The ceremony
Thursday, July 8, 2027
An Orthodox wedding in Minneapolis. The church and time will be announced with the invitation.
About the ceremony
Joseph & Filiz
are getting married
Save the date
Thursday,
the eighth of July,
two thousand twenty‑seven
- Ceremony
- Minneapolis, Minnesota
- Reception
- Cedarhurst Mansion, Cottage Grove
- Attire
- Cocktail or formal
— days to go
Formal invitation to follow.
The weekend
We'll celebrate in the Twin Cities. The full schedule, including a few gatherings around the wedding, will be shared with your invitation.
The reception
Following the ceremony
Cedarhurst Mansion, a historic estate with gardens in Cottage Grove, southeast of Saint Paul.
About CedarhurstOur story
From the Mississippi to the Potomac, and back again
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Minneapolis, 2022
Where it began
Joseph had only just come home from an Army deployment when we first met in person, at the 1029 Bar, a beloved little dive on Marshall Street in Northeast Minneapolis.
We spent the time that followed falling for each other in Minneapolis, while Filiz finished her doctorate in occupational therapy at the University of Minnesota.
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Washington
A move east
Then Joseph's path led to Washington, to work on the Hill and to finish his graduate degree at Georgetown. Filiz faithfully followed not long after, and the city became home for both of us.
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Capitol Hill
Home, with Teddy
Today we live on Capitol Hill with Teddy, our Bernese mountain dog. He is, by a wide margin, the most important member of the household, and we can't wait for you to meet him.
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Minnesota, July 2027
Back where it all started
Next summer we're going back to where it all began, to bring our people from Washington, Chicago, Minneapolis and across the world together in one place.
Joseph & Filiz
The wedding
Thursday, July 8, 2027
An Orthodox ceremony in Minneapolis, followed by dinner and dancing at Cedarhurst.
The ceremony
- Where
- Minneapolis, Minnesota. Church to be announced.
- When
- Thursday, July 8, 2027. Time to follow with the invitation.
- Attire
- Cocktail or formal
We'll be married in the Orthodox tradition, one of the oldest wedding services in Christianity. If it's your first Orthodox wedding, here is what you'll see.
Crowned with glory and honor
The crowning is the moment that sets an Orthodox wedding apart. As the priest prays, "O Lord our God, crown them with glory and honor," the stefana are placed on our heads, two crowns joined by a single ribbon as a sign of our union.
They make us king and queen of a new household, a small church of our own, and they point beyond it, to the Kingdom of God. Our koumbaros then exchanges the crowns between us three times, in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Read more from the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America-
The betrothal
The priest blesses our rings, and the koumbaros, our sponsor, exchanges them between our hands three times.
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The crowning
The heart of the service, described above: the stefana are placed on our heads and exchanged three times.
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The common cup
After readings that include the wedding at Cana, we share wine from one cup, a sign of the life we'll share from here on.
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The ceremonial walk
Led by the priest, we walk three times around the table, our first steps together as a married couple, while the hymns are sung.
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The blessing
The priest removes the crowns and gives a final blessing. And then we're married.
The reception
- Where
- Cedarhurst Mansion, Cottage Grove, Minnesota
- When
- Following the ceremony
We wanted somewhere that felt timeless rather than trendy: classical lines, real gardens, a house with a story. Cedarhurst has all three, and one more thing we couldn't resist.
A Cass Gilbert house
Cedarhurst began as a farmhouse in the 1880s and became the country home of Cordenio Severance, a Saint Paul attorney. Between 1911 and 1917 the architect Cass Gilbert reworked it into the estate you'll see, with its columns, terraces and gardens.
Gilbert also designed the Minnesota State Capitol, and two decades later his last great commission rose in Washington: the marble temple of the United States Supreme Court, a building that has become a very familiar sight to us.
So a wedding that brings our corner of Washington home to Minnesota ends, fittingly, in a Cass Gilbert house. Bringing Capitol love to the Midwest, in more ways than one.
Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge were all guests at Cedarhurst. You'll be in good company.
Travel
Getting to the Twin Cities
Flying in
Fly into Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport (MSP), the closest airport to both the ceremony in Minneapolis and the reception in Cottage Grove.
Where to stay
We're arranging a hotel room block for guests. Details and booking links will be posted here before invitations go out.
The weekend
A guided walk through the whole weekend, from the airport to the hotel, the ceremony, the reception and the morning after, is coming to this page.
RSVP
RSVPs will open here when formal invitations go out. Your invitation will include everything you need to respond.