Celebrating a big fat Jewish-Greek wedding

My cousin’s eldest son fell in love with a childhood sweetheart whose family is half-Greek. It was a match made in the Mediterranean. But that wasn’t enough. The wedding had to be in the Mediterranean as well. To be specific, on Kastellorizo, an island so small there is only one taxi and so close to the Turkish coast you can just about swim there.

The bride’s father is a proud “Kazzi”, the son of one of thousands who migrated to Australia after World War 1. These days, many have returned to their roots and you are as likely to hear an Australian accent on Kazzi as you are a Greek one. I can’t blame them for coming back. Kazzi is a hidden jewel of the Greek islands, boasting a horseshoe port, turquoise water, large lazy turtles, and charming restaurants lined around the edge.

The wedding would be held on Greek territory but the bride and groom wanted the ceremony to reflect both backgrounds, a symbolic bonding. And so late last year, some 90 guests travelled from around the world – Australia, the US, England, Japan, Hungary and Mauritius – for a week-long party to celebrate the occasion.