Alaskan's Journal

[Baymule]

Sorry about the goose what a shame.

So glad the wedding was good. Lots of cooking, partying and celebrating. How wonderful!

 

[SageHill]

Sorry about the goose dang it.
Enjoy the company and wedding parties - it’s a special time.

 

[Alaskan]

Ok... some wedding photos:

The church

Bride and groom coming to the church

Standing on the church deck to do the betrothal part of the service where the rings are exchanged.

Inside the church after they have been crowned!

After the service, to show the entrance icon, St Olaf (it was his feast day), and the flowers.

And... a photo of the wedding table with flowers, hand tie, crowns, candles, and wedding rug.

 

[Baymule]

How beautiful. How old are these traditions? I love that those two young people wanted to honor the traditions.

 

[Mini Horses]

Agree, very lovely display and wedding couple! Nice job, congratulations! Clearly traditional service. Thank you for sharing. Now you take take a deep breath & relax.

 

[SageHill]

Wow n

 

[Alaskan]

How beautiful. How old are these traditions? I love that those two young people wanted to honor the traditions.

From what I understand...

The ceremony being in 2 parts is from Jewish/old testament times.

The first part, the betrothal, including the exchange of rings is from ancient times. In the service, the prayer at the rings includes this " By a ring power was given to Joseph in Egypt; by a ring was Daniel glorified in the land of Babylon; by a ring was the uprightness of Tamar revealed; by a ring our heavenly Father showed His bounty upon His son; for He said: Bring the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and make merry."

The Jews in ancient times did have a second part of the service, that was the actual wedding, but I do not think they had crowns, hand ties, wedding cup, or wedding rug. I am not sure on that though. All the various kinds of Orthodox Christian have the crowning, candles, and a wedding cup. And those parts have been around since super early (before 300). The hand tie and wedding rug is only done by some Orthodox jurisdictions, not all, so might be a bit later (but still early, before middle ages at a guess).

And... a number of Orthodox now wear modern dress and start the ceremony with the standard American entrance.

But... the kids wanted to do it all traditional. And the bodice that the Bride is wearing is from 1760 or something. Crazy cool.

Traditionally, the parents of the bride provide a matching set of icons to the bride and groom. One of Christ and one of His mother. The icons are brought to the ceremony, and then to the reception, and then used in the house of the new couple to start their icon corner.
And the rug (in those traditions that do the rug), is made by the parents of the groom, and is to be their prayer rug.

 

[Mini Horses]

Love the explanations-- I wasn't aware of most of that. Interesting.

 

[Baymule]

The Orthodox Church is the second largest in the world, Catholic is largest.
Our preacher and family went to Greece where the Orthodox Church is practically the only church. He got into a conversation with an Orthodox priest and they exchanged religious views. I go to Church of Christ. They had a great visit with each other. He came back and talked about the Orthodox Church, explaining it to us. He also hired a private tour guide who took him a church on a more personal level. The tour guide also took him to old Corinth and he stood in the very place where the apostle Paul stood, preaching to the Corinthians.

The traditional wedding your son and daughter in law had is beautiful, touched by many who have come before them, over many generations. I wish them a long and happy marriage.

 

[farmerjan]

Just WOW..... very very beautiful.