Big Fat Greek Wedding

My manpanion’s college friend was married this past weekend in Kifissia, just outside of Athens. We arrived at 1:00 a.m. on a Thursday night, and after learning the taxis were 70 Euro, we determined to only take public transportation. The subways shut down after midnight, but a kind man at the information desk explained the bus system to us. For just 1 Euro each, we were able to take the public bus. Huge savings.

In the morning, we did some Athens exploration – visited the markets and the Parthenon area. Note I said “Parthenon area” and not the actual Parthenon. Alas, in the blazing heat, we opted to explore fruit stands over timeless cultural relics. That afternoon, we headed to Kifissia and lounged by the pool with friends for a few hours.

Tom leading the way into the meat and fish market in Athens.  After a few seconds of the strong stench, we left and headed to the fruit and vegetable market.  

Definitely the coolest stop in the Athens market

The invite said the pre-wedding night party would start at 8:00 p.m. We were rushing around to get there by 9:00 p.m. Alas, only our group of Americans arrived that early. We sat around drinking water while the staff set up for the party. People started arriving around 10:30 p.m. I headed out around 2:00 a.m., but the others were out until 6:00 a.m.

The day of the wedding, we lounged by the pool and did some leisurely walks into town. Around 7:00, we boarded the bus for the bride’s family’s vacation house, the location of the wedding. There just happened to be a small chapel a 6 minute walk from her family’s house. It was a great location for a ceremony with the mountains in the background. Maybe 150 people were there for the outdoor Greek Orthodox ceremony. Afterwards, we walked to the dinner and reception. There were far more people at the dinner and reception than at the ceremony. The tables were set up as far as you could see and the dance floor was packed. Maybe 300-400 people in attendance. As if the large dinner with two types of fish, pork, and beef was not enough, they brought out another meal around 3:00 a.m., which was amazing. Pasta and chicken wraps for late night drinking food. We left around 5:00 a.m., and there were still about 100 people dancing. We left around 5:00 a.m., and there were still about 100 people dancing.

Adam and Nadia walking around the table three times as we all throw rice at them.   I first learned of the Greek Orthodox table walking tradition through an episode of Full House... The one where Uncle Jesse's childhood friend comes to town and it turns out they were once married, so Rebecca has them get divorced.  (Season 4, Episode 1)

The view from the dance floor.  Hundreds of place settings extend as far as the eye can see, and there are still another 20-30 tables behind the dance floor.