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The odyssey: It took three holy men, a flotilla and a ceremonial stew to pull off one Greek wedding. |
The Day Before
I am so stressed helping my dear friends finalize the plans for their incredibly complicated wedding that I have begun to mumble to myself. Even more frightening, I am answering! What were they thinking? What was I thinking in agreeing? Am I going to be party to a wedding disaster of epic proportions? This is, after all, Greece, where everything is epic.
Dear! The Shinto priest and his sister are stuck at the Athens airยญport, and they speak only Japanese!
What?!
The Catholic priest has been waiting for his flight in Atlanta for 48 hoursยthereยs a hurriยญcane! He may not come! I am freaking out.
But donยt worry, the rabbi is on the boat. Heยs arriving on the island in a few hours, sans baggage, sans robe, sans tzitzis. His luggage is lost.
Darling, do you think the Athens rabbi can lend him his? But heยs coming for sure. I talked to himยthere will be a wedding.
We are on the Greek island of Spetses. Itยs 30 hours before the wedding of Minos Matsas, a Greek-born, L.A.-based composer, and the Mexican-Japanese filmmaker Amira Lopez, who also lives in L.A. When Minos and Amira made their big decision, there was the eternal problem: In what religion should the ceremony be performed?
The groom: a Sephardic Jew. The bride: a Shinto on her motherยs side and a Catholic on her fatherยs. Minos wanted to please his traditional Jewish parents, and Amira felt that her parents and their traditions should be respected, too. What to do?
The couple decided to have a three-religion ceremony, because, said Minos, ยReligion should unite people, not separate them.ย And after all, arenยt all religions one?
There will be only three best men: Kostas, Konstantinos and me, Konstantinยhow could I refuse? My wedding gift was to design the invites and decorate the chuppah. As a homosexual man, religion and state still refuse me the right to marry, so my pleasure at the weddings of my friends is double.
Organizing a wedding on a Greek island is already complicated. But trying to find a rabbi, a Catholic priest and a Shinto priest who are willing to travel overseas to perform a spiritual ceremony together is next to impossible. After phone calls, emails, letters, invitations and pleas, we found a liberal rabbi on the East Coast and an open-minded Catholic priest in California. And yes, they would travel! Finding the Shinto priest was more difficult, as their religion worships nature, and traveling is generally not part of the practice. But then...a miracle! The Shinto priest who founded the only temple in Europe was willing and would bring all the sacred elements needed for the unionยa mobile temple, if you will.
The Big Day: 11 a.m., 100 Degrees
Amen. The priests arrive, jet-lagged, and we start the rehearsal.
But, darling, this is just impossible. I canยt breathe. Itยs too hot!
The Catholic priest has a heart conditionยheยs hyperventilating!
Oh, no, Iยm fainting...
The Shinto priest has a history of sunstroke!
Iยm suffocating...
I am so stressed helping my dear friends finalize the plans for their incredibly complicated wedding that I have begun to mumble to myself. Even more frightening, I am answering! What were they thinking? What was I thinking in agreeing? Am I going to be party to a wedding disaster of epic proportions? This is, after all, Greece, where everything is epic.
Dear! The Shinto priest and his sister are stuck at the Athens airยญport, and they speak only Japanese!
What?!
The Catholic priest has been waiting for his flight in Atlanta for 48 hoursยthereยs a hurriยญcane! He may not come! I am freaking out.
But donยt worry, the rabbi is on the boat. Heยs arriving on the island in a few hours, sans baggage, sans robe, sans tzitzis. His luggage is lost.
Darling, do you think the Athens rabbi can lend him his? But heยs coming for sure. I talked to himยthere will be a wedding.
We are on the Greek island of Spetses. Itยs 30 hours before the wedding of Minos Matsas, a Greek-born, L.A.-based composer, and the Mexican-Japanese filmmaker Amira Lopez, who also lives in L.A. When Minos and Amira made their big decision, there was the eternal problem: In what religion should the ceremony be performed?
The groom: a Sephardic Jew. The bride: a Shinto on her motherยs side and a Catholic on her fatherยs. Minos wanted to please his traditional Jewish parents, and Amira felt that her parents and their traditions should be respected, too. What to do?
The couple decided to have a three-religion ceremony, because, said Minos, ยReligion should unite people, not separate them.ย And after all, arenยt all religions one?
There will be only three best men: Kostas, Konstantinos and me, Konstantinยhow could I refuse? My wedding gift was to design the invites and decorate the chuppah. As a homosexual man, religion and state still refuse me the right to marry, so my pleasure at the weddings of my friends is double.
Organizing a wedding on a Greek island is already complicated. But trying to find a rabbi, a Catholic priest and a Shinto priest who are willing to travel overseas to perform a spiritual ceremony together is next to impossible. After phone calls, emails, letters, invitations and pleas, we found a liberal rabbi on the East Coast and an open-minded Catholic priest in California. And yes, they would travel! Finding the Shinto priest was more difficult, as their religion worships nature, and traveling is generally not part of the practice. But then...a miracle! The Shinto priest who founded the only temple in Europe was willing and would bring all the sacred elements needed for the unionยa mobile temple, if you will.
The Big Day: 11 a.m., 100 Degrees
Amen. The priests arrive, jet-lagged, and we start the rehearsal.
But, darling, this is just impossible. I canยt breathe. Itยs too hot!
The Catholic priest has a heart conditionยheยs hyperventilating!
Oh, no, Iยm fainting...
The Shinto priest has a history of sunstroke!
Iยm suffocating...
L.A. for less than the price of sunblock. 
