Skamneli - Wedding Customs

Wedding Customs

Weddings in former times were governed by tradition. Following engagement, and an exchange of rings, it was customary for a young Skamneliot to follow a more experienced elder abroad for work or study. They paid irregular visits to Skamneli, following the local maxim "do not visit your home often, so that you are filled with constant longing". Friends of the bride would gather nightly to knit the dowry. The final preparations and the feast were the groom's duty. On the Thursday before the wedding, boys and girls carried the dowry to the groom's house. On the eve of the wedding, bread was baked and children were sent to the houses of the groom and the bride to summon them. The bride, upon leaving her family home would break a pitcher, spilling its contents of water and grains of wheat to the ground, so that not all good fortune left her parents' home. The bride would set out on a white horse, wearing a knitted vest over a gilded dress held together by a golden waistband decorated with florins. In more recent times the dress was white on the day of the wedding but the young bride was dressed in a black silken dress on the second day. Arriving at the groom's house with her companions (fylachtades), she would have to overcome gracefully some obstacle, the nature of which was kept secret. Much tutoring was made in advance, so that she might deal with any problem and gain respect and admiration. After the wedding, always on a Sunday, there was a feast with music by Epirotan musicians. The family would lead the dance and the newlyweds would join last. It was the responsibility of the leader of the ceremonies, called Vlamis (the best man), to fulfill the requests of the guests regarding food. Feasts would often take place in the open area of Selio south of the village or in the fountain of Goura above the village. Wedding celebrations would last for three days. In the second day, the married couple would go to a water fountain, often a place of trysts for young lovers. The bride would let her water pitcher fall and break. She would then sing a song:

"If you go to the fountain for water,

I will be hiding there;

I will break your pitcher,

So that you return to your mother empty handed."

"My mother, I lost my footing

and I broke my pitcher."

"It was not a loss of footing,

It was a man's embracing."

Before leaving the fountain, the bride would throw a few coins in it. The dancing and merry-making would continue until the third day and would end with words from the bride's parents to the effect "we brought you a bride, we brightened your house". These wedding customs are no longer practiced as only a few inhabitants remain year-round in Skamneli.