What is the attire?
We kindly request that guests adhere to cocktail or formal attire for the event.
However, feel free to get comfortable in whatever you please for the after party.
Will there be Greek Dancing?
Yes! Check out our tutorials page and be ready to impress with your pro skills at the reception.
Why is there money on the dance floor?
You may see some cash being tossed into the air during the reception. The Greek money shower comes from the older practice of guests pinning money to the bride's dress during a special dance. The modern Greek money shower, often seen at Greek American weddings, involves guests showering the newlyweds with money while they dance or as the couple walks from table to table greeting their guests during the reception. The guests wish the couple prosperity by throwing money, typically one-dollar bills, on or around the couple. Once all the money is thrown, someone in the wedding party sweeps up the money and gives it to the couple at the end of the night. So bring some singles and join in the fun!
Do you have a registry?
Your presence at our wedding is the greatest gift of all. And we are extremely blessed to have love, laughter, and enough inherited dishes to fill two kitchens. However, if you'd like to help us celebrate with a gift as we embark on our journey together, a cash gift would be greatly appreciated.
Alternatively, we would be honored if you would consider blessing others in the same ways that we have been blessed. Below is a list of charitable non-profits with important missions that we would like to support.
Dolly Parton's Imagination Library is dedicated to not just promoting child literacy, but instilling a love of reading in children from a young age. Participants in the program receive a free monthly shipment of age-appropriate books from birth through the age of 5. Last year, more than 2 million books were delivered to children every single month. As lifelong bookworms whose love of reading started early, we'd be honored for you to give more children the precious gift of reading in our name:
https://donate.imaginationlibrary.com/
Micah Ecumenical Ministries is a coalition of local churches dedicated to serving and loving our unhoused neighbors. Micah strives not just to provide for participants' immediate physical and basic needs, but to provide them with a coordinated care system and work with them pursue income, housing, and medical/mental health solutions - enabling them to regain stability and succeed in the long term. We would be honored to have you "do justice and love mercy" amongst our neighbors in our name.
You can donate to the general ministry here:
https://micahfredericksburg.networkforgood.com/projects/212000-love-your-neighbor-2024
Alternatively, you can find links to Micah's Amazon Wish List here:
https://micahfredericksburg.org/give-help/donate-items/
Operation Paws for Homes is a nonprofit organization devoted to the rescue, rehabilitation, and placement of dogs and cats who have overcome great odds and deserve wonderful, caring forever homes. It provides responsible pet adoption services to families located in Virginia, Washington DC, Maryland, Southern Pennsylvania, and neighboring states, and every year facilitates the "forever" adoption of more than 1,000 cats and dogs who otherwise faced almost certain euthanasia. Our lives have been so blessed by the love of animals who adopted us as much as we adopted them, and we'd be honored for you to help more of God's precious furballs find a forever home on our behalf.
https://ophrescue.org/donate
How do I RSVP?
Excellent question! You RSVP online here at our website (top right corner). When you RSVP, you will also have the option to provide us with your meal selection - Chicken, Salmon, or Veggie Risotto!
What is the crowning ceremony?
Glad you asked! The wedding crowns, called Stefana in Greek, symbolize the couple becoming the Queens of their own kingdom. The crowns are connected by a ribbon, symbolizing the unity of the new couple. During the ceremony, the officiant will place the crowns on the heads of each bride, and then the koumbara (sponsors of the marriage) will exchange the crowns three times before the brides take their first steps as a married couple.
The Tradition of crowning began in ancient times, when stefana was made from lemon blossoms, olive branches, vine leaves, or even asparagus.
What's with the candied almonds?
A traditional celebration favor, the pouch with candied almonds (called koufeta) is called a Bomboniere. It is typically a pouch made of white tulle tied with a ribbon and containing sugared almonds. The white almonds symbolize purity and in their hard sugar shells they look like eggs. They are sweet, but also hard, symbolizing endurance. The pouch will always contain an odd number of almonds - indivisible by two as a couple should also be indivisible. Below is a poem to help you remember:
"Five sugared almonds for each guest to eat, to remind us that life is both bitter & sweet. Five wishes for the new wife & wife: Health, Wealth, Happiness, Family, and a Long Life!"
OMG, my question isn't answered here?!
Totally cool, just call Lydia. She has (almost) all the answers!
