Suggestions on marriage traditions for a protestant / greek wedding...

Angel Helper

My son is engaged to a wonderful Greek girl.  He is protestant and does not want to convert to the Greek faith.  Her father is deceased and mother is ill and can not help out.  She has two brothers quite older and very little relationship with them.  We would like to include as part of the wedding some of her Greek heritage and traditions.  Our protestant minister is open to including the greek traditions into the ceremony.  Any suggestions would be helpful.  It will be a fall 2010 outside Gazeebo wedding in September in northwest Indiana.  Colors so far are green, brown, ivory/gold accents.  May add a little orange/red in fresh flowers only.  Considering an old hollywood glam feel for the reception.  We have chocolate table toppers w/ gold runners and will accent with some splashes of green damask accents.  Any suggestions would be helpful.

mrsnickis

I am a protestant bride that decided to convert to Greek orthodox... from what I know it is actually very disrespectful to include the traditions without actually having it in a Greek church.  Greeks are VERY into there traditions being unaltered. If there are a lot of Greek guests invited they may be offended. I would talk to her family and get a sense from them. The candy covered almonds are a Greek tradition and something that you could def give out as a favor without offending anyone. If you talk to the family and think it will not be a problem I would love to help you out some more! You can page me on the CT board or send me an email at mrsnickis at gmail dot com. Hope that helps!

loriza

I think it's wonderful that she is going to have such a caring MIL who is willing to include her traditions! The tough thing is that a lot of the Greek wedding traditions are very specific to the Orthodox ceremony and don't play well with other services.  GO priests are  not allowed to perform the service outdoors or in conjunction with other religious services.   As a gift on the wedding day I found a small icon (icons are big in the GO church, found it on ebay) similar to one my fiance's father had (he passed 10 years ago), had a photo of his dad attached to the back, and gave it to him to carry that day.  This might work given you're FDIL's family difficulties, especially if you could find a photo of the whole family together.As plain as they may seem, jordan almonds are the traditional Greek favor.Your son and FDIL could also consider having a small ceremony after the fact, maybe just immediate family, and have their marriage blessed in the Greek church.  Good Luck!

steenerk19

I agree with pp. I am Greek Orthodox and my FI is converting as we speak. You can't really do anything from the ceremony BUT you could incorporate Greek music into the reception, some of the dances are really fun and Greeks and non have a blast. My other suggestion would be to maybe include some Greek food into the reception. Sorry to not be more helpful, as far as ceremony stuff Greeks take is super seriously.

gh46dsw

I agree with the pp. Incorporate other traditions like Greek music, jordan almond favors (odd #'s either 5, 7 or 9 depending on how large of a favor), Greek food on the menu, maybe contact your local church and see if the Greek Dance group can come do a short performance as "entertainment"....but the actual ceremony is sacred to us and our religion and would not be able to be incorporated in a Protestant ceremony.

gh46dsw

the icon of the Wedding at Cana would be perfect for them. I actually gave it to my DH as a gift before the wedding though.

Santorini2011

I am engaged to a Greek guy and really wanted a Catholic wedding. It is true that the Priests will only do the ceremony in their church too. However, it is VERY important to the Greek family to honor certain things and getting married in the Greek Church is one of those (also baptistisms from what I hear...) I caved! One of my favorite parts of the ceremony is the crowns (b&g have linked crowns and walk in circles). If there is any way to replicate this, I would. For the ceremony, YOU MUST give odd numbered Jordan almonds! It might be nice to teach as much of your family as possible how to do the most basic Greek dancing. Good Luck!

Angel Helper

Thanks everyone for their suggestions.  We will see what we can incorporate.  Thanks again. Angelhelper