My [cousin's] Big Fat Greek Wedding



Shannon, Amy, Nicole, Tom and Alex

If you've been following our blog since the 
beginning, you may remember a post about a year and a half ago titled "My Girlfriend's Cousin's Big Fat Greek Engagement Party." Well the engagement party for my cousin Danny and his now wife Despina was a ridiculously huge Greek party and thus their wedding was something I refused to miss. Considering that this is the only cousin in my family marrying another Greek, and considering that Despina and her family are exceptionally Greek, we all knew that this wedding was going to be the biggest Greek event our family has seen and will likely ever see.  What a perfect excuse to head back to New York to attend the wedding of the century! It all started Thursday Oct 17th, with a rehearsal dinner (I wasn't invited) and continued Friday night with a surprise "pre-wedding" party! Apparently this is a tradition in Despina's family, and I thought it was just going to be a gathering of close family for some drinks and dancing, well it was in a rented hall, with a sit down meal, open bar, a Greek DJ AND a Greek band, and the throwing of the money of course!



Greek Ceremony- boo iphone quality

Poppy ready to party with his $250 in dollar bills!


Luckily we had Saturday to recover, as the wedding was Sunday October 20th. On Sunday, we all arrived at the Greek Church in Norwalk, Connecticut for the traditional Greek ceremony. After throwing some controversial rice at the newlyweds, we followed the bridal party about an hour north to Waterbury, CT for the reception. They chose this location for its unbelievably gorgeous view and especially this time of year with fantastic foliage, which can be seen in the first picture behind me and my sisters, brother-in-law and cousin Alex. We all stood around for an hour eating delicious hor d'oeuvres and guzzling numerous alcoholic drinks! Finally, the wait staff opened some French doors and we were ushered into this magnificent hall, with purple lights, over the top centrepieces and two winding staircases. The decorations were gorgeous, and the view from the windows was magnificent before the sun set. As soon as we entered, the dancing begun.






The bride and groom, bridal party and even parents and grandparents were announced by the MC as they walked down the winding staircase in the center of the hall. They newlyweds came down last, and immediately went to the center of the floor for their first dance. From this moment, the money started flying, and it hadn't stopped by the time we left, which was before the wedding ended! My mom was nice enough to give me some dollar bills to throw, and along with everyone else, there ended up being an ocean of money on the floor, much to the excitement of the flower girl and ring bearer.

We ate, we drank, we Greek danced, we took silly pictures in the photo booth, we listened to amazing speeches, especially from my cousin Steven, the groom's brother, and we looked on as they cut the cake and had their first dance. My grandfather got up and danced with me, and even showed us all his fantastic Greek dancing moves! I'm sad that the night had to end, but I look forward to more fantastic parties from the Sentementes-Triandafilides families. 

Despina and Danny Sentementes