Santorini Traditional Weddings

The Traditional Wedding of Santorini: Santorini is an island rich in culture and tradition, which is evident on various occasions, such as marriage. The traditional marriage ceremony on Santorini would last for at least four days. Nowadays, most wedding costumes are rented, and the celebration is restricted to a ceremony in the church and a party afterward with traditional dancing. However, some decades ago, getting married entailed a lot of procedures.

Marriage at the time was arranged by parents. In many cases, the couple didn't know each other before the wedding. If a man was interested in a woman, he couldn't express his interest directly to her or her parents. Instead, he should have to send a matchmaker or his parents to ask for the girl's hand. 

Weddings would take place on Sundays. The Friday before the wedding, girls would come to the bride's house to throw rice and sweet plums on the bride's bed, wishing her happiness in the marriage. On the wedding's eve (Saturday), the groom would sleep in the house where they would live with the bride, while she went there at dawn to wake him up.

On the day of the wedding, the groom's father would signal the start of the celebrations by shooting once. A woman would then go door to door, inviting everyone to the wedding. Meanwhile, violists would play outside the best man's house and then move on to the groom's house. The entire party would then go to the bride's house, where the ceremony was conducted by a priest.

Before the ceremony, the priest would go to a nearby vineyard to cut garlands. Girls would decorate those with lemon flowers, and the priest would bless them. After the wedding, the garlands were kept in a box and got buried with the person to die last.

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