You are cordially invited to experience

a true Armenian Wedding

Khachatur Mamyan & Avetis Hagopian

Anthropology 121

Dr. Leanna Wolfe

The day starts early in the morning with the dressing up of the groom. Close relatives of the groom and the best man dress up the groom to prepare him for the big day. After the groom is dress it is a tradition for the groom’s side of the family go to the bride’s house to pick her up.

Over here, we have the bride’s side of the family waiting for the groom to come pick them up. They are welcomed with traditional Armenian music, dancing, and baskets filled with food.

The family and friends of the bride dress her up and it is a tradition for someone to hide the shoe of the bride. And the maid of honor has to bribe the person who hid the shoe to finish dressing the bride.

This is an example of a basket filled with various chocolates and fine Armenian brandy. This is given to the bride’s family as a thank you.

After all of the dressing is complete and the groom sees the bride. Everyone goes outside to dance and celebrate before entering the limo to drive to the church. Usually it is so loud that everyone of the street comes out to see what is going on.

Since Armenians are Christians the ceremony is taken place in God’s House. This wedding took place at St. Peters Church in North Hollywood. In order for the couple to get married, both the bride and the groom have to be baptized.

The picture on the top left shows alter in the church where the priest stands and conducts the ceremony. The picture on the top right shows a bird’s eye view of the whole church and as you can see there are two sides. One side the groom’s family and friends sit and the other side, the bride’s.

These pictures show the ceremony in process. The priest gives the bride and groom advice and wishes them luck for the future. He also blesses the rings before they are put on the bride and groom.

After the priest has completed the ceremony, the bride and the groom start to exit the church. Before they exit they light a candle together as a symbol of unity and love. They all head out to the banquet hall with family and friends to celebrate this wonderful day.