Today’s the day when Beth and Joseph get married and what a day it was!
The wedding ceremony was booked for 15:30 at The Apostole Andrea Church in Emba followed by a Reception at Base Events, near the airport. We’d pre-booked some minibuses with Beth’s help – to ferry everyone around.
After another hearty breakfast followed by some time lazing around the pool, we were pleased to see the weather improving as it had rained hard overnight and nobody wants rain on a wedding day if it can be avoided.
Kelly had kindly offered to help Lisa with her hair preparation in the hotel. So, after changing into my suit & tie I said my farewells to her and headed off in a taxi to meet up with Beth further up in Paphos town in a Bridal Preparation Suite called: Ready to Wed Cyprus.
This is a great idea where you rent the whole area to get the bride and bridesmaids etc ready for the big day.
By then time I arrived, they’d had snacks and a few glasses of fizz. Beth was having her make up done but the remaining bridal party were pretty much ready. Little Nayia was being passed around to keep her occupied and I spent some lovely time with her. When I saw Beth in her wedding dress for the first time, it took my breath away!
Joseph and his Groomsmen arrived in their cars with horns blaring (as is the custom in Cyprus. With the curtains drawn, Joseph couldn’t see Beth in her wedding dress….yet.
I shot across the road afterwards for a frappe and to put some finishing touches to my speech. Soon Adam, Nic, Finn and Otis turned up to take the bridesmaids to the church. Beth and I were going in Jay’s Range Rover, which he had decorated beautifully. The drive to the church was fun, lots of other cars beeping their horns in celebration and Beth getting nervous as you’d expect.
The Church is amazing and huge inside. It’s the same one they used for Nayia’s baptism and by now, the sun was shining fully.
The usual thing for Greek Orthodox weddings is for the bride’s parents to walk her from the wedding car to the church doors to meet the groom. They then walk down the aisle together. I was lucky enough to walk Beth down the aisle thanks to Joseph’s intervention, a memory I shall cherish forever.
The service itself was all in Greek (understandably) and the parents, Best Man, Maid of Honour and in our case, little Nayia all stand at the front as the two Greek priests ran through the ceremony supported by a hidden lady singing harmony on cue. It was fantastic even if I didn’t really have a clue what was going on!
After the ceremony had finished we all kissed the new Husband and Wife then exited the church for some photos with fog horns and confetti flowing!
I then joined Kelly and the rest of the gang (together with Neil & Lorraine who were in Paphos already and had been invited to the wedding) on board their Happy Bus to head off to the Reception venue, Base Events over near the airport.
The venue looked splendid. Originally planned to be outside around the pool, it was moved inside for fear of rain and to be honest, that was a good decision. We had a table of 10 at the front and after checking with the amazing Table Plan, Kelly and I quickly got settled in with a bottle of well-earned Keo for me and some fizz for Kelly.
Another tradition in Cypriot weddings is the Welcome Line. This is where the parents of the bride & groom (together with the newlyweds themselves) stand in line to welcome every guest. In days gone by this is where money would have been pinned onto the Bride’s wedding dress to help set them up with a house etc going forwards. Nowadays, cash is posted into a “postbox”.
I had to stand in the line welcoming every guest. Those who came to the ceremony were all on site already so that line moved quickly. Those who arrived later however, were arriving at times 2 hours after everyone else. All this time we’re stood in line while the other guests were getting stuck into the food and drink!
Finally, we were all “dismissed” and could join in the celebrations. The poor newlyweds had about 9 minutes to scoff their dinner before making their grand entrance – along with more fog horns, cheers, sparklers on the table and occasional fireworks. Lovely!
Another concession I received from the newlyweds was the chance to give my Father of the Bride speech. Speeches are not usual in Cypriot weddings.
I think it went well and received nice feedback from the other guests later.
Beth had also requested a Father/Daughter dance a few weeks ago. Kelly had suggested an excellent & appropriate track by Sam Ryder called “Go Steady” which tells of parental joy and pain as your young ones grow and fly the nest.
That went well and there were quite a few tears around the various tables.
After the formalities were complete, the party started in earnest.
A great evening full of dancing, great food and quite a lot of booze followed. Once Joseph’s friends started doing the rounds with trays of shots (tequila, vodka and Zirvinia), things quickly got a little messy!
We returned to the hotels in the Happy Bus with several passengers taking one step forward and 12 steps left on exiting!
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