Posted by BR on November 07, 2001 at 21:44:10:
In Reply to: Greek/American Weddings posted by Angela on November 06, 2001 at 11:48:31:
I read a few of the follow up posts and felt the need to reply as well. I would suggest going to www.goarch.org and accesing the interfaith marrige page. Read through the archive of posts and I believe you will find accurate info regarding what is and is not traditionally allowed in a GO marriage ceremony.
The most important thing to do is talk to the priest who will be doing the ceremony. The reality is that the Priest has almost 100% discretion as to how the ceremony is conducted. If you want the majority of the service to be done in English most priests will accomodate this. Some will even allow the addition of "vows" (sort of) either at the beginning or at the end.
Although you did not ask it in your origianl posting, I wanted to address a comment that was made in a follow up. The GO chruch in the United States allows for inter Christian marriages, as long as the non GO person has been baptized with water and in the name of the trinity. This INCLUDES (and actually is primarily) Catholics. Today, inter Christian marriages make up over 2/3 of all marriages performed in the GO chrurch.
I would be interested to know if and why the rules regarding Catholic/GO marriages are different in other parts of the world (e.g. The UK as was mentioned by the earlier follow up).
As far as music goes, the best rule of thumb I have heard is to use a 3:1 or 4:1 ratio (Popular Music:Greek Dance Music). Play 3 Greek then 9 Popular, and so on. Perhaps you can get a band, and then make some Greek dance CD's to play for the first dance, etc. and between the bands breaks. Also, here is an idea that you might find of interest. At the rehersal dinner, try to do some sort of dance lesson for the non Greeks. On the wedding night more non Greeks will be willing to get up and give the dances a try. Hopefully this will have a ripple effect on the other non Greek guests. I should warn you, too much Greek dance music w/out any encouragement (vis a vie dance lessons) for the non Greeks to get up and dance to it, and you will find the place 1/2 empty while the night is still young. I have seen it happen about 10 times - it is not cool.
: I am getting married in August, 2002 to a catholic guy and we are having a greek wedding at my church. I love the greek religion and he is very open to everything as far as greek traditions go. Unfortunately, I do not attend church as often as I should, and I only know a few words in greek. my question to anyone out there is this: As far as the ceremony goes, what are the restrictions with my veil. I would like to wear a blusher, but I heard that you aren't allowed. Also, I have heard that the wedding party can not be on both sides of the alter. Also, are there any vows during the ceremony or do my fiance and I not say anything and can we add our own vows. Any other restrictions you can think of or web site, or books to help me with this stuff, I would be very appreciative. As you can tell, I have not been to many greek weddings or studied my religion like I should! Thanks a million!