How Many Koufeta per Guest? Greek Favour Maths

Picture a kitchen table in Nafplio, a week before the wedding. A Canadian bride counts six sugared almonds into the first little tulle bag. Her future mother-in-law takes one out, adds two more and ties the ribbon. Seven. Never an even number.

That's koufeta in one scene. They are the white sugar-coated almonds in every Greek wedding favour, and they come with rules nobody writes down. How many koufeta per guest? Five or seven in each favour is the classic choice, always an odd number. The harder question is how many kilos to buy, because a kilo can hold anything from about 115 to 360 pieces depending on the type.

This guide explains what koufeta mean, how many to put in each bag, and gives you a table that turns your guest count into kilos.

TL;DR: Five or seven per favour, one favour per household, buy one or two kilos extra.

• Always an odd number: 5 or 7 is classic, 9 or 11 in a fuller tulle bag, 3 in a small box.
• Count favours, not guests. One per household cuts the number a lot.
• Check the pieces per kilo on the box. One classic almond koufeto is listed at 240 to 260 a kilo, but another shop's guide says about 150.
• Shops listed classic almond koufeta at about €11 a kilo in October 2026, premium ranges at €22 to €24.

What koufeta are, and why guests get them

Koufeta (κουφέτα) are whole roasted almonds with a hard sugar shell. At a Greek wedding they go into the bomboniera, the small favour every guest takes home, and onto a tray at the church during the ceremony.

The usual explanation is simple. The almond is a little bitter, the sugar is sweet, and married life has both. The number is odd because an odd number can't be split into two equal halves, just like the couple. Liebequeen, a Greek favour shop, adds the meanings people attach to each number: three for the Holy Trinity, five as "the most classic number for a wedding", seven for the sacraments of the church.

For more on the wider tradition, see our guide to Greek wedding traditions.

Pro tip: Tie a small tag to each favour explaining what koufeta are. Your non-Greek guests will otherwise treat them like soft sweets, and there's a whole almond in there.

How many koufeta per favour

The tulle numbers and the box numbers come from Liebequeen's June 2026 guide. The church tray figures come from the Greek wedding magazine Yes I Do.

Honestly, five or seven covers almost every wedding. Nine and eleven look generous in a big tulle bag, but in a modern box they just rattle.

How many kilos of koufeta do you need

The maths is simple: favours × koufeta per favour ÷ pieces per kilo, rounded up.

The catch is the middle number, the pieces per kilo, which varies a lot. A Greek shop listing for Hatziyiannakis classic almond koufeta gives 240 to 260 pieces a kilo. Liebequeen's guide puts classic almonds at about 150 a kilo and flavoured ones at about 115. So two shops disagree by almost 100 pieces a kilo for what both call a classic almond, and we can't tell you which box Liebequeen counted. Liebequeen also gives about 250 for chocolate koufeta and 360 for the light, crispy cereal ones. Always read the box.

Here's a quick table. The first number in each cell assumes about 240 pieces a kilo, a typical classic almond. The number in brackets assumes about 150, Liebequeen's figure for classic almonds. If your box says something else, redo the sum.

Then add one or two kilos. Liebequeen recommends exactly that, for the church tray and for the house. We'd add: for the favours you'll inevitably redo at midnight.

Count favours, not guests

This is where it's easy to overbuy. Take a wedding with 90 guests but only 52 households. Give one favour per couple or family, plus one to each guest who comes alone, and you might end up with 60 favours. Seven almonds each makes 420 almonds. At roughly 240 a kilo that's two kilos, so buy three. Spare almonds are never wasted at a Greek wedding.

The easiest way to get that number right is from your replies, not your first draft of the list. Our guide to wedding favours guests actually love has more on matching quantities to real replies, and on favour ideas beyond koufeta.

What koufeta cost

Prices we found on Greek shop listings in October 2026:

So 60 favours of seven classic koufeta costs roughly €22 to €33 in almonds. The tulle, the ribbon and the little tags will cost you more than the almonds.

The church tray and the pillow custom

During the ceremony, a tray of white koufeta sits near the altar. According to Yes I Do, after the service the priest traditionally slips the tray's koufeta into the groom's pocket. These days, the same source says, unmarried guests tend to go up and take a few themselves.

Why? An old custom says that if a single woman sleeps with wedding koufeta under her pillow for three nights in a row, she'll dream of the person she'll marry. Your international guests will love this, so tell them. If you're preparing a ceremony explainer, our Greek Orthodox wedding guide for guests covers the rest of the service.

For guests: what to do with your koufeta

If you're a guest and someone hands you a little bag of sugared almonds: take it home, it's a thank you from the couple. Eat them slowly, they're hard. And if you're single, now you know what the pillow is for.

Before you tie the first bag

Favours are one of those jobs that look small and quietly eat a weekend, especially when the numbers keep changing. The fastest way to know how many to tie is to know who's actually coming, household by household.

In WhiteClover you can link partners and children into one household on your wedding guest list, and one reply from a phone covers everyone in it. Count the households that said yes, and that's the number to take to the sweet shop.

FAQ

How many koufeta go in a Greek wedding favour?

Five or seven is the classic choice. Liebequeen suggests seven, nine or eleven for a fuller tulle bag, and three or five for a small modern box. It's always an odd number.

Why are koufeta always an odd number?

An odd number can't be divided into two equal parts, which stands for a couple that stays together. Some shops also link the numbers to faith: three for the Holy Trinity, seven for the sacraments.

How many koufeta are in a kilo?

It depends on the type. A classic Hatziyiannakis almond koufeto is listed at about 240 to 260 a kilo, Liebequeen gives about 150 for classic and 115 for flavoured almonds, and around 360 for crispy cereal ones. Read the box you're buying.

Do baptism favours use koufeta too?

Yes, and fewer of them: Liebequeen suggests three, five or at most seven, often chocolate or crispy ones. Liebequeen keeps to odd numbers, while El Deco's blog says even numbers for baptisms, so ask your family.

Can I make koufeta favours myself?

Yes. It's mostly counting and tying. Order the almonds early, buy a kilo or two extra, and get a few relatives round the kitchen table for an evening.

Recommended

• Wedding Favours Guests Will Actually Keep
• Greek Wedding Traditions: A Complete Guide
• Greek Orthodox Wedding: A Guide for Guests
• How Much Money to Give at a Wedding (2026 Guide)
• Combined Wedding and Baptism 2026: A Complete Planning Guide