Greek Bride, 2 Ceremonies?

sleepysmilelove

Hello, hope everyone's doing well! I have a question I'm hoping Greek brides - or anyone who may know - can help me answer.

I'm a Greek Bride marrying an Indian Groom - he is Hindu. We are going to have the Greek Ortho ceremony, no problem. My question is would we also be able to have a small Hindu Ceremony - It would not be at a temple, but at the venue and there would be no converting, etc... it is more for traditional purposes. I brought this up to my priest no too long ago, but asked him if we would be able to have a Hindu blessing. The priest was fine with it as long as it was not in the Church. But after thinking about it further, I feel I may have mislead him bc it is more of a ceremony I believe. I know the GO religion and wedding traditions are very strict, so I am wondering if anyone has had experience wit this? I read articles about greek brides/grooms who married outside the religion who were able to have two ceremonies, but not sure if their situation was unique, etc... I am going to bring this up again to the priest but would like to know what to expect as an aswer before hand... so any help is much appreciated. Thanks!

[Deleted User]

This should probably be on the Interfaith boards... Ash?

sleepysmilelove

Yeah I was debating which board to put it on, thanks for your input though.

Ash61612

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/cultural-wedding-boards_christian-weddings_greek-bride-2-ceremonies?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Cultural%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:464687ae-7bc1-4360-9aea-999e11f1e1adDiscussion:9e041173-4cfa-4028-8039-432bfd73c650Post:bf7e0da8-07af-437c-9b26-74d768eb20d4">Re: Greek Bride, 2 Ceremonies?</a>:
[QUOTE]This should probably be on the Interfaith boards... Ash?
Posted by lplions[/QUOTE]
I agree, hope you were able to get answers to your question!

ravenray

The interfaith board is pretty dead. 

 

Hi, I'm Russian Orthodox so I might be able to help you a bit. 

Can you talk to your FI about what the ceremony would entail so you can have accurate details when talking to your priest?  I don't see why a second ceremony would be an issue, especially since it is part of his culture.  How long would the ceremony be?  I am not sure if I would want to do it if it was going to be more than 10-15 minutes, since the GO ceremony is about 45 minutes long already.  I also guess it would depend on which one you are considering your marriage ceremony.  I am pretty sure the priest will only agree to the GO one being your actually wedding ceremony, and therefore the first one.  However, it seems like you are planning on having it first, so that part shouldn't be an issue. 

I'm pretty sure once the wedding is over, the Church doesn't extend much power over the reception.  So I don't see there being a problem.  HTH

Ash61612

thanks ravenray!

sleepysmilelove

Hi and thank you for answering. And also sorry again for posting this on the wrong board! Well the Hindu ceremony would be approximatelis 30 minutes also but our guest will arrive at the venue and would be able to have cocktails and appetizers and mingle a bit, which is something we made sure of BC we don't want our guest to feel like they are being punished sitting through two ceremonies. The Greek orthodox ceremony would be the one we consider official. In the Hindu ceremony there is no exchanging of rings, so we would be able to keep our rings on, although there is an exchanging of pendants. There are also a lot of prayer done with fire. Also in the Hindu ceremony there is no converting which is good BC my fiance is converting to GO in order to have the wedding. I will also have to change from my wedding dress into a sari for the ceremony. I think it's important to have both ceremonies BC they are both a part of our roots and we'd like to embrace it and still show people at the same time, we're different but its still a beautiful thing. Ty again for your response it was helpful! Ill get more details before talking to the priest but I def. Feel better about it.

ravenray

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/cultural-wedding-boards_christian-weddings_greek-bride-2-ceremonies?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Cultural%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:464687ae-7bc1-4360-9aea-999e11f1e1adDiscussion:9e041173-4cfa-4028-8039-432bfd73c650Post:16ecc26b-6524-4281-ae8f-9647f11b8fe6">Re:Greek Bride, 2 Ceremonies?</a>:
[QUOTE]Hi and thank you for answering. And also sorry again for posting this on the wrong board! Well the Hindu ceremony would be approximatelis 30 minutes also but our guest will arrive at the venue and would be able to have cocktails and appetizers and mingle a bit, which is something we made sure of BC we don't want our guest to feel like they are being punished sitting through two ceremonies. The Greek orthodox ceremony would be the one we consider official. In the Hindu ceremony there is no exchanging of rings, so we would be able to keep our rings on, although there is an exchanging of pendants. There are also a lot of prayer done with fire. Also in the Hindu ceremony there is no converting which is good BC my fiance is converting to GO in order to have the wedding. I will also have to change from my wedding dress into a sari for the ceremony. I think it's important to have both ceremonies BC they are both a part of our roots and we'd like to embrace it and still show people at the same time, we're different but its still a beautiful thing. Ty again for your response it was helpful! Ill get more details before talking to the priest but I def. Feel better about it.
Posted by pparais33[/QUOTE]
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:8.5pt;line-height:115%;">I do think it is a lovely thing to do.  I don't really see any problem with it.  I hope you get a positive answer.  I'd love to know what your priest says if you have time to come back and update us.  Plus stick around.  It is fun to have another fellow Orthodox on the board :)</span> </p>

sleepysmilelove

I def will stick around [: People have been friendly and helpful, I'll keep you guys updated, fingers crossed. Thanks again!!

sleepysmilelove

Since my mtg isn't til next week, I decided to email a priest from the GOA website, who specializes in intercultural relationships. I'm happy to report that I did receive a positive and supportive response. He basically said that we should celebrate both our cultures especially since my fiance has made concessions so that we may have a GO wedding. It's funny BC I received many mixed responses when asking around, but I'm happy this this answer [: thanks again!!

ravenray

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/cultural-wedding-boards_christian-weddings_greek-bride-2-ceremonies?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Cultural%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:464687ae-7bc1-4360-9aea-999e11f1e1adDiscussion:9e041173-4cfa-4028-8039-432bfd73c650Post:bf52a74d-e5ff-4bef-802d-33d05eba30da">Re:Greek Bride, 2 Ceremonies?</a>:
[QUOTE]Since my mtg isn't til next week, I decided to email a priest from the GOA website, who specializes in intercultural relationships. I'm happy to report that I did receive a positive and supportive response. He basically said that we should celebrate both our cultures especially since my fiance has made concessions so that we may have a GO wedding. It's funny BC I received many mixed responses when asking around, but I'm happy this this answer [: thanks again!!
Posted by pparais33[/QUOTE]
Yay!  I am so glad that it is all working out perfectly! :)  Where is your church at?

sleepysmilelove

Thanks [: me too! My church is in ny, not sure if you're familiar with the area but in L.I. St. Paul's. Do u know it?

ravenray

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/cultural-wedding-boards_christian-weddings_greek-bride-2-ceremonies?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Cultural%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:464687ae-7bc1-4360-9aea-999e11f1e1adDiscussion:9e041173-4cfa-4028-8039-432bfd73c650Post:8e78f0e1-2db2-43d5-82c1-bc1ec0ea9483">Re:Greek Bride, 2 Ceremonies?</a>:
[QUOTE]Thanks [: me too! My church is in ny, not sure if you're familiar with the area but in L.I. St. Paul's. Do u know it?
Posted by pparais33[/QUOTE]
No I don't but it was worth asking :)