Planning, Dining & Events

For July and August in the Cyclades, begin 6 to 9 months ahead, because the better yachts and estates are committed early. For May, June, September and October, 3 months is usually enough. Last-minute briefs are taken when feasible, but the choice narrows quickly.

For a private wedding or a large gathering on a specific island, allow 12 months. That much notice often decides whether you secure the estate you want.

A typical route through the Cyclades covers three to five islands over seven to ten days, by yacht, by helicopter or both. Routes in the Ionian and the Sporades run to similar lengths. Where a brief spans more than one field, the house first looks for one advisor who can carry all of it. It makes a second, separate introduction only where part of the brief falls outside what any one advisor can properly cover.

Each island is chosen for what it brings to your visit.

For a first visit to Greece, advisors often suggest two islands and the mainland: one famous island and one quiet one, with a few days in Athens or the Peloponnese at the start or the end.

Selectively, and with permission. A chosen set of private and protected venues across Greece opens to private dinners, under arrangements that respect their conservation rules. These are not bookings. The advisor negotiates each one, often months in advance, and not every brief receives a yes.

Examples include the gardens of historic estates, working monasteries, the courtyards of restored mansions and, in exceptional circumstances, a very small set of archaeological sites.

The advisor introduced to you holds the relationship with the site and puts the case for the evening to whoever decides. That may be the family that owns the estate, the abbot or the regional ephorate of antiquities, the state office in charge of ancient sites. The answer comes back on their terms, and the advisor works within them.

For weddings and significant celebrations, your advisor opens the conversation nine to 12 months ahead.

Yes. A wedding can range from an intimate ceremony for 12 guests to a gathering of 300 or more, on the islands, in the Peloponnese or on the mainland. The house names the wedding advisor in its network it judges right for the venue and the family, and introduces you directly. That advisor runs the day on their own terms. Where the day also needs an estate or a charter, they carry that too wherever they can.

The advisor’s work covers the venue, the ceremony, civil and religious paperwork, photography and film, and accommodation for guests.

A civil wedding between non-residents needs six to eight weeks of paperwork. A symbolic ceremony, one without legal effect, can be held more quickly.

For a larger wedding, 12 months’ notice is the difference between a comfortable plan and a tight one.