding, see our guide to Greek engagement traditions.
One thing that you need to know about a Greek Wedding is that it’s not only a celebration of two people becoming one, but it’s also a family reunion! An average Greek Wedding has between 300-400 guests and most of the time, they’re all related in some way, shape or form!
The ritual is called the krevati, from the Greek word for bed. While many modern Greek weddings don’t really practice this as much, it still exists. The making of the bed involves the couple’s friends and family coming over to help prepare the bed of their new home, and “lucky” items like rice, coins, and money are thrown onto the bed for a happy and prosperous life. A young child or baby then rolls around on the bed to ensure fertility.
After the Bride is dressed, she writes a list of all her single friends on the soles of her shoes! Why? Well, the Greeks believe that the names that get rubbed off by the end of the night are next in line to Wed!
At the ceremony, the bride and groom are crowned with the stefana, two delicate crowns joined by a single ribbon that make them king and queen of their new home. The couple's sponsor, the Koumbaro or Koumbara, swaps the crowns gently between their heads three times. The priest then leads the newlyweds around the altar three times in the Dance of Isaiah while guests shower them with rice. That circle is called the Dance of Isaiah, and it is the first walk the couple takes as a married pair. Three, the number of the Holy Trinity, runs all the way through the ceremony. You can read more about Orthodox wedding traditions here.
Another unique Greek tradition is that the Bride literally squashes the groom’s foot during the ceremony. The story goes that if the Bride steps on her Groom’s foot, she will have the upper hand during the Marriage. To all Grooms out there, be prepared!
Nobody actually spits. Guests will make a soft "ftou, ftou, ftou" sound, usually three times, to protect the bride and groom from the evil eye and keep envy and bad luck away on their big day
The dances have names. The zeibekiko is danced alone and improvised, the tsamiko is the one with the handkerchief, and the sirtaki is the film version everyone knows. The circle dances guests actually join are the kalamatiano and the syrto. As soon as the newlyweds enter the reception, it’s party time. Everyone is up and dancing in a circle, holding hands, and rotating in a counter-clockwise direction to traditional Greek music. Don’t worry, you’ll pick up the dances quickly!
Other cultures handle the same moments differently. See Turkish wedding traditions for the circle and the handkerchief, and German wedding traditions for the games that come after the ceremony.
All night long there will be non-stop dancing, but the last dance of the night is for the Bride and Groom. During this dance, guests will come up to them and pin money to their clothes! This is the money dance, and it is not a tip. The cash is a contribution to the life they are starting, and it is normal for it to cover a meaningful share of the night.
No Greek wedding ends without koufeta, sugar-coated almonds handed to every guest in small bundles called bombonieres. They are always an odd number, indivisible, just like the couple. The almond is a little bittersweet, like life, and the sugar coating is the sweetness of the marriage. Tradition says an unmarried guest who sleeps with the koufeta under their pillow will dream of the person they will marry.
After the crowning, the couple share wine from a single cup, drinking from it three times. It is a quiet, beautiful moment that says everything: from this day on, they share every joy and every burden together, from the same cup.
Greek celebrations are famous for the smashing of plates, a joyful, noisy way to chase off evil spirits and wish the couple kefi, the spirit of pure good fortune. Look closely and you will spot smaller charms too: a sugar cube tucked into the bride's glove for a sweet life, or a gold coin slipped into her shoe for prosperity.
Traditionally, the bride's family provided the proika, or dowry, and took on much of the cost of the wedding. Today most Greek couples and their families share the expense, and increasingly the couple themselves lead the planning, choosing a destination, a venue, and a celebration that honours the old customs while feeling entirely their own.
If Greece itself is calling, our guide to getting married in Greece covers the islands, the venues, and what it takes to plan a Greek celebration of your own.
Greek Orthodox couples avoid the fasting seasons: Lent, the fortnight before the Dormition in August, and the weeks before Christmas. January and June are traditionally favoured. If your date sits inside a fast, the priest, not the venue, is the person to ask first.
Each of the couple holds a lit candle through the ceremony, and the light is the point: it stands for their willingness to receive Christ, who is described as the light of the world. The candles are lit before the crowning and stay lit until the service ends. Some families keep them afterwards and light them again on anniversaries.
Some families greet the couple at the reception with bread, salt and honey: bread so they never go hungry, salt for the hard seasons, honey for the sweet ones. The rice thrown at the church door is the older cousin of confetti and carries the same wish, a full house. In some regions an older relative will slip a piece of iron into the groom's pocket to turn away the evil eye.
The phrase is na zisete, meaning “may you live”. To the couple's parents you say na sas zisoun. Neither needs to be said perfectly. Saying it at all is the point.
Most of these rituals travel. If you are bringing them home to Greece, the practical questions are the church, the paperwork and whether your date clears the fasting calendar. Our Greece wedding venues guide covers the islands and the mainland, and our all-inclusive destination wedding packages set out what a planned celebration abroad actually includes.
The best-known Greek wedding traditions include the crowning of the couple with the stefana, sharing wine from a common cup, the circle dances, pinning money on the newlyweds during the final dance, handing guests sugared almonds called koufeta, and the playful spitting to ward off the evil eye.
Greeks do not really spit. Guests make a soft "ftou, ftou, ftou" sound, usually three times, as a gesture to protect the couple from the evil eye and keep envy and bad luck away on their wedding day.
The stefana are two crowns joined by a ribbon, placed on the heads of the bride and groom during the Orthodox ceremony. They crown the couple king and queen of their new home, and the sponsor swaps them between their heads three times.
Koufeta are sugar-coated almonds given to guests in small bundles, always an odd number. The odd number cannot be divided, symbolising the couple's unity, the almond represents life, and the sugar represents the sweetness of marriage.
Traditionally the bride's family provided a dowry, the proika, and covered much of the wedding cost. Today most Greek couples share the expense between both families, and often pay for and plan the wedding themselves.
It is a lighthearted custom. Greeks say whoever steps on the other's foot first during the ceremony will have the upper hand in the marriage, so the bride sometimes gives the groom's shoe a gentle, playful stomp.
Anything but white, and ideally not head-to-toe black. Greek weddings run late and lean formal, so guests tend to dress up rather than down.
Na zisete, which means may you live. To the couple's parents, na sas zisoun.
Cash is standard, and it is often pinned to the couple during the money dance rather than handed over in an envelope. Koufeta go the other way, from the couple to the guests.
The bed-making ritual. Friends and family make the couple's bed before the wedding, scatter money and rice across it for prosperity, then roll a baby on it for fertility.
There is no fixed amount. Many guests give money during the money dance by pinning it to the couple's clothes, and the gift usually reflects how close you are to the couple and what you can comfortably afford.
Planning a Greek celebration of your own? Explore our destination wedding packages, including a clifftop Santorini sanctuary, each planned end to end by a Wedded Wonderland advisor.
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