The Greek Wedding: Culture and Traditions

Article by Tiffany Jacobs, Photography by Greg Lumley

About Greek Weddings

A Greek wedding portrays a unique combination of traditions, each of which have different meanings, starting from the engagement until the day of marriage. Although the wedding traditions may vary there are certain wedding customs that are commonly followed. Before the bride and groom are to get dressed their wedding garments are blesses by family members taking turns to dance around the bride and groom with the garments.



Once the bride and groom are dressed another ceremony takes place, where a red ribbon is tied around the waist of the bride and groom three times and while doing so the family member makes a wish for the couple, the wishes range from blessing of fertility, health, love and happiness. The bride and groom will perform many of the Greek wedding rituals three times, as the number three represents the Holy Trinity.

Crowning

During the wedding ceremony, the bride and groom are adorned with crowns. While doing so, the crowns are exchanged three times as a part of the Greek tradition. The wedding crowns represent glory and honour. These crowns are joined with a silver ribbon that symbolizes the union of the couple. The couple wear these crowns till the end of the marriage ceremony.

The Common Cup

The priest provides the husband and wife with a drink of wine from The Common Cup three times, this symbolises sharing every joy and sorrow that the couple may go through.

Wedding Reception

Immediately, after the wedding, candied almonds are distributed in odd numbers among the guests representing both the sweetness and bitterness in life. The odd number signifies that the couple are united henceforth as one and cannot be separated. Wedding receptions are always associated with music and dance, and the guests are treated with special food and drinks.

Dishes are smashed and whiskey is burned on the floor for good luck. An odd number of candied almonds, koufeta, are handed out as favors to guests.



Marriage is one of the seven Sacraments of the Greek Orthodox Church. It is the Sacrament during which the bride and groom give a solemn promise before God and the Church to love each other and to be true to each other. A Greek wedding service is a beautiful service full of symbols. It consists of two parts: The Service of Betrothal and the Service of the Crowning.

The Service of the Betrothal

The service of the betrothal consists of several prayers during which the priest asks God to grant the betrothed perfect and peaceful love, salvation and fertility.

The Exchanging of the rings

The wedding rings are blessed twice, first on the engagement day and second on the wedding day. During engagement, the priest will bless the rings, after which the bride and groom wear the rings on their left hands. As a part of the wedding ceremony, the weddings rings are again blessed by the priest and this time, the bride and groom will wear it on their right hands. This signifies how strength of one outweighs the weakness of the other, and the perfections of one make up for the other's imperfections. The rings are exchanged by the best man who symbolises the unbreakable bond of Christian Marriage; marriage is not for today or tomorrow, but forever.

Ceremonial Walk

After the bride and groom are adorned with the wedding crowns, they will walk around the church altar three times. This ceremonial walk is an important tradition in a Greek wedding, as it symbolizes the first steps of life as a married couple.

Wedding Dance

There are two types of traditional Greek wedding dance viz. the Isaiah and the Kaslamantiano. The former dance is performed only by the bride and groom during the wedding ceremony where money is pinned onto the bride and groom as a wedding gift from guests and also to buy a dance from the bride or groom.

The Kaslamantiano, on the other hand, is performed at the reception. In this dance, the bride and groom along with the guests participate and dance by forming a circle.