The Labyrinthine Wedding – Day 8

Well, I was awoken this morning at 8:30 a.m. by banging from the apartment upstairs.  Since it was going at least until we left for the wedding, I can only assume that they’re renovating it or something.  Needless to say, it was annoying and was giving me another headache.  And since we didn’t leave the apartment until it was time to go to the wedding around 3:00 p.m., that was a long time to hear banging.

This morning, the only activity that was occurring was getting ready for the wedding; ironing the clothes, doing up our hair, putting on our make-up (obviously those last two were only my wife), and waiting in boredom (mostly Troy).  When we were finally ready to leave, Troy decided to have a meltdown about everything…he didn’t want to wear the bowtie, he didn’t want us to comb his hair, the shoes were hurting his feet, he didn’t want ME to carry him, he didn’t want to sit in his car seat, etc.  So, we were late for the pre-wedding activities at my brother-in-law's villa.  But we made it with plenty of time to participate, so it was all good.

Apparently, there’s a tradition where the women help the bride get ready and the men help the groom get ready.  Not just the wedding party, but all family and friends as well.  So, I was ushered into a room with 20 other men, and we proceeded to remove my brother-in-law’s clothes and put on his wedding outfit.  Each man did something to assist, like I buttoned one shirt sleeve for instance.  The women were getting ready in the next room, so we were having fun, clapping, chanting, and shouting with them to see who could make more noise.  We lost.

The next stage was pre-wedding pictures of the bride and groom in their outfits…separately.  Well, it was mostly of the bride.  I watched as they positioned her in just about every room of the villa in every stiff and uncomfortable pose imaginable.  Then, they took her outside and photographed her in the courtyard and by the pool.  For the groom, they put him in the courtyard and rotated through his friends and family.  It was over in minutes.  After two and a half hours of this, the whole party suddenly went into frantic activity, and we jumped in the cars to head to the church. 

The Church of Panagia was located in Matala, the place where we went swimming in the sea yesterday.  It’s a tiny little church, partially set into a cave within the cliffside.  It was a cool idea, but way too small to fit all of the wedding guests, so only the immediate family and bridal party were allowed inside.  The bride walked up a winding road to the church, being accompanied by her father and grandfather, her bridal women, and two musicians playing and singing.  She met the groom outside the church, and the two of them descended into the church followed by the family.

The inside of the small church was dark and hot.  They had set up some lights to help brighten it up a bit, and one fan was blowing from the corner, but it did little to stave off the interminable heat.  There was about 17 people crammed into this small space with another 2-3 popping in and out of the doorway to take pictures.  Everyone inside was sweating profusely, but we made it through the chanting of the vows, the exchange of rings, the sharing of the wine, and the walk around the altar with the connected wreaths on their heads (symbolizing their first steps as a married couple).  Then, we headed back outside for the wedding guests to congratulate the new couple by showering them with rice as they emerged from the church.

The reception was held at a reception hall back near my brother-in-law's villa.  It was a very neat venue, but unfortunately it was all outdoors, so the heat was still a problem.  We were awarded the honor of being placed at the wedding party table with the family, but my mother-in-law didn’t want to sit up there until her son begged her to come.  So, we ended up directly near the band and a giant speaker, which meant that I had a good view of…well, everything…but also that I was deaf.

The evening started off with the bride and groom cutting the cake and doing their first dance together.  And that’s it.  Unlike at my wedding where I had to open the buffet bar, cut the cake, do best man and maid of honor speeches, and do our first dance; they just did the cake.  Later, they would go from table to table to toast each one, like we did; but that was after they’d had a chance to eat and enjoy some entertainment.  And I’m going to emphasize that they actually got to eat…at their wedding…not at an airport some eight hours later.  Instead of a buffet, they served several different appetizers that came out family style, before serving some barbequed meat and rice soup.  I quite enjoyed the appetizers, because you could pick and choose what you wanted to eat and how much.  It also gave us a chance to try a lot of different things.

While we ate, they had some traditional Cretan folk dancers entertain everyone.  The dances were lively and energetic, and they involved a lot of jumping, kicking, and slapping the boots.  The dancers were very good, and I count this as one of the highlights of the evening.  Instead of a DJ, like we had, they had hired a live band to play traditional Greek music, which was also very good.  I was impressed that they sang non-stop for some eight hours.

After the performers were done, they opened the dance floor up to everyone.  And for the rest of the night, which was about eight or nine hours (I’m not exactly sure, because we left before it was over), people danced.  There were dances where people were side-by-side in a semi-circle, which closed tighter and tighter as the song went on.  There were dances where three or four people would start out, and then one-by-one more and more people would connect to the chain.  There were dances where the bride was in the center while people danced around her.  And there were dances where the bride sat near the band while the groom and other men danced in front of her one-by-one.

Meanwhile, out in the courtyard by the multi-colored fountain, they had hired a clown to play games with the kids.  Troy tried out the first game, but since the instructions were in Greek, he didn’t want to participate after that.  He did meet a cute little blonde girl named Gwenny, who he hit it off with.  Her father was Greek, and her mother was English, so she spoke both Greek and English, which I think gave them a common bond.  Toward the end of the night, the clown made balloon animals for the kids.  The boys (and a few of the girls) all seemed to want balloon swords, and a giant melee ensued in the courtyard.  It looked like a battle scene from Braveheart, chaotic and “bloody.”  Ultimately, Troy was the last one standing, mostly because the parents of the other kids came and ushered them back to the table for cake and ice cream.

By 1:45 a.m., Troy was exhausted, and he started to scream, cry, and act out.  It was at this time that I decided that we needed to go.  It took another 20 minutes to finally get my wife and mother-in-law out of there, and Troy just got worse the entire time.  The last straw was when his balloon sword popped, and he completely lost it.  Luckily, the music was so loud that nobody else even noticed.  When we finally got Troy to bed, he went out like a light.  And I’m about to follow.