It’s delightfully obvious that the tourism industry here is once again booming, after so many dead months. Less visible is a sector of this industry that is absolutely heaving this summer: weddings. For years, British couples have flocked to Cyprus to get married: it is apparently cheaper than holding the celebration in the UK, and of course makes for a beautiful day, fabulous photos, a built-in honeymoon and a holiday for all the guests as well. Couples tend to bring between ten and sixty family and friends (although that’s reduced a little since covid), often all staying in the same hotel and frequently with the wedding ceremony and reception on site too.
As in the UK, couples are no longer restricted to churches and registry offices/town halls, and can hold their ceremony pretty much anywhere. The easiest option is to hold the ceremony in the reception location, but many choose to marry on a beach (the shipwreck being a popular choice, offering dramatic photos) or a yacht and then relocate. The ceremony for a British civil wedding here, as opposed to the epic Cypriot Orthodox one, is extremely short and can be over within 15 minutes, so there is a growing number of ‘celebrants’ who will tailor-make individual ‘ceremonies’ with personal wording – the official ceremony by a certified registrar is still required, but the celebrant can add weight and romance.
Large parties of people moving from hotel to ceremony to reception and back have created a need for special transport; we’ve all seen the double-decker wedding buses bursting with revellers driving round town. These are often used to fill the time gap between ceremony and reception – most ceremonies happen around 3pm, leaving couples with the task of entertaining one to three dozen people until dinner.
Which of course has created business for so many more: musicians, singers and magicians are called into play, as well as bus or boat trips around the harbour with champagne. Saxophonists and acoustic guitarists have plenty of work playing at cocktail receptions, whilst the island’s small handful of harpists is never enough to go around. As a music agent I’m asked for all kinds of acts from Arabic drummers to a steel band – the latter I’ve sadly never been able to supply here. The latest craze is for singing waiters or flashmob choirs.
Other forms of entertainment include giant games – think Jenga and Connect 4 – photo booths, and plenty involving food: ice cream carts, wooden walls of pegs with doughnuts or packets of crisps hanging, or mini ferris wheels full of sweets. This of course on top of a lavish meal – I’ve never seen a wedding without plenty of leftover food – and, of course, The Cake.
The decoration sector is also expanding, with dozens of companies specialising in wedding lighting and/or décor – it’s not just flowers anymore – and it’s rare to attend a wedding these days that doesn’t have huge illuminated letters spelling LOVE, MR & MRS, or the couple’s initials.
All manner of ‘extras’ can be hired to make the First Dance go with a bang – quite literally with fireworks and confetti bombs.
After the first dance everyone tends to relax into the party and holiday spirit, partying along to DJs, singers, duos and bands, often not into the wee small hours, as most hotels rule that music must stop at 11 or 11.30pm for the sake of their other guests. Some hotels offer an indoor option where they can party later, but it seems a shame after flying to the Mediterranean to hide away underground. Thus a few dedicated wedding venues have opened, offering the full service and in some cases accommodation too. Private villas are also a popular option.
I recall as a child, if ever passing a church where a wedding was taking place, I would look out in great excitement for the bride. UK receptions were always indoors or tucked away in a private garden not seen by the public, but now a tourist in Paphos will likely witness a wedding at their hotel every day – even weekends, since covid has meant fitting three seasons’ worth of weddings into one in 2022. Photographers, florists, caterers and planners are run off their feet this year, as is every sector of the wedding industry, but after the long dearth of work and reams of cancellations.
