The wedding planner usually informs the guests if it will be a special format for receiving the gift. Armenians belong to the Armenian Orthodox Church and the wedding ceremony at the church is very important. All the rituals that newlyweds will go through during the church ceremony are provided by their religion. The wedding ceremony at the church typically lasts for approximately one hour or less.
It consists of :. The traditional characteristic of an Armenian wedding ceremony is the ritual of tying the narot , red-green, intertwined cord. In the past, the priest put it on the hands or necks of the couple. This cord symbolized the unity of the couple. Some days after the wedding , the priest visited the newlyweds at their home, read prayers, and removed the narot from the hands of the couple.
Only after that ritual, the couple could share the marriage bed. Group shots with all the family and friends are not exactly a tradition but rather a very important part of an Armenian wedding. The couples with whom I worked usually rented a party bus or a car big enough to accommodate lots of friends and family members.
Somewhere on the way from the church to reception we were out to take group shots. For example, one of my couples rented a vintage car for their photoshoot.
This very special moment for them both was perfectly reflected in their pictures. The mother of the groom usually performs this rite with blessings plus invites the couple to eat honey. Eating a spoon of honey and keeping a lavash on the shoulders symbolizes happiness and good luck for newlyweds. Also, she gives the couple a clean plate: they have to break it before to enter the party place. Armenians believe that a broken plate at the wedding party brings the couple happiness.
While the couple is entering the banquet hall, the guests shower them with sweets, nuts, and coins for a warm welcome. Armenian weddings usually have a high guest count.
A standard Armenian wedding counts from to guests, with lots of aunts, uncles, and cousins. From my experience, Armenian weddings are very lavish, long, and impressively loud :. The budget of a wedding celebration is usually more than the average one. Everybody knows everybody. At about guests who perfectly know each other can dance in a circle, it looks very impressive and showy. The banquet of an Armenian wedding is very lavish.
The parties usually organize a minimum of 6-course-dinner of the highest quality and very tasty. Armenians pay particular attention to food. In the past, tables rich in food were a matter of honor for the parents of the couple. Dancing and toasting are a large part of Armenian culture. Guests usually dance from the beginning to the very end of the reception. The couple wasn't taking any risks and requested their guests disclose their vaccination status, undergo rapid tests, and stay home if they were unwell.
Their vision to infuse their wedding day with culture only grew over time. Apart from that, we knew it was very important to our parents that we incorporate traditional elements somehow. Armenian weddings are typically held within a church setting, which resulted in the couple holding an additional ceremony to honor the tradition.
Their decision accounted for their loved ones. Plus, it was a fun way to kick off our wedding weekend," she recalls. Armenian weddings often involve family every step of the way, and the couple lovingly integrated theirs in various ways. Both of our parents were so happy with the way everything turned out. The family also participated in the wedding, including the groom's cousins who stepped in as musicians and their three flower girls.
She looked up after and said in Armenian, 'There, I did it. I had a puddle of petals in one spot of the aisle. We still look at videos of that moment and laugh. Armenian weddings are often marked by a grand "first look" between the bride and groom. The moment will take place at the home of the parents of the bride.
She'll get ready there, and the groom and his loved ones will head over to the home with baskets, filled to the brim, with gifts for the bride. During the lively celebration, the father of the bride will then escort her out to greet the groom.
There's revelry, traditional folk music and the first look sets the tone for the day. Then, the couple and their party head to the church. We wanted to utilize the space as much as possible. So, instead of doing it the traditional way, we decided to do our first look there with the live musicians playing and our friends and family around.
It was without the gift-wrapped baskets and all of the other extra stuff. We wanted to keep it simple and more 'us' and it worked out perfectly. Our parents ended up loving the way we did it even more. Abundance and culture are both commonly showcased during an Armenian wedding reception. The couple, naturally, hired an Armenian wedding caterer to showcase their native cuisine through 16 different appetizers, four main dishes, all served family-style.
For example, the traditional Mezze platter typically includes dips like hummus, baba ganoush, along with fresh veggies and lavash.
We used these dishes and also incorporated a charcuterie plate with an assortment of different salads, along with a few other non-traditional dishes. Our guests loved it… It was a 'must' for both of our families that the catering was Armenian. The couple tasked Rafi Dekraminjian of Rafis Cakes in Glendale, California, with creating their show-stopping wedding cake.
The pastry chef is well-known for his elevated designs and twists on traditional Armenian confections and bread. An unspoken Armenian wedding tradition is putting guests at the forefront of the experience. Every single guest who attended went above and beyond for us. We wanted them to know that we didn't take that for granted.
There was no fancy exit for the spouse. It is tradition for the couple to stay at the wedding until their final guest departs the reception.
Hummingbird Nest Ranch also provided a suite to use after the celebration was over, so we spent the night at our venue.
The couple chose the Santa Susana venue after their wedding was postponed from In the end, everything will always fall into place and work out exactly the way it was meant to be. I remember when our wedding got canceled the first time, I was devastated. Now, I can't picture our wedding day any other way. Of course, every couple is encouraged to take traditions and make them their own.
I remember waking up that morning and just feeling so calm. The rest of the day just reflected that," concludes Agabaian. It was with all of our friends and family standing around with Jivan being at the end facing me. The colour palette of red and green is a symbol of life and sacrifice to your groom, making it the perfect palette for the bride-to-be.
While the bride is getting ready, her brother will sneakily place money inside her shoes as a sign of good luck. Another Armenian pre-wedding tradition is that the bride should write the names of her bridesmaids on the sole of her shoes and cross the names off as each bridesmaid gets married. As the bride and groom walk back up the aisle after the ceremony, guests throw coins at the couple as a symbol of wealth and success. Photography by Image Haus. Posted in Culture by wedded wonderland.
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