Time to Get Down

Jeremy and I have been discussing, well many things about the ceremony, but today we were talking about music. One of the fun joys in getting married overseas is that you have to try to envision just about every possible need and eventuality, all before you ever actually get there. And since we adding more element of complexity--getting married on a small, 8-mile wide, non-touristy island--we also won't have the option of just running to the store to pick things up. So if you want creamer in your coffee, best to bring some coffeemate with you. And if you decide after you get there that really need a tablecloth, bottle of champagne, or another song to your iTunes wedding playlist, so sorry.

So over the last few months, we've been laughing ourselves silly with possible music selections to play during the ceremony. Here's our top three. Now you get to vote!

Carmina Burana:
http://www.bodymapping.net/CarminaBurana.aspx

I Do It For You:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGoWtY_h4xo

Forever:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-94JhLEiN0

And I even offered to let the guys learn to do the traditional Zorba the Greek dance. ;)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXNApZ2ALiQ

Greek Wedding Traditions

While Jeremy and I are not getting married in a Greek church or having a greek wedding in any traditional manner, I've been doing some research to find if there are any greek traditions we can incorporate into our wedding. The research has been fascinating and given a lot of food for thought.

In Greece, the church is usually within walking distance, so it is fairly easy for the family and friends (and the entire village) to celebrate the bride leaving home. I even found pics of brides riding donkeys to the wedding. Strangely, our wedding will not be too dissimilar but we will be riding mopeds to the church instead. And the groom often waits outside the church holding the bride's bouquet, where he hands it to her when she arrives. Somehow, I don't see Jer standing around holding a bouquet of flowers, so I may have to work on him on this one.

When the bride, groom and guests all enter the church together, there is no dividing the guests into those "for the bride" and those "for the groom"--everyone sits together. The idea being that the wedding is not just to unite the two people, but the two families. I really like this idea. And since I don't think we'll even have chairs at our ceremony, it sounds like the perfect reasoning.

The bride and groom also walk with each other down aisle, rather than the groom waiting at one end with the bride being 'given away' by her father. This is another tradition I really like. Don't get me wrong, I love my parents. But it has always seemed unfair that mom would be off to the side by herself. I would rather have everyone there with the ones they love. And since the wedding is going to be such a small affair, I like to think of it as all our families and friends surrounding us, supporting our decision, and giving 'us away.' Basically, everyone standing forward with us for the ceremony.

Greek weddings place a great deal of importance on the "Koumbaro" and the "Koumbara". This roughly translates to the modern best man and maid of honor. The Koumbari are essentially the spiritual sponsors of the couple. They are considered the equivalent of blood relatives to the families involved and are often chosen from the same families as the Koumbari of the parents or grandparents. Often there are additional ties of the Koumbari later becoming the godmother/godfather of child. I find this idea lovely. It seems that, especially in America, we live such 'mobile' lives. We rarely live where we grew up or where our families may still live. And this is particularly true of Jeremy and I, since wanderlust doesn't even begin to scratch the surface of our temperments. I truly believe the friends we make in life, especially those friends that stand the test of time, are the family we create for ourselves. I love the thought of Holly and Daryl being considered a part of our family. And I'm also more than happy to let Holly raise any child I may have. Oh, wait...that's not the definition of godmother?

The wedding ceremony typically has two parts--the Service of Betrothal and the Ceremony of the Sacrament of Marriage. The Service of Betrothal focuses on the ring exchange, with the priest blessing the rings and the Koumbari swapping the rings three times between the bride and groom's finger to represent the Holy Trinity. This part may be a bit hard to include in our ceremony. Frankly, if the Koumbari can just make sure to get the rings there, I'll consider myself blessed.

The Ceremony of the Sancrament of Marriage consists of the priest leading several prayers, then joining the couple's right hands, which remain joined for the rest of the ceremony. Okay, doesn't sound too hard, if just a bit awkward. Then comes the "crowning", where the bride and groom are crowned with flowered crowns or "stefana", which is attached by a white riboon. The crowns symbolize the glory and honor bestowed on them by God, and the the ribbon signifies the couple's unity. The "Koumbaro" then exchanges the crowns three times between the couple's heads. Then the priest offers the couple a cup of wine, with them each drinking from the cup three times. hmm...I'm quite positive here that Jer will in NO way be convinced to wear a flower wreath. Not unless we are drinking from the cup far more than three times. Though I have to say when I first read this part of the ceremony, I immediately envisioned 'Father Hobbs' pulling out a bottle of beer and offering to share that instead. lol

Also, it seems the reception has a number of unique traditions as well. For one, rather than throwing the bouquet to all the single girls at the wedding, instead the bride will write the name of single friends on the bottom of her shoe. At the end of the night, the names that are worn off are destined to be married. I find this idea much less humiliating than the last time I was the sole single girl at a wedding, and I hid in the bathroom until the traumatic moment had passed.

And one of the other charming traditions is the Bonboniere. The Bonboniere is a small box of sweets given away to guests on happy occasions. The Bonboniere consistes of an uneven number (typically five) sugar-coated almonds. The five almonds have significant meaning--wishing the new husband & wife: happiness, health, wealth, children & a long life. In Greece they are known as “Koufeta” (the Greek word for wedding favours).

Wedding dances seem to involve a great deal of throwing money. Guess this isn't so unusual since the end of the ceremony involves a lot of throwing of rice. And there are other unusual traditions, such as rolling a baby on the marital bed to encourage fertility (the "Krevati"). This involves a big gathering of the two families, relatives and friends all getting together the Thursday before the wedding to make up the marriage bed. Lots of eating and drinking is of course also customary, and followed by two young unmarried girls to make up the double bed. It is believed that the first one to get a pillowcase on will get married soon. Then all the people present throw money on the bed including gold coins to make the marriage prosperous, and then roll a small child on it for fertility. huh. Let's just pass that by.

http://greekweddingsandtraditions.com/2007/11/01/to-pin-or-not-to-pin/

http://greekweddingsandtraditions.com/2008/01/28/throw-rice-at-the-bride-and-groom/

Staying in Touch

OK! Finally an update. Things are getting pretty close and in our normal mode of procrastination, we have been slacking. But hey, if you know Kim and I we normally wouldn't even book a room until we got off the plane.

Anyway, I have been in correspondence with one of the moped (scooter) shops on the island. I already have a few of them reserved for the week before the ceremony for the people that will be there early to climb.
The catch is that anone who wants to rent one needs an international drivers license. Basically it's $15 and you can get it at your local AAA or online. You only really need one for the person actually signing the paperwork. Others can use it, just don't tell the shop. They really only need a valid license for the paperwork.

That's right, we will be scooter trash!
http://www.bike-rental.gr/

You can also call a cab if you really need one. I'll send that info later.

I've also researched the "phone situation". If you are an iphone geek (like we are), you can call AT&T to get on the international plan for $5 a month. Then your calls are $1.29 a minute while overseas. This will be painful. You can also dig up one of your old phones out of the junk drawer and get a new SIM card. You will need to confirm this is a GSM phone (typically on AT&T or T-mobile phones). This will give you an overseas (Greek) number to make things cheaper and yes it will work on the island. However, this option only really makes sense if you are going to be making inter-european calls. Not calls back to the U.S. http://www.onesimcard.com/?idmenu=4
http://www.ricksteves.com/plan/tips/mobilephones.htm

We are getting one so that people can contact us if they REALLY need to once they arrive in Greece.

However, we STRONGLY suggest just getting a phone card and using the hotel phone or a pay phone if you are going to be making calls back to the U.S. and within Greece. It's just simpler and cheaper. You can find them in the airport and in kiosks/shops everywhere once you land in Athens. There will also be internet cafe's to send email.