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Guide to the
Greek Orthodox Wedding Ceremony
Emmanuel Mendonca
The wedding
service in the Greek Orthodox faith is an ancient and beautiful
ceremony, which has been celebrated in its current form for
centuries. The wedding ceremony is full of symbolism and is a
great experience if you have never attended one before, because
it is likely to be quite different from other weddings you have
attended in Western Europe. The service is also rather unique
because the bride and groom do not make vows to each other –
their presence together in the church is taken to mean that they
are serious about getting married.
The Beginning
of the Wedding
In most cases
the wedding guests will wait with the groom outside the church
until the bride arrives (a few sneaky wedding pros will go into
the church early to secure a good seat). In the summer, when
most weddings take place, it is not unusual for ceremonies to be
arranged back to back, so the guests attending a marriage will
often stand around with those who have just attended the
previous wedding as they prepare to leave. Wedding dress
commentators among the crowd will get to consider and discuss at
least two brides and maybe even a third as they leave the church
– bargain! Meanwhile, the nervous groom waits for the bride at
the entrance to the church, often holding her floral bouquet. He
hands it to her as they meet and they then go inside together
followed by the guests. There is no separation of the guests
into guests of the bride and guests of the groom – everyone sits
together and in the case of small churches, many people prefer
to stand in a spot where they can get a good view of the
proceedings.
Service of
Betrothal
The wedding
ceremony itself is in two parts: the Service of Betrothal and
the Ceremony of the Sacrament of Marriage. The exchanging of
rings is the focus of the Service of Betrothal. The priest
blesses the rings by holding them in his right hand and making
the sign of the cross over the heads of the bride and groom. The
rings are then placed on the third fingers of their right hands.
The “Koumbaro”, the couple’s religious sponsor, then swaps the
rings over between the bride and groom’s fingers, three times. A
number of rituals in the ceremony are repeated three times and
this symbolizes the Holy Trinity: God the Father, the Son and
the Holy Spirit.
Ceremony of
the Sacrament of Marriage
This Ceremony
consists of several key parts. First, several prayers are said
and then as they come to an end, the priest joins the right
hands of the bride and groom. Their hands remain joined until
the end of the wedding ceremony, which symbolizes the couple’s
union.
The Crowning
The bride and
groom are crowned with thin crowns, or “stefana”, which are
joined by a white ribbon and have been blessed by the priest.
The crowns symbolize the glory and honor that is being bestowed
on them by God, and the the ribbon symbolizes their unity. The
“Koumbaro” then exchanges the crowns between the heads of the
couple, three times.
The Common
Cup
The crowning
is followed by a reading of the Gospel, which tells of the
marriage of Cana at Galilee. It was at this wedding that Jesus
performed his first miracle, changing water into wine, which was
then given to the married couple. Wine is given to the couple
and they each drink from it three times.
The
Ceremonial Walk
The priest
the leads the couple, who are still wearing their “stefana”,
three times around the altar on their first steps as a married
couple. The “Koumbaro” follows close behind the couple holding
the “stefana” place. At this point the couple (and anyone
standing nearby) is usually showered with rice, which was
earlier handed out to the wedding guests. The priest will often
make use of the bible he is holding to give himself some
protection!
The Removal
of the Crowns
When the
Ceremonial Walk has ended, the priest blesses the couple, the
crowns are removed and he then separates their previously joined
hands with the bible, reminding them that only God can break the
union which they have just entered into.
Wedding
traditions
Much of the
information available on Greek Orthodox wedding traditions is a
little outdated and contains generalizations that give the
impression that certain traditions are followed by everyone who
gets married. Some of these traditions are set out below
- Rolling a
baby on the marital bed to encourage fertility.
- The
throwing of money onto the marital bed.
- The pinning
of money onto the bride (and sometimes also the groom) at the
wedding reception.
Although
these rituals are seen as traditional, fewer and fewer young
people marrying today are following them, because they are seen
as old-fashioned. Many people do not wish to put their guests
through the ordeal of other people being able to see how much
money they pin on the bride, for example. Although money is
still a very common, as well as practical, wedding present it is
often given to the couple before the wedding day or to a third
person at the wedding reception, for safe-keeping. Greeks living
in the more remote parts of Greece and abroad, who will
naturally feel more strongly about doing things the traditional
way, are more likely to follow these traditions than those
living in Athens, for example. Like weddings everywhere, Greek
weddings are changing. At the time of writing, there is a
growing fashion to go and get married on an island and I
recently heard someone say that he was looking into getting
married in a ski resort. He was wisely advised by a friend “You
had better first ask the priest if he wants to perform a
marriage up a mountain”!
About The
Author
Emmanuel
Mendonca moved from London to Athens in 2004 and is getting to
grips with life in
Greece.
Emmanuel publishes Greece travel and living articles at
http://www.athensroom.com/greece_travel_guide.html
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