Our ever lasting honeymoon

Wedding pictures are now online!
Illustrated description of the ceremony and its symbolism
Procession (Picasa)	Ceremony (Picasa)	Reception (Picasa)	DayAfter (Picasa)

Dear friends and family,

We have decided to unite our lives before God, and extend until forever what has been a constant honeymoon of immeasurable comfort and happiness for the two most beautiful years of our lives. We cannot imagine changing a thing in each other, and cannot stop gasping and thanking God for the incredible chance we have to have each other, and the life we live, surrounded by people we love, two jobs that really fulfill us only steps from our home, a home to come back to filled with joy, laughter and love; and above all our health, love, friends, family and happiness.

Happiness begins at home with the blissful moments of our daily lives in the Back Bay and the Charles River Esplanade, our home and neighborhood, our roofdeck in the summertime and fireplace in winter, Lucile's walk to work on Commonwealth Ave and Manoli's bike across the river, our long bike trips to Walden Pond, or walks around town, our outings for sailing even on windy days or in lasers or cruiseboats, hiking the blue hills or fells reservation, canoeing, rafting, or skiing, the year-round celebrations from Orthodox Easter to the Greek Parade, BBQs, concerts and more concerts, Reunions. and our many local escapes in the Boston Area we love.

Happiness continues around the world, and sometimes in places really out of this world, in our trips to Crete; in Mystras, Elafonissos, Kythira, Monemvassia, South Mani, North Mani, Messinia, Olympia, Achaia in the the Peloponnese; Delphi; Koh Samui or Angthong, Ayutthaya or Koh Tao and Nang Yuan in Thailand; Ubud and Bali in Indonesia; Delhi, Agra, Kanpur, and India in South East Asia; The Yucatan in Mexico; Joshua Tree and Lake Tahoe in California; or Acadia in Maine.

And Happiness is to be shared, with the ones we love. It is therefore with great joy that:

We have decided to hold our wedding this summer in Greece, on Saturday August 21st, 2010, at the shores of the Saronic gulf of the Aegean Sea. The wedding will be held on the little church of the Dormition of the Virgin (Koimisis tis Theotokou) in Saronida, Greece, and the reception in El Paso, the summer home where Manolis and his sibblings spent the most careless days of their youth, and where we spent some of our most peaceful and blissful moments in our many travels to Greece over the last two years.

El Paso fills with life in the summers, as 10-20 families come to spend their summers together year after year, filling the place with kids and laughter and joy (one of the families that we grew up with has been coming continuously now for the fiftieth year spanning fourth generations). El Paso sits between the arid sides of Attiki's hills and the turquoise waters of the Aegean Sea, halfway between Athens and Sounion, and halfway between Saronida and Lagonissi, surrounded by four little islands that we have often swam or sailed to or around, and a magical shore combining rocks, pebbles, and sand, and teeming with fish. August is a magical time to be there, as the three fig trees deliver dozens of kilos of juicy red figs, and Aug 21st will see the full moon rise above the hill as the sun hits the waterfront on the seaside. No length of words, and no number of pictures can capture however the feeling of timelessness one gets for every day spent there. The sun stands still for hours on end every summer day, as trees shed their shadows in the dizzying heat of midsummer days, cicadas continue their endless singing, and the gentle salty breeze of the Mediterranean provides a welcome shelter in the forgiving shadows of the vines.

It is for these timeless moments that we have chosen August for our union, though most guidebooks will tell you to avoid Greece then to escape the tourists and the heat. What they don't tell you is that figs are at their most plentiful only in August, and the cool waters of Greece are most appealing in August. August is also the time of the Dormition of the Virgin, one of the most important feasts of the Orthodox year on August 15 (Dekapentaugoustos). The church where we will get married in fact has its feast on Aug 15, and Lucile, whose middle name is Marie, and both Manoli's sibblings, Maria and Peter, have their name days on that day (Peter is short for Panayiotis, from Panagios -- 'entirely saint', one of the names of the Virgin, Panagia), and Peter's birthday follows just two days later on the 17th. In short, there's much to celebrate!

So... let us know if you're coming!

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