Greek Orthodox Wedding Planner in Los Angeles & San Francisco
Greek Orthodox wedding ceremonies remain unchanged even after years. They still involve a lot of symbolism and people are still following the same rituals and beliefs. However, as time goes by, the young generations incorporate old Greek Orthodox traditions with new American trends. In Greek Orthodox weddings, the bride and groom do not make vows to each other, no wedding rehearsals are needed and guests are welcome to take photos whenever they like.
The Wedding Ceremony
In Greek Weddings, there are three phases: oikos, where the bride has to incorporate herself into a role of daughter-and-wife at her new home. In the oikos stage, she starts as a maiden (also known as a parthenos) then to a nymphe, a wife without children. Later on, she turns into a gyne when she has her first child.
A Greek Orhthodox wedding ceremony is usually up to three days long. It starts with the proaulia where the bride will spend a final few days at her father’s house with her mother, female relatives, friends and servants in preparing for her wedding. Only women are allowed to attend the proaulia. During the event, she has to make several offerings include her childhood clothing and toys to symbolize that she is ready to start her new life and would love to get blessing from her own deities in her new life. As for the groom and the bride, they would pray to Aphrodite for a better life.
During the wedding ceremony, the groom has to hold the bride’s floral bouquet at the entrance of the church and hands it to the bride upon her arrival. Guests are usually entering the church after the bride and the groom.
Service of Betrothal
The purpose of the Service of Betrothal is to exchange wedding rings. The priest blesses the rings, then the best man (Koumbaro) exchanges the rings three times between the couple and place them on the ring fingers of the right hands of the bride and groom. The Greek Orthodox Service of Betrothal ends with a prayer to seal the rings by the priest.
Ceremony of the Sacrament of Marriage
The ceremony would start with several prayers and the priest would join the right hands of the bride and groom as the prayers just before the ceremony comes to an end. The couple’s hands have to remain joined for the whole wedding ceremony, symbolizing the couple’s union.
The Crowning
The couple is crowned with blessed thin crowns or “stefana” that are joined by a blessed white ribbon that have been bestowed by the priest, symbolizing the glory and honor by God. As for the ribbon, it symbolizes the couple’s unity. Again, the koumbaro exchanges the crowns three times between the couple’s heads.
The Common Cup
Following by the crowning is a Gospel reading, which tells of marriage of Cana at Galilee. During this event, you’ll see Jesus changes water into wine and the married couple drinks the wine three times. Three times are repeated over and over again throughout the Greek Orthodox wedding ceremony to symbolize the Holy Trinity.
The Ceremonial Walk
The married couple will do their first steps for three times around the altar with their stefana and the priest. As for the guests, they would throw rice to the married couple while the koumbaro follows right behind the married couple with the stefana place.
The Removal of the Crowns
The crowns are removed from the married couple after the priest blesses the couple and the ceremonial walk. The priest would separate their previously-joined hands with the bible and only God has the power to separate their unity.
Wedding Traditions
Some of the Greek Orthodox wedding traditions are very traditional and those traditions are slowly diminished as the young generations seldom apply them in their weddings such as putting coins in bread and cakes, rolling a baby on the marital bed for their fertility luck, throwing money onto the marital bed and pinning money onto the bride at the wedding reception.
