Marriage Request Form

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)

 

OTHER OPTIONAL READINGS

The Joy of a Good Wife
  Sirach 26 
  1    Happy is the husband of a good wife; the number of his days will be doubled.
2    A loyal wife brings joy to her husband, and he will complete his years in peace.
3    A good wife is a great blessing; she will be granted among the blessings of the man who fears the Lord.
4    Whether rich or poor, his heart is content, and at all times his face is cheerful.

13    A wife’s charm delights her husband, and her skill puts flesh on his bones.
14    A silent wife is a gift from the Lord, and nothing is so precious as her self-discipline.
15    A modest wife adds charm to charm, and no scales can weigh the value of her chastity.
16    Like the sun rising in the heights of the Lord, so is the beauty of a good wife in her well-ordered home.

 

Tobit 8

4When the parents had gone out and shut the door of the room, Tobias got out of bed and said to Sarah, “Sister, get up, and let us pray and implore our Lord that he grant us mercy and safety.”
5So she got up, and they began to pray and implore that they might be kept safe. Tobias£ began by saying, “Blessed are you, O God of our ancestors, and blessed is your name in all generations forever. Let the heavens and the whole creation bless you forever.
6 You made Adam, and for him you made his wife Eve as a helper and support. From the two of them the human race has sprung. You said, ‘It is not good that the man should be alone; let us make a helper for him like himself.’ 7 I now am taking this kinswoman of mine, not because of lust, but with sincerity. Grant that she and I may find mercy and that we may grow old together.”
8And they both said, “Amen, Amen.” 9Then they went to sleep for the night.

Wedding Music Choices

General

  1. WEDDING SONG (There is Love).
  2. THE LORD’S PRAYER, By Albert H. Malotte

Seating of the Mothers

  1. Ave Maria, By Schubert

Procession of the Bridesmaids

  1. Canon in D, By Johann Pachelbel

Bridal Procession

  1. Bridal March from “Lohengrin” (here comes the bride)
  2. Trumpet Voluntary, By Henry Purcell.
  3. Hornpipe, by G.F.Hendel
The text of the ceremony