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The Greek Orthodox wedding is in 2 parts: The Betrothal Service and the Marriage Service.

The Betrothal blesses the rings and sees the rings exchanged.
The Marriage service unites the bridal couple in peace, love, and harmony, symbolised by the couple joining hands and being crowned with wreaths (Stefanos).

THE BETROTHAL SERVICE

The Betrothal Service begins with a series of supplications for the peace of the whole world and for the couple now being betrothed, which is then followed by brief betrothal prayers.

THE MARRIAGE SERVICE

The Father reads 3 prayers:

The first prays to God to grant long life and lots of children (or words to that effect).
The second asks God to, "to preserve them ... to remember them and the parents who have nurtured them, for the prayers of parents make firm the foundations of home."
In the third prayer, the priest beseeches God "to unite the bridal pair in harmony and marry them in one flesh."

The priest then leads the bride and groom in a circle around the table on which are placed the Gospel and the Cross. The husband and wife are taking their first steps as a married couple, and the Church, in the person of the priest, leads them in the way they must walk. The way is symbolized by the circle at the center of which are the Gospel and the Cross. This expresses the fact that the way of Christian living is a perfect orbit around the center of life, who is Jesus Christ. The circle of life.

The Stefanos are worn throughout the service and are tied together with white ribbon. These are used to crown the couple symbolising the bond between the couple and the glory and honor which the church bestows to the man and woman for having lived a virtuous life before marriage. The church urges the couple to keep and guard this virtue even in marriage. This rite of crowning, called "STEPSIS" in Greek, is of great significance in The Greek Orthodox Wedding Ceremony. After marriage, Greek couples treasure their Stefanos by placing them above the matrimonial bed in a case. Seeing the Stefanos above the bed (pictured above) reminds us of the wedding ceremony.

After the wedding we returned to the Hotel and got ready for the small reception at our favourite taverna. This taverna was run by Dimitri (pictured right and below) who tragically died in a motor accident in 1999. Dimitri was a good friend and will be sorely missed by everyone.

It was also Craig's birthday so we arranged for a cake to be at the table when we had our meal, which was lobster. Craig, as you can see, tried his best to stay sober but couldn't, because he's a "piss artist" (meaning a person who specialises in getting drunk) just like the rest of us.