Armenian Wedding Bridal Fashion Dresses 17

Armenian Wedding Bridal Fashion Dresses. 

By Aamir Mannan.

Church Weddings

The overwhelming majority of Armenians (85 to 90%) are Apostolic, also referred to as Armenian Orthodox, or Eastern Orthodox. The remainder are Catholic (less than 10%), and a very slim majority are Protestant (less than 5%). We will focus on some of the traditions of the Armenian Orthodox Church.

At least one of the couple to be married is required to be Christian Orthodox (this includes Serb, Russian, Greek, and American Orthodox, as some Orthodox people choose a close-by church no matter their ethnicity). The other person need not convert, but must be Christian.

The couple is required in most churches to attend pre-wedding counseling administered by the church.

Most clergy will only marry you physically inside the church, according to Orthodox tradition. This means no garden weddings, home weddings, etc.

The bride is encouraged to wear a conservative wedding dress. Excessive showing of cleavage, tight wedding gowns, or wedding dresses with hems above the knee are discouraged. This harks back to the tradition of Armenian women being married in gowns that covered their bodies from the top of their necks to their feet, and down to their wrists.

There is usually no "You may kiss the bride" moment in Armenian Orthodox weddings. While some clergy are willing to bend to customized vows (which is usually at an added cost), the culmination of the wedding is when the bride and groom are anointed king and queen of their households.