Post from Tim:
Michelle and I just attended the fabulous wedding of two good friends. Events like these are the stuff romantic movies are made of. As Bill is an aspiring actor and screenwriter, maybe it will see the silver screen someday. If so, the wedding would go a little like this...
Plot Summary
A Greek American visits his ancestral homeland for the first time, where he marries his American fiance. Beautiful scenery surrounds the action that culminates in a huge wedding feast and party with 38 friends and family members from home.
Location
The town of Fira, on the Greek isle of Santorini. This charming cliff side town overlooks a 3000-year-old volcano caldera, now flooded with the waters of the Aegean Sea. Old white buildings, luxury hotels, and beautiful churches climb from the waterside to the top of the precipice.
The Players
Groom: Bill is a handsome New York actor and writer in his early thirties who grew up in a small Greek community in Ohio. In addition to learning Greek from his parents at an early age, he is an accomplished Greek dancer.
Bride: Cecilia is a stunning blonde New York advertising executive with an effervescent personality and a love of life. Though not of Greek descent, she has an interest in learning the Greek language and culture.
Kumbada: The Kumbada plays an important part in a Greek wedding by directing the ceremony and symbolically creating the matrimonial bond between husband and wife. Played by Bill's middle brother, Steve, whose affable personality and steadfast character are important in this role.
The Best Man: Bill's youngest brother, Mo, is a bulky New York personal trainer and student. He sports a mean goatee, short cropped hair, and cool black suit. Back at home, he could pass as a Mafia hit man.
The Plot
Act 1: The Wedding
The scene starts late afternoon with guests waiting in front of the Metropoli Church of the Blessed Mary, a large Greek Orthodox cathedral overlooking the sea. Music rising from a balcony below draws the wedding guests to the cliff side overlook. Led by musicians, the wedding party makes their grand entrance into the pedestrian plaza.
Enter the cathedral. Byzantine frescos along the inner walls and upper dome depict scores of hallowed saints and the Virgin Mary with baby Jesus. A vessel by the door holds thin burning prayer candles. The wedding party approaches the bushy bearded Greek Orthodox priest, who stands aside the altar wearing his traditional black robe and hat.
The priest and cantor start the service in a duet of hymns. After a short gospel reading in Greek, the bride and groom reverently kiss the gospel and the priest's hand. The priest then blesses the rings, which are lying on a silver tray surrounded by chocolate covered almonds (koufeta). The Kumbada places a garland of lace and flowers upon the heads of Bill and Cecilia. This crown, the stefana, is connected by a ribbon and symbolizes a noble marriage and the beginning of a dynasty between the new couple. The Kumbada switches the stefana from head to head three times by crossing arms.
The couple drinks from a goblet of blessed wine, then take their marriage vows together in both Greek and English. Newly married, they symbolize their travels in life together by circling the altar three times while the guests throw rice and cheer them on. Lastly, they signify their everlasting relationship by switching rings three times.
Act 2: The Toast
The wedding guests follow Bill and Cecilia down a cobblestone path to a reception patio. In a symbol of fertility, the guests eat bites of chewy honey-almond dessert as they pass through the threshold. Champagne is passed around and by the light of a Santorini sunset, the best man gives a toast to the newlyweds and then husband and wife cut the wedding cake.
Act 3: The Party
A hired bus whisks the wedding guests off to the beachside town of Perivolous and the party starts in earnest - with the screech of brakes and several loud explosions from the restaurateur's powerful homemade gunpowder and sea salt explosives. Guests periodically throw these to the ground throughout the night, no doubt causing fear among those with poor hearts.
A feisty five piece Greek band strikes up and appetizers fill the table - bread, tzatziki (yogurt and cucumber dip), fava beans, fried feta cheese, cold feta cheese, Greek salads, cherry tomatoes, fried eggplant and zucchini, and little sausages. The guests laugh, drink, and eat so much that a palette cleansing dance session is ordered. Bill and Cecilia start the first dance with the accompaniment of an accordion, guitar, singer, violin, and tambourine. The families join in for a Greek circle dance, with each dancer clasping hands on their neighbor's shoulder, kicking and stepping collectively to the beat.
Appetites return in time for the fish course - crispy kalamari, little red fish, succulent white fish, and delicious lobster. More circle dancing follows.
Dinner continues with homemade liver sausage and lamb. In the third round of dancing that follows, the circle of dancers soon overgrows the restaurant and spills out into the street. The tempo of the music gradually quickens until the band is playing at a furious pace. Guests struggle to keep their feet moving to the beat. Faster and faster, their feet are in a frenzy of motion. The restaurateur and other guests celebrate outside with blasts from the 12-gauge shotgun he brought out from the back. The roar is deafening, but the noise no longer fazes the guests.
The movie ends with a party on wheels, as 38 people return to Fira on a crazy 2 AM bus ride, dancing in the aisles.
So maybe this won't make it to Hollywood, but I still wish Bill and Cecilia all the best anyway. Congratulations!
Plot Summary
A Greek American visits his ancestral homeland for the first time, where he marries his American fiance. Beautiful scenery surrounds the action that culminates in a huge wedding feast and party with 38 friends and family members from home.
Location
The town of Fira, on the Greek isle of Santorini. This charming cliff side town overlooks a 3000-year-old volcano caldera, now flooded with the waters of the Aegean Sea. Old white buildings, luxury hotels, and beautiful churches climb from the waterside to the top of the precipice.
The Players
Groom: Bill is a handsome New York actor and writer in his early thirties who grew up in a small Greek community in Ohio. In addition to learning Greek from his parents at an early age, he is an accomplished Greek dancer.
Bride: Cecilia is a stunning blonde New York advertising executive with an effervescent personality and a love of life. Though not of Greek descent, she has an interest in learning the Greek language and culture.
Kumbada: The Kumbada plays an important part in a Greek wedding by directing the ceremony and symbolically creating the matrimonial bond between husband and wife. Played by Bill's middle brother, Steve, whose affable personality and steadfast character are important in this role.
The Best Man: Bill's youngest brother, Mo, is a bulky New York personal trainer and student. He sports a mean goatee, short cropped hair, and cool black suit. Back at home, he could pass as a Mafia hit man.
The Plot
Act 1: The Wedding
The scene starts late afternoon with guests waiting in front of the Metropoli Church of the Blessed Mary, a large Greek Orthodox cathedral overlooking the sea. Music rising from a balcony below draws the wedding guests to the cliff side overlook. Led by musicians, the wedding party makes their grand entrance into the pedestrian plaza.
Enter the cathedral. Byzantine frescos along the inner walls and upper dome depict scores of hallowed saints and the Virgin Mary with baby Jesus. A vessel by the door holds thin burning prayer candles. The wedding party approaches the bushy bearded Greek Orthodox priest, who stands aside the altar wearing his traditional black robe and hat.
The priest and cantor start the service in a duet of hymns. After a short gospel reading in Greek, the bride and groom reverently kiss the gospel and the priest's hand. The priest then blesses the rings, which are lying on a silver tray surrounded by chocolate covered almonds (koufeta). The Kumbada places a garland of lace and flowers upon the heads of Bill and Cecilia. This crown, the stefana, is connected by a ribbon and symbolizes a noble marriage and the beginning of a dynasty between the new couple. The Kumbada switches the stefana from head to head three times by crossing arms.
The couple drinks from a goblet of blessed wine, then take their marriage vows together in both Greek and English. Newly married, they symbolize their travels in life together by circling the altar three times while the guests throw rice and cheer them on. Lastly, they signify their everlasting relationship by switching rings three times.
Act 2: The Toast
The wedding guests follow Bill and Cecilia down a cobblestone path to a reception patio. In a symbol of fertility, the guests eat bites of chewy honey-almond dessert as they pass through the threshold. Champagne is passed around and by the light of a Santorini sunset, the best man gives a toast to the newlyweds and then husband and wife cut the wedding cake.
Act 3: The Party
A hired bus whisks the wedding guests off to the beachside town of Perivolous and the party starts in earnest - with the screech of brakes and several loud explosions from the restaurateur's powerful homemade gunpowder and sea salt explosives. Guests periodically throw these to the ground throughout the night, no doubt causing fear among those with poor hearts.
A feisty five piece Greek band strikes up and appetizers fill the table - bread, tzatziki (yogurt and cucumber dip), fava beans, fried feta cheese, cold feta cheese, Greek salads, cherry tomatoes, fried eggplant and zucchini, and little sausages. The guests laugh, drink, and eat so much that a palette cleansing dance session is ordered. Bill and Cecilia start the first dance with the accompaniment of an accordion, guitar, singer, violin, and tambourine. The families join in for a Greek circle dance, with each dancer clasping hands on their neighbor's shoulder, kicking and stepping collectively to the beat.
Appetites return in time for the fish course - crispy kalamari, little red fish, succulent white fish, and delicious lobster. More circle dancing follows.
Dinner continues with homemade liver sausage and lamb. In the third round of dancing that follows, the circle of dancers soon overgrows the restaurant and spills out into the street. The tempo of the music gradually quickens until the band is playing at a furious pace. Guests struggle to keep their feet moving to the beat. Faster and faster, their feet are in a frenzy of motion. The restaurateur and other guests celebrate outside with blasts from the 12-gauge shotgun he brought out from the back. The roar is deafening, but the noise no longer fazes the guests.
The movie ends with a party on wheels, as 38 people return to Fira on a crazy 2 AM bus ride, dancing in the aisles.
So maybe this won't make it to Hollywood, but I still wish Bill and Cecilia all the best anyway. Congratulations!
Photos From This Location
