Someone to perform a Greek Orthodox ceremony outside...

I ran into this issue with the Catholic church, I wanted to have my ceremony (performed by my fiance's Lutheran pastor) at my venue. While they were fine with it being performed by the pastor, they would not approve it since marriage is considered a sacrament it needs to take place in a holy place (I'm now having my ceremony at a Lutheran church). I'm guessing that that is the Greek Orthodox's standing as well.

Can't have your cake and eat it too, sorry.

Assuming that the standing of the Greek Orthodox Church is the same as the Catholic Church, you won't find a priest who can perform an outdoor Greek Orthodox ceremony recognized by the Church. You can often find Catholic "priests" who will do a Catholic style ceremony outdoors, but it's not an actual priest in good standing with the Church and it's not recognized by the Church. You'll have to decide what's important to you in a ceremony-having it recognized as Greek Orthodox, or having it outside.

A hugely important part of an Orthodox ceremony is having it inside a church. If it's not in a church, it's not a proper ceremony, so you are unlikely to find someone to do this.

Perhaps the bride's brother can include elements of an Orthodox Greek ceremony, since he's the one making it legal anyway.

Or they can get married inside an Orthodox Greek church -- which would also be legal and brother would not have to officiate.

Yeah, no. That's probably not going to happen.

I did a ceremony recently; the Orthodox priest did a blessing and the crowns in a private ceremony at the venue before the wedding I did. I did the crowns again during my ceremony, and I did the legal ceremony and paperwork.

If it's not in a church, it's not going to happen, so you need to decide, collectively, what works for your families.

We are not looking specifically for a priest to do the certain portions of the greek ceremony. We understand that it is very important in the Orthodox culture for the ceremony to be inside the church. Unfortunately my future daughter in law does not want to be married in the church, but the kids do want some of the greek ceremony incorporated. I know that there are officiantes/ministers that have done portions of the greek ceremony outside of the church. The problem I am having is finding someone that has done this before. (The kids asked if I could do the legwork on this for them) I was looking to see if anyone on here could recommend someone or provide some guidance. I do appreciate all the responses.

Why not just have the current officiant incorporate the parts they're looking for?

He doesn't understand the parts that need to be incorporated and is too nervous to do those parts.

I know of this happening once and the bride and groom had to receive dispensation from the Bishop for this to happen. They also had to be in very good standing with the Orthodox Church and Priest that would be performing the ceremony. It took a year for the Bishop to grant the dispensation and they did not know if they would be able to do it until 3 months before the wedding.

If the bride's brother doesn't know and apparently doesn't want to research and would be too nervous, hire a professional officiant.

I've officiated about every combination of religions and non-religious couples (Jewish & Catholic, Buddhist & Jewish, Muslim & Christian, totally non-religious, etc.).

Spazzytazi that is exactly what we are looking for, but would like to include the "engagement/blessing of the rings" as well. The bride's brother does not feel comfortable doing the engagement/crowns portion. My family and I are all Greek Orthodox. We are religious to a point. The kids want to honor our heritage by having some of the greek ceremony included. This is the kids decision and their lives. All we can do as parents is provide advice, up to them on what they choose to do.

So does anyone have any recommendations on someone that can perform part of the ceremony?

Hi Rita,
I know this is an old post but I’m curious what the outcome was of this. I was raised Greek Orthodox and my fiancé was not. We plan on having an outdoor ceremony at our venue. I was hoping to at least receive a blessing from a Greek Orthodox priest or incorporate some aspects of the Greek tradition into the ceremony. We don’t want to get married in a church but I also don’t want to completely disappoint my father. Any insight would be appreciated. I hope your son’s wedding was wonderful!

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Hi Elena

Did you manage to find an outcome for this? I'm in the same boat!

Thanks

View Quoted Comment Hey I’m in the same boat now. I just started a forum on it but if you want to connect I’d like to have someone to talk to who understands

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What forum did you start? Looking for similar answers.

I'm in the same boat!! Does anyone have a resolution for this? I think it'll be cool for my guests to see, especially the non-Greeks attending.

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Hi Elena,

I know this was an old post but wondering if you were able to receive a blessing from a Greek Orthodox priest? I am in the same situation where I would like to have my ceremony at my venue but also want my marriage to be recognized in the Greek Orthodox church. Thanks in advance for your help!

I know someone who had an outdoor wedding, then had an orthodox wedding in the church the next day.
That being said: The word Orthodox means traditional. You either have a traditional wedding, or you don’t. Don’t bastardize the wedding to make it look ‘cool’. Orthodox Churches are BEAUTIFUL, and I don’t see why you wouldn’t want your wedding in a beautiful place.