Down by the Water

The day of our Greek wedding we were blessed with what my sister deemed "magic lighting". So, it was off to the port once more and these are the best of the best (and what has taken me so long to sort through...because when you have "magic lighting" and Elena Maria LaCuesta behind the camera, there's not a bad picture in the bunch.)

Another Cake Cutting

From the streets of Napoli to Baia

Mimmo and I headed to Baia, our new town, with everyone following once more to eat it up!

You're Greek, now, honey...

Moms

Us with our Mammas.

Part 3

The walk together, united as husband and wife. 3 times around the altar.

Part 2

The second part is when we drink together from a chalice of wine. The chalice represents our life together. Theo Ioanna and Theo Milton gave us as an engagement gift this beautiful silver chalice with our names engraved. It took us awhile to drink it all because the priest was short and when he gave it to me, only a few sips would reach. I remember Mimmo saying "Buono!," after he tasted it.

The 3 Main Parts: Part 1

So, there are 3 main parts to the Greek Wedding. The first is being "stefana-ed" (I just made that word up) which is the crowning. Elena made our crowns which were beautiful. A mix of seashells and decorations, joined together by a type of nautical rope instead of a traditional ribbon. Very special and very fitting of Mimmo and I. She was the koumbara, which meant that she blessed us 3 times by crossing the crowns 3 times and placing them atop our heads.

Beautiful Church

It's a tiny church, but incredibly beautiful and perfect for an intimate celebration like ours.

The Arrivals...

There were 11 of us total at the Greek wedding (including Papa Giorgos), but we still rolled out the red carpet...

What I remember that morning...

Coming down the stairs of our new apartment (we're on the 3rd floor) and seeing the signore sticking their heads out the window, looking down on me and shouting "auguri!".

Trying to find a parking space in downtown Naples.

Waiting as Mimmo parked the car and a tourist bus passed me by with heads sticking out the window. I waved to them.

Waiting in front of this shop as my sister got her film together and people walked by and took pictures of me with their cellphone cameras.

1 down, 2 to go...

Wednesday morning, September 27th we were getting ready for our second wedding. This time in Napoli at the Greek Orthodox Church. Needless to say, I was way more relaxed this day. My sister made a bouquet out of some of the flowers I'd received from the 1st wedding, She also did my hair and loaned me her beautiful veil that she had made and wore the day she was married. Mimmo and I both got ready at the house and drove together in our little corsa. Jill took this pics when they were behind us on the road to the church. That's Castel dell'Ovo in the background...

Recovering or should I say the one-day pause...

We're still doing this. I just went to return a dvd today and Gilda, one of the owners of the shop asked me if I was working alot right now. Nope. "Still on the luna di miele?," she asked. Yep. Our honeymoon has been about taking as much down time as possible since we didn't get a chance to get away yet. Between the Italian and the Greek wedding, we had a one-day pause which we all spent at the wine bar, Capo Blu, sleeping..I mean, celebrating...Theo George cracks me up...

The end of the night...

Mimmo and I were about to pass out by the time it got to the 1st dance (which came at the end of the night!). We made it through and passed out the confetti to the aunts and uncles as Theo George, Tullio, & Elena showed us how they really felt after all that food and dance...