Last updated: 27 October 2026.
How I know this: I planned our own Greek Orthodox wedding in Chania, Crete, in May 2024, from abroad, for 96 guests from six continents. Now I help couples plan theirs through Big Fat Greek Day, which is on track for around 45,000 visits a year.
A wedding weekend itinerary in Greece usually runs Thursday to Sunday: drinks as guests arrive, a dinner the night before, the wedding, then a goodbye brunch. Below is ours from Crete, day by day, with what each part cost and who paid.
Our wedding was on a Saturday. But the friendships started on Thursday night, at the bar of our hotel, over a round of drinks that came to about €250. Looking back, that’s where our wedding really started.
In Greece, a weekend is simply the natural shape of a destination wedding. Your guests are flying in, often from very far away, and they want a holiday around your day. Weekend-long weddings are one of the trends I wrote about in the 2027 article, but here they’ve always been normal. The weekend will happen whether you plan it or not, so it’s worth deciding early which parts you want to host.
Table of Contents
What did our wedding weekend itinerary look like, day by day?
It ran from Thursday to Sunday, with one main event a day and a casual evening on Friday for anyone who wanted to come. I’m Greek, my husband isn’t, and we married in Chania in May 2024. Here’s how our weekend ran, who paid for each part, and what it cost.
| When and what | Who paid, and the cost |
|---|---|
| Thursday: drinks at our hotel bar as guests arrived | Us, about €250, on top of our total |
| Friday: rehearsal dinner at a seafood taverna, about 20 to 30 people | My husband’s parents, as a gift: €1,500, not part of our budget |
| Friday, 10pm: drinks for everyone at the restaurant between our two hotels | Each guest paid their own |
| Saturday: the wedding, with buses to the church and on to the venue, then a shuttle every 30 minutes until about 2:30am | Us: €1,116 for our transport (airport transfers not included) |
| Saturday: an entertainer at the kids’ table | Us: €112 |
| Sunday: goodbye buffet brunch for every guest, at the same place as Friday’s drinks | Us: €1,707 |
The wedding itself came to €26,400. Our total came to €37,933, because we also chose the lighting upgrade (€4,092) and rooms for certain close friends and family. The transport, the kids’ entertainer and the brunch are all inside that €37,933, and together they came to €2,935. The Thursday drinks were on top. The rehearsal dinner was never our money at all.
Why does a wedding weekend work so well in Greece?
Because your guests become friends before the ceremony, and Greece does a lot of the hosting for you. Ours stayed in two hotels a two-minute walk apart, and we agreed prices on a few Airbnbs in the same streets for anyone who’d rather have their own place. From Thursday on, people kept bumping into each other at breakfast and at the bars. By Saturday, guests who’d been strangers already knew their tablemates, so the wedding felt like a reunion rather than a room full of introductions.
The food helps too. Tavernas are usually family-run, with homemade food, and that’s where you’ll find the cooking Greeks actually eat. My husband’s parents hosted our rehearsal dinner at one. The menu was agreed with the taverna in advance, for the whole group, and they still braced themselves for premium prices. The bill came in well below what they’d expected.
Then there’s philoxenia, the Greek word for love of the stranger: the warmth your guests feel the moment they arrive. You don’t need to fill every hour. Give people a few set moments, like a dinner, the wedding and a brunch, and leave the rest of their time free for the beach, the old town and each other.
I wrote separately about how we made guests feel at home before our wedding, which is the welcome side of all this. This one is about the plan and what it cost.
What is a welcome party for a wedding, and do you need one?
A welcome party is a relaxed get-together for guests who arrive before the wedding, so they can meet each other and see you before the big day gets busy. You don’t need a formal one. Ours turned into two evenings: Thursday at our hotel bar, and Friday drinks that were open to everyone.
Thursday: drinks at our hotel bar
Because we’d put everyone in the same few streets, guests started gathering at the bar of our hotel on Thursday, and parents joined in too. We decided to cover that round, which came to about €250. Keep yours this simple and keep it near where people are staying. A hotel bar, a beach bar or a taverna terrace all work, and none of them needs to be formal.
One thing I’d do earlier than we did: introduce yourself to the hotel manager weeks ahead. Later that Thursday night, after our hotel bar closed, we carried on at the other hotel, and a guest who had nothing to do with our wedding complained about the noise. The manager I’d built a relationship with during the planning helped us sort it out. Get to know yours early, so there’s someone who already knows you if a night like that happens.
Friday at 10pm: drinks for everyone, pay as you go
After the rehearsal dinner, we arranged drinks with the restaurant between our two hotels, open to anyone who wanted to join. Guests paid for their own, and we said so when we invited them. Plenty of people had flown in early, so we got to catch up with them and introduce friends to family before the wedding-day rush. If your dinner is a smaller one, an evening like this means nobody feels left out.
Who comes to the rehearsal dinner at a destination wedding?
Usually close family and the wedding party, not every guest. Ours was about 20 to 30 people at a seafood taverna right next to both hotels, with tables set out on the pebbles by the water. My husband’s parents wanted a rehearsal dinner, so they hosted it and paid for it. It cost €1,500, it was a gift from them, and it was never part of our wedding budget.
Their brief was elegant, about 20 people, and very Greek. We considered a few smarter places in the city center first, then suggested the taverna instead. I talked to the owners and agreed a set menu at a set price. It’s one of the best-known tavernas in Chania and gets first pick of the fish, so it felt special without restaurant prices.
Who pays for this kind of event is up to your families. For how we handled the bigger shared costs, including rooms, read who pays for guest accommodation at a wedding abroad.
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What kept our wedding day running smoothly?
Two things: transport we paid for, and a real plan for the kids. With the weekend around it, the day itself had less to carry. Our guests had already met, our families had already had dinner together, and nobody was arriving that afternoon, tired and lost.
Buses, shuttles and the bus that never came
Buses took everyone from the hotels to the church and then on to the venue, and that part worked perfectly. A smaller shuttle then ran every 30 minutes from 9pm until about 2:30am, from one pickup point close to both hotels, so parents could have a drink and nobody had to drive. We’d also booked a bus to bring the rest of the party back at the very end of the night. It never came, and we ended up calling taxis. Save local taxi numbers before the day and put them on your schedule. Our transport came to €1,116, and that didn’t include airport transfers, which we didn’t pay for. The cost page has more on what wedding transport costs, and our article on traveling to a wedding in Greece is the one to send your guests.
The kids, handled
The kids were with us for the whole wedding, ceremony and reception. They had their own table, their own menu and an entertainer (not a babysitter), who I found through Facebook. She cost €112, and parents thanked us all night. People even called me afterward asking for her name. If you’re inviting families, our article on a kid-friendly wedding in Greece has the rest.
What does a post wedding brunch look like in Greece?
Ours was a relaxed Sunday buffet brunch for every guest, at the all-day bar between our two hotels, where we’d all had drinks on Friday night, and it was the nicest way to end the weekend. It came with custom coffees, and it cost €1,707. Instead of goodbyes scattered across a dozen checkouts, everyone got one last morning together, a little tired and very happy, already planning what they still wanted to do on the island.
If you want one, ask a café or all-day bar close to your guests’ hotels for a per-guest brunch price for the whole group. A place guests already know from earlier in the weekend makes it easy. Put it in the schedule from the start so guests don’t book an early flight home.
What holds a wedding weekend together between the events?
The small things in between. Here’s what made our guests feel looked after when nothing was scheduled:
- Everyone close together. Two hotels side by side: a smaller boutique one for us, the wedding party and parents, and a larger, more affordable one for guests. Guaranteeing a block of rooms in shoulder season got us a 15% group discount, with a code that worked even for guests we weren’t paying for.
- One WhatsApp group. Announcements, early-arrival tips, live location sharing, and a flood of candid guest photos and videos. You get a second, very human set of pictures alongside the professional ones.
- A wedding website. I explain how we built ours in why we created a wedding website.
- A printed schedule in every room. It covered the two days and was ready when guests arrived: the rehearsal dinner, the optional drinks, shuttle times, the order of the ceremony, and the brunch the next morning.
- Three languages. We gave our speech in English, then someone delivered it again in Greek and in Polish, and the best man’s and best woman’s speeches were printed in all three and handed out, so everyone could follow along.
How do you plan your own wedding weekend schedule?
Start with four moments, decide who hosts each one, and send the schedule early. In a little more detail:
- Pick your anchor moments. Four is plenty: welcome drinks, a dinner, the wedding and a goodbye brunch.
- Decide who hosts each one. You, your parents, or “everyone pays their own” for the casual ones. Say it clearly in the schedule so nobody has to guess.
- Send it early. Guests book flights around the schedule, so it belongs with your save-the-dates. The free Invitation Timeline Calculator works out when each piece should go out. If you’re still estimating numbers, who actually comes to a destination wedding and the free Guest Attendance Calculator will help.
For the dates, costs and deadlines that sit behind all of this, the 2027 article has the full picture for next year, and the countdown checklist turns it into a tick list.
I built a free calculator using real vendor quotes from across Greece. Enter your guest count and preferences and it builds a full estimate, VAT included.
Frequently Asked Questions About Wedding Weekends in Greece
Is a rehearsal dinner a Greek tradition?
No. It’s an American custom, and it isn’t something we do in Greece. We had one because my husband’s parents wanted to host it, and a seafood taverna by the water turned out to be a very Greek way to do it.
How many nights do guests stay for a wedding in Greece?
Usually around four. That’s the typical stay in a 2026 survey of Greek wedding planners and vendors, which describes the weddings they work on rather than every wedding in Greece. It’s why the weekend matters: your guests are already planning a holiday around you.
Is there Uber on Crete?
No. There wasn’t when we married in 2024, and Crete still isn’t on Uber’s own list of Greek cities as of October 2026. Book your late-night transport ahead, and give guests a list of local taxi numbers.
What should you read next?
The part I didn’t see coming was how much of our wedding happened around the wedding. People who were strangers on Thursday were friends by Saturday, and on Sunday we all had brunch together one last time. If you’re starting to price your own weekend, the free Budget Calculator works out a realistic total for your wedding, and you can add the weekend events on top.
More from our own wedding:
- How we made guests feel at home before our wedding
- Who pays for guest accommodation at a wedding abroad
- What a wedding venue in Greece really costs
- The 2027 article: planning a wedding in Greece next year
Sources
- Our own wedding budget spreadsheet, Chania, May 2024: wedding €26,400, total €37,933, lighting upgrade €4,092, transport €1,116 (airport transfers not included), kids’ entertainer €112, Sunday buffet brunch €1,707, 15% hotel group discount.
- Focus Bari, “Saying Yes to Greece”, presented 29 April 2026: online survey of 90 Greek wedding professionals (40 planners, 50 vendors). Supports the “around four nights” stay, as planners’ and vendors’ estimate for the weddings they handle.
- Uber, list of cities served in Greece (uber.com), checked 27 October 2026: Crete is not listed.
