They sang at the school's chorus and they were ready to dance at every occasion.
( From left to right the third is Angela and the sixth is Fotini)

As the years passed and the girls grow up the boys came to their life. They started sharing the small secrets of their flirts. Nothing happened to one without to share it with the other. Never had a fight and never a boy made a problem for their relationship.

These two girls who transferred so quickly to young women are Fotini and Angela… the shy brunette Pisces and the blonde hot Virgo…

At the same time period a young boy grow up at another neighborhood of the same town. His name was Chrisostomos and he was the son of the priest of one of the town's churches, the church of “The Entrance of Virgin to the Temple”.
This boy liked to visit the area that the 2 girls used to play and he tried to follow them each time they rode their bicycles across the town's streets. He tried to be close to the girls at the beach at summers but he never found the courage to talk about his feelings.

This boy grows up loving Angela. He wanted to talk to Angela but he was so shy… he always postponed the big time. Only once he came closer to Angela and promised her that when he will grow enough and will take his first salary he would buy for her a watch.

Angela talked about it to Fotini but they forgot about it a few moments later running to swim at the cold sea with the huge waves.

The years passed and Fotini made the start. She married and left the town. Angela followed her a few years later and Crisostomos who took his first salary as a sailor he did not find Angela free to keep his promise. He married also after a few years.

More years passed and kids have come for all of them but their marriages were not good. Angela made the start… the first divorce followed by Fotini and Chrisostomos divorces.
So… everybody free again. Everything started again for the 3 middle age now women and the man.

All these years the two women have never stopped to shared their secrets and discuss everything between them. Angela at the first day of 2006 called Fotini to ask her opinion. This man, Chrisostomos, came back to town and tried with whatever way he could find to come in touch with Angela. Maybe it was time for the man to start the fight to win Angela. It was time…

Fotini replied at the call of Angela encourage her to accept his flirt. Angela liked him but needed this encouragement… this small push…

A year after that day life has changed for Angela and Chrisostomos. They open their hugs and their hearts to each other. Love came for them and they were ready to make the big step to happiness… the wedding. Guess from whom asked to be their first of honor or sponsor or Koumpara in Greek language… of course from Fotini!

30 of December 2006 at the same small town, at Karlovasi of Samos and the church that Chrisostomos' father was the priest before he died a few years ago, was ready, decorated by flowers, the lights made the night day and everybody were there to be witnesses of the blessed union of the new couple.

Well… as you understood I was the Koumpara. It is a great pleasure and a honor the same time to be the Koumparos (for a man) or Koumpara (for a woman) at a wedding. It is a relationship that is similar to blood relation for Greeks and a wedding is a very happy but also holy ceremony, a mystery of the Greek Orthodox Church.

The wedding service in the Greek Orthodox faith is an ancient and beautiful ceremony, which has been celebrated in its current form for centuries. The wedding ceremony is full of symbolism and is a great experience if you have never attended one before, because it is likely to be quite different from other weddings you have attended in Western Europe and US.

The service is also rather unique because the bride and groom do not make vows to each other their presence together in the church is taken to mean that they are serious about getting married. There are no wedding rehearsals and the ceremony usually has a very relaxed atmosphere - guests take photos whenever they want to and often chat quietly among themselves throughout the ceremony.

Let's start with a song for the wedding " Orea pou ine i nifi mas " (Our bride is beautiful).

The day of the wedding was sunny but cold and Chrisostomos with the priest, me and the guests waited Angela outside the church's main entrance. As she arrived and after the change of the first kiss the couple with the priest entered to the church. I followed the couple and the quests entered after me at the church.

The ceremony started with the Service of betrothal - where the rings are exchanged between the bride and groom. The auspiciousness is reaffirmed with the priest blessing the rings and making the sign of the cross over the heads of the bride and groom. The rings are then placed on the third fingers of their right hands. I, the "Koumbara", the couple's religious sponsor, swapped the rings over between the bride and groom's fingers, three times. A number of rituals in the ceremony are repeated three times and this symbolizes the Holy Trinity: God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Ceremony of the sacrament of marriage followed the Betrothal.
This Ceremony consists of several key parts. First, several prayers are said and then as they come to an end, the priest joins the right hands of the bride and groom.

We supposed to stay silent but I at my place behind the couple I whispered to them and at the time that the priest prayed saying “Dos imin karpon kilias” (Give them fruit of the womb) I replied it to them. It is a custom that Koumpara who joins a couple is going to be the Godmother of their first child and when this child is going to marry she will be the Koumpara for it and the wheel turns replying everything again!

Another custom is when the priest reads from the Apostle's book the phrase “Ke I gini na fovite ton andra” (the woman must "fovite" the man) the bride put down the groom's foot. That represents the will of the woman to not follow the recommendation of the priest. This is a misunderstanding at the translation of the holy books which are written at the Greek ancient language. "Fovite" at the modern language means afraid but the real meaning at the ancient language is to respect. Angela did not put down Chrisostomos foot.

The couple's hands remained joined until the end of the wedding ceremony, which symbolizes the couple's union.

Then… the crowning…

The bride and groom are crowned with thin crowns, or "stefana", which are joined by a white ribbon and have been blessed by the priest. The crowns symbolize the glory and honor that is being bestowed on them by God, and the ribbon symbolizes their unity. After the priest it was my turn to exchange the crowns between the heads of the couple, three times.

The crowning is followed by a reading of the Gospel, which tells of the marriage of Cana at Galilee. It was at this wedding that Jesus performed his first miracle, changing water into wine, which was then given to the married couple. Wine is given to the couple and they each drink from it three times.

Time for the dance… Isaias' dance! We are Greeks we like to dance… even at the time of the wedding. The priest leads the couple, who are still wearing their "stefana", three times around the altar on their first steps as a married couple. I, the "Koumbara" follows close behind the couple holding the "stefana" at their place. At this point the couple (and anyone standing nearby) is usually showered with rice, which was earlier handed out to the wedding guests. The priest will often make use of the Bible he is holding to give himself some protection!

In Samos there is one more tradition… the friends of the couple used to hit at the back the groom and not only him… Chrisostomos received the most of the hits but I was the receiver of a few hits too from my friends. As you will see… we enjoyed the tradition of the hitting at the back at the time of Isaias dance.

When the Ceremonial Walk has ended, the priest blesses the couple, the crowns are removed and he then separates their previously joined hands with the Bible, reminding them that only God can break the union which they have just entered into.

The Ceremony has ended but it is time for the couple to accept the greetings of the quests. Koumpara makes the start kissing the new couple giving her greetings and the priest gives her the first blessed “Koufeta”.

Koufetta is a key to any wedding celebration. These are bittersweet fresh almonds - symbolizing that marriage has both good and bad in it. Usually the ones for weddings are coated with sugar, to hope that the couple has more good than bad!

One more tradition… unmarried women who save them to put under their pillow will dream about their own future husband. Angela and I liked to follow this tradition and the conversations were funny at the next morning.

After the greetings of Koumpara the couple accepts the greetings of their relatives and the quests. Leaving the church the quests take as offer from the couple odd numbers of koufeta in bags (we call this bags Boubounieres) - odd to show that they can't be divided up evenly (i.e. that the couple is now indivisible).

Angela danced the “ Zeibekiko ” dance and she was so good. I am afraid that I will never learn to dance like her. She is unbeatable… amazing… when she dances zeibekiko.

When you see this last photo you can understand how tired but at the same time how happy we were. The big day has ended, my friends (I can call now Angela as Koumpara and Chrisostomo as Koumparo) have left for their honey moon in Thailand. I have helped to their union under God and I will be happy to feel them happy living with love for the rest of their life!

The wish for the Koumpara is “ Panta Axia ” (Always Worthy) and for the men and women who are still single “ Ke sta dika sou ” (And to your happy moments), a wish for the wedding of the single. The wish for the married people is “ Ke sta pedia sou ” (And to your children), a wish for the wedding of the children of the married men and women.

So… for Angela and Crisostomos the wish is “ Na zisete ” (Live being happy for many years)

For the rest of us…

Ke sta dika sou!!! Ke sta pedia sou!!!