Greek Wedding – answers in the full text

I had a surprise¹ phone-call last June when a friend of² mine rang³ to say Kristina was getting married⁴ at the end of the month on⁵ the island of Andros in ⁶ a Greek Orthodox service. In Greece, as is the case in England, people get married either in a civil ceremony or in a religious one, whereas in some countries you have to have the civil⁷ ceremony regardless of whether or not you have a religious one.
I had to look up Andros in my atlas. I hadn’t realised that Greece has over two thousand⁸ islands, only 154-odd of which are actually⁹ inhabited. Andros is one of those which is (inhabited), mainly by Greeks¹⁰, and it is the northernmost island¹¹ of the Cyclades about 2 hours’ ferry journey ¹² from Athens – from Rafina, I think the port was called. Andros is also the greenest¹³ of the islands as it has many sources¹⁴ of water in its valleys, and is very plentiful in¹⁵ fruit, fish and vegetables.
I was very struck¹⁶ by how very different from ¹⁷ an English ceremony many aspects of the service were¹⁸ . There were about a hundred and fifty of us, all in¹⁹ the open air outside a tiny, whitewashed hillside chapel, high²⁰ on a cliff-top overlooking the Aegean at 7.30 in the evening on²¹ a warm June evening. The service itself²² was conducted by two Greek priests – maybe one was a deacon, I’m not sure – in a tiny²³ little circular area near the chapel, actually a former threshing-floor, formerly²⁴ used for beating grain. Inside this area²⁵ was an altar, a large candle and some smaller ones, a beautiful²⁶ display of white flowers and white and gold ribbons and an icon tied with ribbons to a stand. The area was quite²⁷ cramped by²⁸ the²⁹ time³⁰ the priests, the bride and groom, a pageboy, a little bridesmaid and the chief witness were there – actually there were two³¹ pageboys now I think. Those of us who’d got there early³² perched on rocks surrounding olive and almond trees, but the late-comers – easily³³ two-thirds of the wedding-guests – just stood wherever³⁴ they could find a space³⁵, and couldn’t see or hear most of the service, actually³⁶. At one stage the priest even yelled at some of them to shut up.
In the past there used to be two separate³⁷ parts to³⁸ a Greek wedding ceremony – the Service of Betrothal, and the Ceremony of the Sacrament of Marriage. Rings are exchanged at the engagement service – the Betrothal service when the couple exchange rings which have been blessed by the priest and there’s usually³⁹ a party afterwards. Nowadays the marriage service, sometimes called the ‘Crowning’, is most often celebrated together with this first Betrothal service, but it used to be quite a distinct service months or even years later than⁴⁰ the first service. This reminds⁴¹ me of betrothal and marriage in 16th century⁴² Tudor England when couples could vow to be husband and wife without a priest or anyone else⁴³ present, but already in Shakespeare’s time in the second half⁴⁴ of the 16th century unsolemnised betrothal was starting to be considered different from⁴⁵ a solemnised and consummated marriage⁴⁶.
I was surprised⁴⁷ to see just one witness for the bridal couple, as in Britain we usually have two, one for each person (a Best Man and a Chief Bridesmaid or a Matron of Honour), and also that this witness can be either⁴⁸ a man or a woman – in this case a woman. This witness had a more significant symbolic rôle than her equivalent in England, too⁴⁹. For instance, after the priest had blessed the rings⁵⁰, making the sign of the cross over the couple’s heads⁵¹ and saying they were married to each other in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, the witness exchanged⁵² the rings between the couple three times. This apparently symbolises the belief that in married life the weaknesses⁵³ of one partner will be compensated for by the strengths of the other, the imperfections of each partner balanced by the perfections of the other. By themselves the two are incomplete, but together they are complete⁵⁴– ie perfect.
The numerous candles are significant too – they symbolise⁵⁵ the willingness of the couple to receive Christ, who therefore⁵⁶ blesses them in their marriage.
To symbolise their unity the couple shared⁵⁷ a glass of wine and their hands remained joined for the rest of the service. There was a reading of the first miracle of Christ, when he changed water into wine. The so-called Common Cup is the common cup of life, symbolising the sharing of joy⁵⁸ and also the burdens of life⁵⁹. There followed the Ceremonial Walk – when Kristina and Vassilis walked in a circle⁶⁰ around the centre table led⁶¹ by the priest – this symbolised their first steps as a married couple, led by the priest representing the church, and the fact⁶² that the walk was circular was symbolic of Christ being at the centre of their life. At this point guests at the wedding threw rice over the three of them – I assume this is based on some sort of ancient fertility rite⁶³ – I don’t know for sure. There was an angelic little bridesmaid too, Irini, who had patiently⁶⁴ held a basket of rose-petals for well⁶⁵ over⁶⁶ an hour until this moment, when she showered the couple.
After this ceremonial walk the priest blessed the couple, the two crowns were removed⁶⁷ and then he separated their joined⁶⁸ hands with the bible, reminding them that only God could break⁶⁹ the union which they have just entered into. The equivalent in England would be the moment when the priest says at the end of the service, ‘What God has joined, let no man put asunder‘ – an ancient word from Old English meaning ‘apart’.
Outside the tiny chapel all the guests were treated to a small glass of a local drink of sweet almonds⁷⁰ and we were each given a little white bag with some sugared almonds in it. We were also given a little shell⁷¹ with a blue eye on it. We then set off⁷² further up the hillside to where the reception was held⁷³ out-of-doors and for the next few hours talked, danced to music played by some local musicians⁷⁴ and ate and drank…..and it was a wonderful, unforgettable unique⁷⁵ experience for me.

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