Jessica + Jake = Wedding

I have special feelings about this wedding. First of all, Jessica and Jake are our parishioners from St. Irene Byzantine Catholic Church in Portland and I am really glad, that I was able to be a part of their wedding day, document it and get amazing shots. Second, they decided to have their ceremony performed according to traditional catholic  orthodox wedding. This is the same ceremony what we have in Ukraine and what I am my wife had when we were getting married. And there was a reason for that. Jessica’s father has Ukrainian roots and tries to keep Ukrainian traditions and even say a few words in Ukrainian.I have to say that the ceremony itself is very old, long and has many parts. The wedding starts on the back of the church where priest (father) does some reading blesses the rings and put them on bride and groom’s fingers. They don’t exchange the rings, the father puts them on. Then they walk down to the altar for the rest of the ceremony.One of the parts is when father, covers bride and groom’s hands and basically declares them husband and wife.Then they are are getting crowned as king and queen and father walks them three times around the altar.The special part is when father blesses the bride and does some readings for her.After the wedding ceremony is over there is a traditional Divine Liturgy with communion at the end. The whole ceremony took almost two hours.Congratulations to Jessica and Jake!PS. All wedding images are available at http://clients.theoleksandr.com. Access code to the gallery is the groom’s last name. Early Bird discount is active for one month.

The rings:

The dress:

Some dress details:

Gorgeous bride:

The groom:

The happy couple:

Some typical Ukrainian  patterns, red and black:

Beginning of the ceremony. Father puts the rings on:

Then everybody moves to the altar

I like how they look at each other:

Tied together for ever:

The very important part of the ceremony – the crowning:

And walking around the altar:

Ukrainian wedding bread – Caraway:

The first dance:

Father and daughter dancing:

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