Weddings the Greek Orthodox Way
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. There are no
wedding rehearsals and the ceremony usually has a very relaxed
atmosphere - guests take photos whenever they want to and often
chat quietly among themselves throughout the ceremony.
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 are ready 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 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 symbolises 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 symbolises
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 symbolise the glory and honour
that is being bestowed on them by God, and the the ribbon
symbolises 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
Unfortunately, a lot of the information available on Greek
Orthodox wedding traditions is a little outdated and contains
generalisations that give the impression that certain traditions
are followed by everyone who gets married. Some of these
traditions are set out below.
- The baking of bread and cakes containing coins.
- 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 in many places,
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”!
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