Destination weddings have a particular money-shape: the couple covers the wedding itself, but the guests organise their own accommodation - and the cheapest accommodation is usually a shared villa or Airbnb. That works beautifully right up to the point where someone gets the en-suite master and someone else gets the sofa bed. Below is the etiquette for splitting a group house when the couple is in the same group, the rooms aren't equal, and everyone arrives on different flights.
The room-tier split (the actual maths)
A six-bedroom villa rarely has six equal bedrooms. There's usually a master with en-suite, two doubles with shared bathroom, two twins, and a 'romantic' room that's actually a converted attic. The fair pattern: rank the rooms, weight them (master 1.3x, en-suite double 1.2x, standard double 1.0x, twin 0.9x, attic 0.7x), apply weights to the total cost, divide. EvenRound's per-expense weighting handles this directly. Don't split equally and pretend it's fine - it isn't, and someone always brings it up at 3am on the third night.
The bride and groom's slot (free, paid, or covered)
If the couple is staying in the same villa, three options. (1) The couple gets the best room free - the rest of the group covers their share as a thank-you (works if the group is close and the villa is the wedding gift). (2) The couple pays their pro-rata share at the same rate as everyone else (cleanest, no awkwardness). (3) The couple's room cost is split equally across all other rooms as a small surcharge. Pick one before booking; don't decide on arrival.
Airport transfers, taxis, the supermarket run
Transfers are the highest-friction line. Three people on the early Ryanair get a £40 taxi; four people on the evening BA get a £60 minibus. Log both as expenses with only those participants - don't try to average it. The supermarket run on day one (pasta, wine, breakfast bits, sun cream) is genuinely a group expense; split equally. The bride and groom usually don't go to the supermarket; they're free-riders for one trip and that's fine.
Meals: when to split, when not to
Group dinner the night before the wedding: split equally, log as one expense with all participants. Lunch where four people went to the beach and three stayed at the villa: log only the four. The 'someone brought 6 bottles of wine to the villa' question: log the wine as a group expense at supermarket cost, list everyone who drank. Skipping these conversations doesn't make them go away - it just delays them to the WhatsApp 'final settle' message after everyone's home.
The post-wedding settle-up
Sunday afternoon at the villa is not the time. The cleanest pattern: one person (typically whoever set up the EvenRound group) runs the smart-settlement on the Monday after everyone's flown home, posts the per-person numbers in the group chat, and gives a one-week window for transfers. Wise or Revolut for the foreign-currency people; bank transfer for the UK-only. Nobody owes anyone a venmo for €4.20.
The 'this is too expensive for me' conversation
Destination weddings cost guests £700-1500. Some of your friend group will not be in the financial position to do that. The honest pattern is to flag it before booking, not after - because once the villa is paid for it can't be unbooked. As an organiser: send the proposed total per person before anyone commits, and explicitly say 'flag any concerns now.' As a guest: if it's too much, say so. The couple would rather know.
Destination weddings are the highest-stakes friendship-money event most groups will run. The trick is to do all the awkward conversations in February, lock the budget in March, and just enjoy the actual weekend in July. EvenRound is for the bookkeeping; the conversations are still on you.