A Greek Orthodox wedding is an ancient and meaningful ceremony. Although, essentially a Christian ceremony, it has many special customs that are observed, all symbolising the aspects needed to make up a marriage: love, mutual respect, equality and sacrifice. The service is often conducted in Greek and in the language of the host country; a large proportion of the service will be chanted.

Before The Day
The Engagement
It is traditional for Greek couples to get engaged by exchanging rings in the presence of their family and friends; a large feast follows this. The engagement ceremony is considered to be as binding as a wedding. Once the couple is engaged, according to Greek orthodoxy, it is traditional for the bride and groom to visit the priest three times for counselling before he will agree to perform the marriage ceremony. Throughout all aspects of the entire wedding, the number three is very significant as it represents the Holy Trinity.

Setting the Date
There are certain days of the year when Greek weddings are forbidden. These are the first fifteen days of August, (this period is dedicated to celebrating the Virgin Mary) and also the forty days prior to Easter and the forty days prior to Christmas. These dates are considered to be inappropriate. The Greek community also feel that marrying within a leap year is unlucky. Greek weddings almost always take place on a Sunday.

Pre-Wedding Ceremonies
The ritual of 'Starting the Leaven' takes place on the Wednesday before the wedding. This is when a boy and a girl, observed by the relative, sieve flour. When there is enough flour, all those present throw coins into the sieve and as they do this, they shout out their wishes of good luck to the bride and groom.
On the Friday before the wedding, the ceremony known as the 'Filling of the Sacks' takes place. This is a time when the bride fills sacks with all her possessions while visitors throw coins in to them. The bride’s mother is the first to put a gift of pans into her daughter’s sack. While the bride is filling her sacks, the groom meets with his friends and relatives, offering them wine and an invitation to the wedding feast. The bride’s father does the same with his friends and relatives. The bride follows suit on Saturday, but she gives out sweets instead of wine.

On The Day
Where the ceremony takes place
A Greek orthodox wedding takes place in a Greek Orthodox Church.

Arrival of the Bridal Party
On the day of the wedding, the wedding procession begins at the groom’s home where a wedding flag is raised. The flag bearer then leads the priest, the groom and his family over to the bride’s home in order to officiate their engagement. At this point, the bride’s father must agree to the marriage. He (or another male relative) will then escort the bride to the church. The Brodon Koumbaro leads the wedding party to the church. He has the very important role of best man and he acts as a director or sponsor, instigating the actions of the ceremony. The role of the Brodon Koumbaro is as necessary as the bride, groom and the priest. It is regarded to be a great honour if chosen to be the Brodon Koumbaro.

The Ceremony
A typical Greek wedding usually lasts about an hour, however a more formal service, sometimes conducted by a bishop could last up to an hour and a half. In the church, the groom’s family sit on one side and the bride’s family sit on the other. Throughout the service the Koumbaros stand in a semicircle to the left of the groom and the Koumeras stand in a semicircle to the right of the bride. The ceremony begins with the focal point of the marriage, when the priest takes two crowns, known as Stefana. He blesses the bride and groom in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit and then places the Stefana on the heads of the couple; these crowns are attached by a ribbon. The Brodon Koumbaro and Koumera stand behind the bride and groom and switch the Stefana three times on the heads of the couple, in order to witness the sealing of the union. The crowns symbolise the fact that the marriage is noble and that the couple is beginning a new dynasty together. Once the crowns have been placed on the heads of the couple, they are viewed for the rest of the service as a King and Queen. From that point on in the service, the couple is not allowed to speak.
The next stage of the ceremony occurs when the Brodon Koumbaro invites the couple to take their first steps as a married couple by walking around the ceremonial table three times. The table houses the Holy Cross and the Gospel reading which describes the marriage where Christ performed his first miracle, turning the water into wine for the newlyweds. As they do this, the priest, Brodon Koumbaro and the Koumera join them. The priest then sings a hymn to the Holy Martyrs (without the accompaniment of any instruments) and says special prayers in Old Greek to bless the couple. He asks God to look after the couple and send them lots of children. (There is a Greek pre – wedding tradition that is perfect for those wanting to start a family quickly. Babies are rolled on the matrimonial bed to bring fertility and happiness to the new marriage.) The couple then take part in their first communion together. They must drink wine (in remembrance of the Gospel blessing) from the cup of the Lord with their hands crossed. They then exchange their wedding rings three times. The rings are one of the most symbolic aspects of the service because they signify an everlasting relationship. At the conclusion of the ceremony, the priest removes the crowns from the bride and groom’s heads and beseeches God to grant the newlyweds a long, happy and fruitful life together. He then lifts up the Gospel and the Holy Cross and separates the couple’s joint hands, reminding them that only God can separate them from one another. At the end of the ceremony, honey and walnuts are offered to the bride and groom on a silver spoon. Walnuts are used because they break into four parts, representing the bride, groom and the two families.

The Reception
There are many traditions surrounding a Greek wedding reception. The evening often begins with a champagne reception separate from the main dining hall before the bride and groom arrive. The guests are then seated followed with the couple making a grand entrance. The couple must walk three times around the dance floor in keeping with the significance of the number three, symbolising the Holy Trinity. The couple then take their place at the top table. As in wedding receptions from other cultures, speeches are usually given during after dinner coffee; this is followed by the cutting of the cake.
It is at this point of the evening festivities that the dancing begins. The bride and groom begin the proceedings with a slow dance. There are a number of traditional dances and often the dancing continues with the Brodon Koumbaro and the groom. The groom will then dance with each of his Koumbaros. Meanwhile, the bride dances a Galamathkianor with the Koumeras, ending with the Sousta for all the Koumbaros. The dancing is then continued with every member of the wedding party having a turn to lead, and two circles are then formed around the bride. There are traditional dances for the mothers, fathers and other family members. It is also traditional to throw money at the dancer as a sign of respect for whoever is dancing. At the end of each dance, the money is given as a tip to the musicians, contributing towards the cost of the band and so being regarded as a gift to the couple. The focal point of the evening is when the famous traditional money dance takes place. The couple dance holding a handkerchief between them and as they do this, the family and guests pin money to the clothes of the couple. Another tradition is the smashing of plates - broken plates symbolize good luck, happiness and the permanence of marriage. Throughout the evening, everyone at the reception gets a turn to dance with the bride. As the guests leave at the end of the reception, they are all given Bom Bom Yara, which are koufeta (almond) sweets covered in white chocolate, wrapped up in netting. Tradition dictates that there must be an odd number of sweets in each package.
Very traditional Greek families will complete the wedding day with the bride going to the home of the groom, where the wedding flag is once again raised. She will then throw a piece of old iron onto the roof to symbolize the strength of her new home.