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A Greek (as in sorority and fraternity!) Wedding

Written by Caurie Anne Putnam Brockport, New York

Fraternities and sororities, for those of us who are members of such organizations and have had wonderful experiences as such, remembering your Greek affiliation may be important to you on your wedding day.

There are millions of Greeks in the United States, some in college as active members of their organization but most as alumni members of their fraternity or sorority. Whether you are active or alum, there are many ways to recognize your Greek affiliation at your wedding.

Some ideas are:

1. Wear your sorority pin on or under your wedding dress for good luck.

2. If your fiancee is in a fraternity he can wear his pin on his lapel or give it to you (if he hasn't already) to wear with yours.

3. In your bouquet, carry the flowers of your sorority and, if your fiancee is in a fraternity, his too--yes, most fraternities have official flowers too, although your fiancee may not know his as quickly as you know yours! My sorority flower (Gamma Phi Beta) is the pink carnation. If you've forgotten yours or need to find out your fiancee's just check the organization's national website.

4. If your bridesmaids are sorority sisters you can give them one of your sorority's special flowers to add to their bouquet or have them carry a whole bouquet of your sorority flower.

5. At your wedding reception be sure to get a photo of you with any sorority sisters in and at the wedding. Send the photo to your national magazine with your wedding announcement--most likely it will be printed.

6. Incorporate the colors of your sorority into your decorations, or possibly even your bridesmaid's dresses. For some sororities this may be more realistic then others! For example, my sorority's colors are brown and mode (light brown) while my sister's sorority colors are bronze, pink, and blue. Enough said :)

7. Incorporate something unique from your sorority and your husband's fraternity into the reception (especially if you will have lots of other members there.) For example, his brothers could serenade you or one of your talented sisters could sing a sorority song about friendship. Some sororities even have songs to be sung specifically at a sister's wedding. If you're not sure, call your national headquarters and ask to speak to the Ritual Chair or Alumni Relations. Another idea, if you are members of African American sororities/fraternities is to have a step show performance by active members of your organization!

These ideas may be especially appealing to couples who met in college and were both Greeks. I have found that such couples identify many of their early dating experiences with their Greek life. I know, for example, married couples who met at a mixer/party between their sorority and fraternity really credit their Greek organizations for bringing them together.

For couples that have been out of school a while and are no longer really into their Greek affiliation these ideas may not seem too appealing. However, even if active Greek life was not a big part of you and your fiancee's relationship, you may want to still recognize it. My husband and I are both Greek. while we did not know each other in college and Greek life had nothing to do with our relationship, there were still little things we could have done at our wedding to recognize how important our Greek affiliations were to us. I, for one, would not be as confidant a woman I am today if I had not been in a sorority. The reason we didn't do anything was because, honestly, it never crossed our minds! If I had seen a list of suggestions like the one above we definitely would have.