Wedding Center
Wedding Guidelines
Secure a date for the wedding by calling the church office (215-482- 9200) as soon as possible. In the event that another wedding has been scheduled for the same day, it may be possible to adjust the time of each wedding to accommodate both parties. However, to avoid conflicts, it is best to have an alternate date in mind.
IT IS NOT ALLOWED TO HOLD A WEDDING CEREMONY OUTSIDE OF THE CHURCH
A questionnaire will be forwarded to the prospective bride and groom. Complete and return it to the church office promptly. Leave blank any questions that you are unsure about.
Approximately five to six weeks prior to the date of the wedding, contact the Church office for an appointment with the Parish Priest for pre-marital counseling. Any questions left blank on the questionnaire will then be addressed. Download a copy of the Questionnaire.
If one of the marrying couple is coming from protestant denominations, needs to be confirmed by the church he or she will marry in.
The best man needs to be a member of the Armenian Church. In case of non-Armenian, if he is coming from protestant denominations, needs to be confirmed.
A Muslim or a Jew cannot stand as best man in the Church.
The marrying couple should arrange to receive their marriage license from the County Court of their residence. This license should be given to the officiating clergyman a week before the wedding. Without this license the priest cannot administer the sacraments.
All fees should be paid at least a week before the wedding ceremony. Church Fees
Photographs and videos may be taken at any time during the ceremony. The photographer should avoid blinding the eyes of the priest, organist, and deacon or any member of the wedding party. The photographer may not at any time, ascend the steps of the altar or be on the altar.
At the end of the Wedding Ceremony the Bridge and Groom CANNOT kiss each other in front of the Altar. It is absolutely forbidden.
After the ceremony, there will be NO spontaneous clapping or cheering in church.
Rice throwing is prohibited in the church narthex or on the steps of the church after the ceremony. Birdseed may be used outside of the church.
Photographs of the bridal party in front of the bema (lower altar) should be limited to no more than 30 minutes after the ceremony.
The Order of the Ceremony
- The Processional
- The Lords Prayer
- Hymn AysorYergnayinkn (today the Angels Rejoice)
- Exhortation
- Blessing of the rings
- Joining of the Right Hands
- Hymn: Naya ee mez (Look at us and have mercy on Christ)
- Hymn: Ourakh Ler Soorp Yegeghetsi (Rejoice, O Holy Church)
- The Trisagion Hymn, Elevation of the Gospel
- The Litany of the faithful
- Reading: Genesis 2: 18-24
- Reading from I Corinthians Chapter 13
- Gospel reading (Matthew 19:3-9)
- The crowning of the bride and groom
- The prayer of the crowning
- The blessing of the cup of wine
- Hymn: Takavor Yergnavor (Heavenly King)
- Homily
- The prayer of dismissal
- The Lords prayer
- The recessional
The explanation of the Wedding Service
The Sacrament
Holy Matrimony is a Sacrament of the Armenian Church, in which a man and a woman solemnly vow before Christ, the priest and the congregation to be true to each other for life. Their union is blessed by Christ through the Church. The marriage ceremony of the Armenian Church is replete with symbolism.
The Exchange of Vows
The bride and groom solemnly pronounce their “Yes” and pledge to be loyal to each other through out their life.
The Blessing of the Rings
Rings, after being blessed by the priest, are exchanged between the bride and the groom, giving expression of the fact that the spouses in marriage will be constantly complementing each other. Each will be enriched by the union.
The Rite of Crowning
The rite of crowning is the climax of the wedding service. The crowns are the sign of the glory and honor with which God crowns the bride and the groom during the Sacrament. They are crowned as the king and queen of their own little kingdom, the home, which they will rule with wisdom, justice, and integrity. The crown is a symbol of sacrifice as well. By wearing the crowns, the couple pledge to be ready to sacrifice in life for the benefit of their unity.
The Blessing of the Common Cup
Wine, in the Bible is symbol of happiness. The church, by presenting the blessed wine to the couple wishes that their life be full of happiness. The drinking of wine from the common cup serves to impress upon the couple that from that moment on they will share everything in life, joys as well as sorrows. The the source of their life will be one and the same.
For the Armenian version Click here
Scriptural Readings for Wedding Ceremonies
A. The Reading is from the book of Genesis 2:18-24.
18 Then the LORD God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.” 19 So out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. 20 The man gave names to all cattle, and to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for the man there was not found a helper fit for him. 21 So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh; 22 and the rib which the LORD God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. 23 Then the man said, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.” 24 Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and cleaves to his wife, and they become one flesh. (Genesis 2:18-24)
B. The reading is from the First Epistle of St. Paul to Corinthians, Chapter 13
1 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give away all I have, and if I deliver my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. 4 Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful; 5 it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6 it does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.8 Love never ends; as for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For our knowledge is imperfect and our prophecy is imperfect; 10 but when the perfect comes, the imperfect will pass away. 11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became a man, I gave up childish ways. 12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall understand fully, even as I have been fully understood. 13 So faith, hope, love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love. (I Corinthians, Chapter 13)
Wedding Music Choices
General
- WEDDING SONG (There is Love).
- THE LORD’S PRAYER, By Albert H. Malotte
Seating of the Mothers
- Ave Maria, By Schubert
Procession of the Bridesmaids
- Canon in D, By Johann Pachelbel
Bridal Procession
- Bridal March from “Lohengrin” (here comes the bride)
- Trumpet Voluntary, By Henry Purcell.
- Hornpipe, by G.F.Hendel