Number 5:
Booking a church. Having to listen to the "rules" of the church. The "koumparoi" (best men and maid of honour) should only be Greek Orthodox! There should only be so many years difference between the couple! The couple must be of different sex! If one of the two is not Greek Orthodox, a contract needs to be signed by which the couple will certify that their children will be baptised Greek Orthodox!!!! And then the very “positive” message - what to do when you need a divorce.
Number 4:
Booking a venue. Hell! Hell! Hell! Especially when having to chose only from hotels or wedding venues. There are so few in Nicosia that they are booked 2 years in advance. They take total advantage of the situation. Most of them are rude and they’re charging waaaaaayyy to much!! And there are more rules! Like obliging you to do both the cocktail and wedding dinner at their place.
Number 3:
Hair and makeup. No “packaged” deals! Overcharging!
Number 2:
Catering/Wedding cake/Loukoumia (OK! This might only be MY nightmare). Total ignorance on ALLERGIES!! Not trying to help if you are allergic to something, instead trying to sell you their standardised product as is, by telling total BS!
AND NUMBER 1 !!!
Trying to issue the wedding licence. There are like a million steps.
1. Having the Thalassemia test at Makario hospital. Going for the blood test means at least 2 hours! Need to pay then give the receipt to the registry then wait in line for the blood test, which is taken by THE ONLY PERSON DOING BLOOD TESTS IN THE WHOLE HOSPITAL! The results come by post, but FOR SOME REASON then need to go to the hospital again to get the confirmation letter (WTF?)!! The confirmation letter needs to be issued less than 6 months before the wedding!!! (As if my blood test will change after 6 months).
2. Need to go to your parish to issue a “Freedom certificate” (yeap, to certify you were not married before). If you are a “refugee” (displaced person) you need to go to the parish of your place of origin. (The church recognises the mother’s origin as your origin, whereas the republic recognises only the father’s . Go Figure!). As if it is logical for the church of your place of origin to issue a certificate when you have never lived there. The Freedom certificate should only be issued about 2-3 months before the wedding to be valid!
3. Go to the Archibishopry and issue the wedding license. It is required that apart from the Freedom Certificate, the Birth Certificates and the Confirmation letters from the hospital, a “consensus” contract should be signed. The license can only be done about 2 weeks before the wedding, to be valid!
Totally ridiculous!
