Wedding in Kratero, Greece
I was merely a guest at this wedding and it was such a pleasure to be (although I wish that I was the official photog because of all the photo opps!). Friends got married in Kratero, Greece which is a tiny village with a population of 80, situated a kilometre from the Macedonian border. It's surrounded by mountains and not much else. It was a trek to get to the wedding but incredible when we arrived! The groom is Greek-Canadian and his father grew up in Kratero. The bride is German and her parents drove in an RV from Germany for the wedding. There were 230 guests - 50 came from Canada, 50 came from Germany and the rest were local Greeks.
The night before the wedding, some cousins of the Groom went around to all of the houses in the village to officially invite them to the wedding. They were invited and then had to do a shot of some homemade moonshine. The day of the wedding, there was a live band and a flag bearer that picked up the groom and his family. They did some dancing then got the bride and her family. The groom's parents gave her gifts and then everyone (all family/guests) walked through the village to the tiny church near the bottom of a hill. Only about thirty people could fit inside so everyone else filled the street. Afterwards we all walked back up the hill to the square of the village where the tables for the reception was set up. Once everyone was seated, some people in traditional costumes came out with a roasted pig on a plate and they did a dance with ouzo and knives. Then the eating and drinking began.
The wedding was incredible and every few minutes, I would say to Ryan, "can you believe that we are here?! Never again will we experience something like this!" Anyways, I loved it and here are some images from it all. Congratulations Claudia + Tim!!
You really cannot capture the feeling of the reception without the music so here's a little video.
posted by Jessica at 8/01/2008 07:50:00 AM
5 Comments:
Hi Jessica,
Wow! Who would've thought my Dad's town would be featured with a traditional wedding on the net!!?!!
I was excited when I saw the pics, my parents were invited to this wedding, but could not make it to Grece on this occasion, what a celebraiton it must have been!
In one of the photo's, I can see the backs of my Uncle and Aunt who are were also invited to the wedding. I heard from my parents that the wedding was a great affair.! Thnaks Jessica for sharing these, I will pass your pics on to friends and family...
Kratero descendant.....
Kissses......
I love how small the world is! I am glad that you found me! :)
Cheers,
Jessica
Hi Jessica, it was so nice to see my mum's village after so many years. It's still as beautiful as i remember it to be. Thank you for posting this. I think most of our relatives have passed away now so I didn't see any familiar faces. I'm in Melbourne Australia and will be sharing this with the rest of my family. My mother is from the Paskalidis clan. Warm Regards.
Hi Jessica, I just noticed these and I had to leave a comment (better late than never!) Thanks so much for coming to the wedding and thanks for posting these wonderful pictures on the net. These are not just pictures of the wedding but examples of traditions and customs that define who we are. Our village has withstood many trials and hardships over the years but one thing has remained constant and that is the pride all of us feel, both in Greece and abroad (Canada, Australia), in being part of Kratero!
Yiasas Jessica
What a fantastic job you have made portraying such a rare oppurtunity in the village. Most of all thankyou for depicting our village in your well presented photographs. Here in Melbourne like our cousins in Canada we are filled with great pride and immense happiness when we see footage from our ancient homeland and it is great when we can show our older relatives up to date images of Kratero. My family are of the Boicos clan, I personally raise a glass of rakia to you, stin yia!
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