Modern Cyprus weddings
Although civil wedding ceremonies are becoming more commonplace, church services remain the most popular weddings in Cyprus where 95% of local Greek Cypriot weddings are church weddings.
A modern Greek Cypriot wedding is an event which Cypriot families spend more than a year preparing for, starting with booking a date at a church for the wedding a least a year in advance and up to the details of printing the necessary invitation cards.
At the church, on wedding’s day, there will be all that splendour of icons, gold chandelier, gold candlestick holders, and so on.
Once the service gets underway, the congregation needs to do very little at all except stand around and watch the procedure as there is no sing along in Orthodox churches and all the wedding prayers are carried out by the priest.
The ceremony usually lasts for about an hour and a half.
At the end of the prayers, the priest joins the hands of the bride and groom and these remain joined until the end of the service to symbolize that the couple are now one. The tiara-like wedding crowns, “Stefana”, are joined by a ribbon. The priest takes the two crowns, blesses the bride and groom, and then places the crowns on their heads. The Best Man, “Koumbaros”, and bridesmaid, “Koumbara”, step behind the bride and groom and interchange the crowns three times. The priest then leads the bride and groom, in their first steps as a married couple, in a circle around the ceremonial table. At the end of the ceremonial walk, the priest removes the crowns and separates their joined hands, reminding them that only God can separate them.
Another important element of the day is the wedding dress. Metres and metres of lace, tulle, beads and embroidery make up the fantastic candyfloss wedding’s dress creations used by Cypriot brides.
Then there are the wedding receptions.
Modern receptions come in several different forms. These could take place next to the swimming pool at a luxury hotel, or in a large villa or a local restaurant.
The bride and groom, together with their parents, will be standing at a central location in the reception venue. Then the wedding reception guests, in a queue, will walk up to the couple, congratulate them and then hand them a wedding present. This could be cash placed in an envelop and handed to the groom, or in kind which in this case is placed on a large table nearby set up for this purpose.
After shaking hands with the couple and their parents, and before leaving the queue, each and every wedding guest will be handed a traditional Cypriot shortbread cake called ‘Loukoumi’ which the guests usually take home with them.
The guests then will be offered glasses of soft and alcoholic drinks either by waiters moving about the reception’s venue or from a set up buffet.
The process of congratulating the wedding couple can take a couple of hours, or more, as it is not unusual for Cypriot weddings guests to be between 1000 to 3000 invited guests.
