Matchmaking  

In the old years, in order for a woman to get married, the prospective groom had to send a matchmaker on his behalf to ask the father of the bride to be if he would accept him as his daughter’s husband. In particular, the matchmaking was undertaken either by a matchmaker or by a relative, who would assume the responsibility of talking to the parents of the bride to be about the man who was interested in marrying their daughter. The girl’s parents would then ask more information about the interested young man, for example if he came from a good family, if he was rich and if he was hard-working. If the young man came from another village, then the girl’s parents would go to his village and ask his fellow villagers and neighbours about him. After collecting all the aforementioned information, they would make a decision as to whether they would marry their daughter to the young man or not, and most times they would do so without considering the opinion of the girl.

“Logiasma”

Logiasma was the dinner organized so that the two families would meet each other. Only very close relatives, such as the groom and bride’s god-father and god-mother, their aunts and uncles, their grandparents, as well as their brothers and sisters, if they had any, were invited to “logiasma”. On that day, a prenuptial agreement which was legally valid was also prepared and signed. The prenuptial agreement included the dowry that the two families would give their children in detail. After this procedure was over, they would all start eating and singing to celebrate.

Engagement

Following “logiasma” came the engagement of the couple. Not all villagers were invited to the engagement. At the engagement, the couple exchanged handkerchiefs and rings.  

The newlyweds would stay in a house which would be provided by the father of the bride, as he was responsible to build one. The construction of the house required a lot of manual effort and labour since they even had to gather the stones with which they would build the newlywed’s house.

Wedding Preparations

The parents of the prospective bride and groom would begin inviting people to the wedding a month before by giving handkerchiefs, candles and mainly “tsourekia””, a kind of bread made specifically to be given as an invitation to the wedding.

Weddings would always take place on a Sunday. On the night of the Thursday before the wedding, all the relatives would gather to begin preparing the traditional dish called “resi”. In particular, in the company of a violin, a lute and songs, they would wash the wheat that was going to be used for the making of “resi”. On Friday night, all the relatives would gather again to process the wheat so that its hard shuck would break. The whole procedure was done by using special tools called “faoutes”. This procedure was necessary so that the wheat used for “resi” would be cooked more easily.   

On Saturday, a day before the wedding, the sawing of the newlyweds’ bed would take place, during which a celebrating atmosphere was created thanks to the orchestra consisting of a violin and a lute, the dances, the songs and the “tsiattismata”, which were improvised traditional poems with rhyme. 

The couple’s bed was filled with virgin sheep hair and then it was sewed by five or seven women who had been married only once. While they were sewing the bed, a discreet music produced by the musical instruments was heard, while couplets and quatrain songs were sung by the friends and relatives. At the same time, the couple’s relatives would throw money on the bed, a custom called “ploumisma”.     

Next, the best men would dance the “bed dance”, whereas before that, young children would be rolled on the bed. According to tradition, the gender of the child rolled on the bed signified the gender of the child the newlyweds would have.

WEDDING SUNDAY

Preparation of the bride

The preparation of the bride was held at her parents’ house shortly before the wedding ceremony. The bride would wear her wedding dress and young ladies who would be the bride’s maids of honour did her hair while her parents blessed her and put a belt around her waist. While the bride was getting ready, her relatives and friends would sing accompanied by musical instruments such as a violin and a lute.  

Shaving the groom

At 10 am in the morning, the groom’s clothes would be taken from his parents’ house to his new house where he would live with his wife after the wedding. The shaving of the groom took place at his parents’ house. Apart from the shaving, the groom would also get dressed there. The shaving was done by the barber accompanied by the music of a violin, whereas the groom’s best men combed his hair. The first best man would help the groom put on his shirt and jacket, while at the same time he would sing quatrain and distich songs along with the rest of the relatives and friends.

After the wedding ceremony, while the newlyweds headed towards their new house, their women-neighbours would turn out in the streets to smoke them and besprinkle them with rosewater. Later on, the newlyweds would stay alone in their home while their friends and relatives celebrated.   

Monday of the Wedding

On the night of the wedding’s Monday, a large feast would be organized, during which all the relatives and friends would take presents to the newlyweds. Afterwards, the newlywed couple would dance and the relatives would pin bank notes on their clothes, a custom called “ploumisma”.

Tuesday of the wedding

On the wedding’s Tuesday, the relatives would go around the village to collect chicken from their fellow villagers, which they would then cook and eat together celebrating the wedding.

More than often, the wedding celebrations would last for a whole week and these were accompanied by music, dancing and feasts.