Research on Cypriot Weddings for my IDEA

As my idea is about two English-Cypriot mothers arranging a marriage for the children I did some research on typical Cypriot weddings and how they've changed.

I did personal research as my family is English-Cypriot and experienced both types of traditions; the Cypriot one and then the English-Cypriot one. I spoke to my grandmother, my aunty and my great-aunty.

Background information

• After the was in Cyprus many Cypriots immigrated to England
• The main areas in which they moved to was Camden Town, Warren Street (where they had a Cypriot Brotherhood) and Kentish Town.
• It was strange and difficult for them to adjust to the life as they had to rent out rooms and share bedrooms, kitchens, bathroom. No matter how poor they were back in Cyprus they still had their own facilities. 
• As for work; women sewed with machines and when they had children they stayed at home sewing and had the children on their shoulders. Couples usually opened up Fish & Chip shops as well as rag trading (clothes trading)
• Opened shops in Green Lanes, Haringey i.e. bakeries, patisserie, green groceries and grocery shops 
• Slowly slowly they moved to Woodgreen and Palmers Green, then Southgate and Cockfosters (mainly North London) 
• A minister once said 'give us back Camden Town and we will give you back Cyprus' 

WEDDING

* mother buys the wedding dress for her daughter
*mother buys suit for her son

- you always had to respect and love your mother-in-law because the man would love you more.
- mother-in-law gives gold to bride

The bride has to prove that she is valuable to the groom and this is done through the Prika )bedding, cutlery, quilts, everything that is needed for a house), you even had to a piece of land. You promised this to the man and this was usually written down as a contract (a guarantee); when the man came to the brides house and not everything that was promised was there he would walk away.

Most of the time it was arranged marriage.

If the family had any wealth it would go to the daughter first for her prika


-men were educated

The wedding ceremony usually went on for 3 days (today its one, but in villages they still stick to the traditional way of weddings)

1. the mattress was put on a floor or table and in each corner all the single ladies would sew a red cross and then a big one in the middle
2. put money on the bed and danced around it 
3. then put a boy or girl (depending what gender child they wanted first) on the bed and rolled him around 
4. dance with mattress around in circle and put it back on the bed

Also, they used to have a red scarf where they danced around the bride with, after that they turned it into a belt in hopes she will get pregnant. Same thing was done to the groom.  (They still do this in todays society) 

During the wedding ceremony people used to give money as gifts and pinned it on the bride and groom as they danced (they still do this today)

For the groom, he would be shaved whilst listening to traditional Cypriot music with his friends. 

The groom is not allowed to the bride or the dress for 24 hours, also not too many people were allowed to the brides dress as it was bad luck. 

• girls were expected to look after kids, know how to sew, cook and be virgins; unlike today were they are expected to work and earn wages.
• today both man and woman have equal responsibilities 

Something I found very funny:

In traditional times they had to prove that the woman was a virgin by showing the bloody sheets to the village but because the majority of girls were not virgins (they used to be with their man for 7 years before they got married usually), they used to cut a chickens neck across the sheets. 

An example of some of the words which were created when Cypriots came to England: (it's known as Greenglish)

• basso = bus
• fountana = kitchen tap 
• tsaiyera = kettle 
• thalamo = freezer 
• tsaer = chair 
• posta = post office
• motora or tambourokolou = scouter 
• botsa = bottle 
• paras = money 
• kitchoui = kitchen 
• carpeto = carpet 

These words are not English or Cypriot but a mixture. This is because when the Cypriots came to England they did not know how to speak english, and whilst they were learning were unable to pronounce some words that they came up with their own dialect of what they though to be english words.