“Solitary” marriage ceremonies

A woman reports that she was alone at her wedding, without the presence of her mother and that she was the first to host a wedding reception in Ottawa.

L.P-C: I got married. He requested me from my dad. Eh… I got married… without my mum, without my other sisters. It was a bit difficult. I got married here.
Res.: Yes aah. And they didn’t come. Were they still in Greece?
L.P-C: No. My parents… my mum along with my sisters came after four years.
Res.: I understand.
L.P-C: We stayed here for four years and we were sending them money to Greece. And they finished school. My sister…
Res.: And they weren’t at the wedding either.
L.P-C: What did you say?
Res.: They weren’t present at the wedding.
L.P-C: No. I got married… only with my dad and my sister, let’s say. But neither did my husband. He only had a brother here. And we got married. And… Back then, in fact, we hosted a wedding reception and… I didn’t know. My husband had invited… whoever he knew. And we are the… first of the Greeks who had a wedding along with a party. Because… nobody did that. They used to get married at the church, they also lacked the money. I don’t know. They used to get married two couples at a time to split the expenses. Many couples have gotten married on the same day… to reduce the expenses.