20 Important Calendar Dates To Remember: Celebrating Greek Traditions with Food and Feasts

Yesterday was the first day of the year. Well, not the normal calendar first day of the year (since it is only September) but the day which marks the beginning of the Church year. It was a little confusing at first, so I did some research, compiled my notes and then published a post about Orthodox New Years Day – you can read it here.

Writing the New Years Day post inspired me to think about other special events that happen throughout the year. So, to make it easy for everyone, I compiled a list of 20 Important Calendar Dates To Remember.

Share Your Greek Wedding Story!

Are you a bride to be or a nifi in training?

Do you remember your own Big Fat Greek Wedding?

Did you get married in Greece?

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If you answered YES to any of these questions then we would love to hear from you!

We are looking for brides, grooms and koumbari who are willing to share their wedding story with us here on the Greek Weddings and Traditions blog.

Send an email to sia@greekweddingtraditions.com to express your interest.

Tell Us:

Which Greek Wedding Traditions Did You Celebrate?

Related Posts You Might Like:

• A Greek Wedding in Cyprus – Ekaterina Botziou Shares her Story
• Niki & Billy’s Greek Wedding
• Interview with Anna: Her Love Story and her choice to become Greek Orthodox

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Sia Aristidou is fascinated by the rituals and traditions celebrated in Greek culture. Sia writes about love, marriage, family and tradition and sells beautiful handmade wedding gifts at the Greek Wedding Shop.

Connect with Sia on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram or subscribe to the Greek Weddings & Traditions blog. If you want to learn more about Greek food and Greek cooking, then join the Greek Cooking Challenge.

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Celebrating Your Birthday Before the Date ~ Greek Superstition

Pink Birthday Cupcake ~ Image sourced from Pinterest, original pinner not known.

Many Greek people prefer to celebrate their Name Day rather than their Birthday.  However I live in Australia, which means that my family and friends are more likely to celebrate their birthday and less likely to do very much for their name day.

A birthday is a day when a person celebrates the anniversary of his or her birth (according to wikipedia). A name day is celebrated on the Feast Day of the Christian Saint in which a person is named after or ‘named at baptism‘.

What is really interesting to reflect on, is that a birthday celebrates the birth of a person yet a name day celebrates the death of a Saint.

There are many superstitions that have been formed around these cultural practices.

Here are a couple that I have heard of:

(The following  examples are cultural practice and not a religious practice – read about the difference here).

For Name Days:

• The person who celebrates their name day should be the one to host the celebration. In other words they pay the bill at the end of the party.
• In Greece, people come over to your house on your name day (without invitation) to celebrate your name day with you.
• You pull on the ear of the person celebrating their name day (not sure why? If you know, then please send me an email, I’d love to hear about it.)

For Birthdays:

• Don’t touch the bottom of the birthday cake when cutting it. If you do, then you must kiss the closest person.
• The number of blows it takes you to blow out all the candles represents the number of years that you need to wait to get married. (sourced from here)
• Make a wish before blowing out the candles… but if you tell someone about your wish then it will not come true. (sourced from here)

An Interesting Fact (Mythological Story)

According to this website, the Ancient Greeks used to put candles on a cake to pay tribute to the Greek Moon Goddess, Artemis. They would bake round cakes to symbolize the moon and the candles were added to represent the reflected moonlight.

Why can’t you celebrate a birthday before the date?

Some people say that you should not celebrate your birthday before the actual date because it has not happened yet. It is considered unlucky to celebrate something too early just in case your expectations are not fulfilled. They say “don’t count your chickens before they hatch“.

Why should you celebrate a name day before the date?

However when it comes to a Name Day or a mnimosyno (a memorial service for one who has passed away), some people say that it is important to celebrate the Saint or remember the dead before the date passes. This shows respect and remembrance. It represents that their spirit is not been forgotten.

Xronia Polla – Image sourced from Taste of Crete

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Do you know of any Birthday or Name Day superstitions?
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Related Posts That You Might Like:

• Praying to St Anna for a Baby
• Sleep with a sugar almond under your pillow
• Sinteknos ~ The Cretan Godfather

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Sia Aristidou is fascinated by the rituals and traditions celebrated in Greek culture. Sia writes about love, marriage, family and tradition and sells beautiful handmade wedding gifts at the Greek Wedding Shop.

Connect with Sia on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram or subscribe to the Greek Weddings & Traditions blog. If you want to learn more about Greek food and Greek cooking, then join the Greek Cooking Challenge.

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Learn More About Greek Weddings & Traditions
Subscribe to the Blog and Follow Us:
            

Praying to St Anna for a Baby

An Icon of St Anna with her daughter the Virgin Mary

Happy Name Day!

July 25th is the Orthodox Feast Day of St Anna.

Normally, on feast days I just send text messages to my family & friends who are called Anna and say “Happy Name Day” or pull on their ear when I see them. I have no idea why we pull people’s ears on their name day. I guess it’s another one of those superstitious Greek traditions that I will research and write about in a future post.

But today was a little bit different. Today, we actually went to Church to celebrate the feast day of St Anna. My husband and I went together, along with my mother in law and our thea… we went to pray for a baby.

There are lots of religious and cultural traditions for couples that want to have children. Many people pray to the Archangel Gabriel for a child, and some pray to Panagia. Some eat the apple of St Irene and others travel across the world to light candles in the Holy Monasteries in Greece.

My husband and I prayed to St Anna. We did this for personal reasons, which perhaps I might talk about when I am ready to share our story. But for now, I will just share the story of St Anna and St Joachim to celebrate this special day.

St Anna’s Icon is beautifully decorated with flowers.

Welcome to the Greek Wedding Shop

http://www.greekweddingshop.com

Greek Weddings have beautiful symbolic meanings in the Orthodox Church. The stefana that is used to crown the Bride and Groom has a symbolic meaning just as the lambathas/candles do. The tray and the koufeta along with the commandaria each have a very special place in a Greek Orthodox Wedding. Our cultural and religious traditions fascinate me and it is a topic that I am truly passionate about.

I have spent my days thinking and dreaming about Greek Weddings and I have shared my thoughts here with you on this blog. So now, after six years of writing about Greek Weddings, it feels right to turn my passion in to a business.

It gives me great pleasure to announce the official opening of the Greek Wedding Shop. Here you will find beautiful Greek Orthodox Wedding and Christening Gifts such as Stefana, Lambathes, Bombonerie, Martirika, Koufeta and Easter Candles.

I work with amazing creators and suppliers from all over the world and I personally hand pick each item that is listed on the Greek Wedding Shop.

So if you have an event coming up soon, like a Wedding or a Christening or if you plan to purchase your God Child a candle for Easter next year, then please visit The Greek Wedding Shop.

I would love to hear what you think about my new business. Please share your feedback with me here on the blog or send me an email. Or if you are a designer and you are interested in working with me on the Greek Wedding Shop, then please send me some photos of your creations – I’d love to see what you do too!

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HELP CELEBRATE THE LAUNCH OF THE GREEK WEDDING SHOP

To celebrate our official store opening we are giving away 4 boxes of flavoured koufeta. You can choose your favourite flavour from our selection which includes strawberry, chocolate, lemon, pistacio and many more.

HOW YOU CAN WIN
You can go in the draw to win a free box of flavoured koufeta by helping us
celebrate the launch of the Greek Wedding Shop!

All you need to do is:

1. Subscribe to the Greek Wedding Shop Product Catalogue

2. Drop a comment in this blog post or in the corresponding Facebook post telling us which flavour koufeta you would like.
3. Like and Share the Greek Weddings & Traditions Facebook Page with your friends

or
4. Share your own wedding story with Sia by sending an email to sia @ greekweddingtraditions dot com

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Did you take part in the give away yet?
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Sia Aristidou is fascinated by the rituals and traditions celebrated in Greek culture. Sia writes about love, marriage, family and tradition and sells beautiful handmade wedding gifts at the Greek Wedding Shop.

Connect with Sia on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram or subscribe to the Greek Weddings & Traditions blog. If you want to learn more about Greek food and Greek cooking, then join the Greek Cooking Challenge.

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Learn More About Greek Weddings & Traditions
Subscribe to the Blog and Follow Us: