Mediterranean and Middle East · Greek
Greek Wedding Toasts: Cheers, Speeches, and Customs
Two words from every guest, a money dance, and crowns tied with a ribbon.
Raise a glass
Yamas
YAH-mas · To our health
To the couple
Na zisete!
nah ZEE-seh-teh · May you live! Said to the couple by everyone
Who speaks, and when
- Speeches are not the tradition. The koumbaro and koumbara, the couple's sponsors, have their role in the ceremony, crowning the couple and walking them around the altar.
- Guests say 'na zisete' to the couple in the receiving line, one by one. That is the toast, repeated a few hundred times.
- A parent or the koumbaro may say a few words at the dinner, and the couple thanks everyone.
How long
A few words per person. A planned speech is short and warm. The dancing is the evening.
What you’ll see
- The stefana, two crowns joined by a ribbon, are placed on the couple's heads during the Orthodox ceremony and swapped three times by the koumbaro.
- 'Na zisete' from every guest, and 'na zisete' back to the parents.
- The money dance: guests pin money to the couple's clothes while they dance, and the sponsors help collect it.
- Koufeta, sugared almonds in odd numbers, are given to every guest.
- The kalamatiano and other circle dances pull everyone onto the floor, and plate smashing, where it happens at all, is more restaurant than wedding.
If you’re the guest from somewhere else
- Say 'na zisete' to the couple and 'na sas zisoun' (may they live for you) to their parents.
- Bring cash for the money dance, in small notes.
- Learn the first few steps of the circle dance. Someone will teach you the rest.
A toast you could give
Short, warm, specific to the couple, and ending on the phrase. Swap in your own names and your own detail; the shape is what matters.
Eleni, I have been to your family's table more times than my own, and nobody has ever let me leave hungry. Nikos, welcome to the best table in Greece. Na zisete! Yamas!
Speaking at a Greek wedding?
Whatever the tradition, the speech that lands has the same bones: one story, a turn, a word to the partner, a toast. The guides have it for every role, and the free check reads your draft and tells you how it lands.