another greek wedding on another greek island

Another Greek wedding, this time on the island of Lefkada, a car journey 6 hours north.  Our accomodation and most of the food and drink were paid for by the families so it was our pleasure to join in the celebrations!  Lefkada is another island which is just minutes away from the mainland, joined in fact by a floating bridge.  

It was a 6 hour drive up along the wonderful sounding road systems called Olympia and Ionion Highway, both under construction and with endless detours and one way lanes lined with orange and white traffic cones.  One day, sometime, in the future, when these motorways are open Greece will have a magnificent network of roads from north to south.





Half way up we 'sailed' over this impressive bridge which joins one half of Greece with the other.  It is called the Rio-Antirio bridge and besides being impressive to look at it also has an impressive toll of 13.30 euros.  Coming back we took the car ferry which crosses right under the bridge and is half the price.

We continued up past the wetlands of Messalonghi where Lord Byron died of fever in 1824 while fighting for the independence of the Greeks from the Turks, stopping only for a half litre of wine and a quick meze. 

Lefkada is one of the islands of the Ionian sea, along with Corfu and Ithaki.  It is also the closest island to Skorpios, the once private island of Aristotle Onasis, now owned by a Russian billionaire.  You can cruise around the island but landing is prohibitied unless you want to be 'shown off' by  a kalashnikov .



My photos are a bit blurry but you will have some idea of the atmosphere.  The church was very small and most of us once again stood outside, socialising, while the ceremony took place inside with the family and bridal couple  in attendance. This photo is of the chandelier but also the image of Christ on the ceiling.  The icon oddly seemed 'back-to-front' for the congregation.  To see it properly you had to be standing where the priest stands.

The old lady in black is dressed in traditional costume.  The skirt was long and black with hundreds of tiny pleats and her head was covered in a black veil like scarf.  I saw quite a few of these elderly ladies dressed in the costume of days gone by.  It is not often that you see this local dress nowadays.

Tuille bags of rice given out towards the end of the service.  Once upon a time rice was thrown at the couple as they did 'the dance of Isaiah', led by the priest three times around the altar.  Rice is a symbol of prosperity and fertility.  If you were in the front of the crowd when the rice was thrown you got a head full of rice grains to take home with you too.  Nowadays rice is only thrown outside the church because it is such a nuisance to sweep up.

The very happy couple

They had a  full moon on their wedding day, a full moon closer than usual to the earth, very bright and clear over the island of Lefkada.  At around 11pm  we were also shaken by a 5.5 earthquake.  It was centred around the town of Ioannina about an hour north.  Music was really ear splitting loud as it is always at greek weddings and many of the guests were dancing when the quake hit. The earth shook and the Greeks danced on. 

At the last wedding we were drenched by a summer downpour, this time it was an earthquake. Our Greek weddings are always ones to be remembered.

Greek wedding. Dancing in the rain

Under the spreading chestnut tree.  Unfortunately this tree gave too much shade.  Humidity was high and there was hardly a breathe of air even at 6 oclock in the evening.  What should have been a perfect location with a  cool, refreshing breeze turned into a sauna.  But that didn't spoil anyone's enjoyment of the wedding.  It took place outside the church with 3 priests presiding.

There can't have been a more joyful bride.  She glowed with happiness, smiling all through the ceremony.  Here she enters the courtyard escorted by her equally happy father.

Accompanied by a bouzouki player singing the traditional wedding song (in greek of course) 

Today a wedding is taking place

In a pleasant garden

Today they  will be parted

Mother and daughter

Groom, love the bride

Do not chide her

As a pot of basil

Be proud of her

(my translation)

After the church we were loaded into small water taxis  and were taken across  the harbour and over to the mainland for the reception.  The chairs and tables were set up on the lawn around the swimming pool of a hotel with a view of the sea and Poros in the background.

The bride and groom arrived driving in amongst the tables on a scooter, the bride riding side saddle, holding up the long train on her dress.

The siblings made a short film of the couple's lives, cradle to matrimony, shown on a screen which you can just see in the distance in the photo above.  Behind the screen there were continual flashes of lightening and soon I got a text from my daughters to say it was pouring with rain on Poros.  We were still safe then though a sharp wind had got up.  Next we had a terrific show of fireworks right over our heads with  bits of ash and paper hailing down on us but fortunately no sparks, and then a drone buzzed over us taking photos I presume for the family.

At 10.30 the rain came down.  Luckily we had already eaten and enjoyed a few glasses of wine.  Everyone rushed for cover, what there was of it.  We sheltered under a pine tree which dripped on us.  All the younger crowd just got up and danced in the rain.  In this photo the groom and bare foot bride are leading the dance.  Later the newly wedded couple and their friends dived into the pool, best clothes and all.

By midnight the rain had stopped but we were soaked so we clambered back into a water taxi with a dozen or so other drenched guests and headed home.  A wedding we won't forget.

Rain on your wedding day is supposed to foretell goodluck and happiness in the marriage.  On my daughter's wedding the rain poured down as they left the church.  Happily the people who ran the hotel where we held the reception had foreseen the rain and moved the festivities lock, stock and barrel from outside around a swimming pool to inside and under cover.

Sugared almonds and an almond cake given out to the guests after the church ceremony. 

 These were the traditional sugar coated almonds plus others with sugar coating surrounding chop almonds and chocolate.  I'm amazed I got them home untouched to take a photo.