Church wedding in Ukraine

[eekee 182]

How could a priest make it shorter? It ain't Protestantism.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

How could a priest make it shorter? It ain't Protestantism.

But now we know how it got started!

[LvivLovers 39]

That is the part Alla and I did. Holding the crowns! I thought it was pretty cool at first, but then was wishing he would talk faster! It is quite an elaborate ceremony and fascinating. I am not religious at all but I enjoyed it. I am not sure if my religious affiliation (protestant) ever had anything to do with it, I suspect it was not discussed. The Priest as I recall was very adamant that the civil ceremony be done first, I am not sure if all churches require that or not.

I think a Priest will accept as US wedding as sufficient, but it will be up to them I think

Yeah. In our case, the priest was very worried when my fiancee told him she was going to get married to an American. We both had to take all these classes with a bunch of other couples that were getting married and additionally, I had to convert to Catholicism and take additional classes for that too. It was rough because I had a super long flight over to Ukraine and when I arrived my wife told me we had to go to the classes in like 15 minutes. I was doing my best to stay awake because I knew the Priest was checking me out! lol But yeah the actual ceremony was really long. We circled the altar a bunch of times....held candles (that you were not supposed to look at), etc. The problem in our case was we had been running late all day and my thus my wife didn't have a chance to eat anything. So she was literally about to pass out and kept telling the priest that and to please hurry up! lmao Anyway, he still didn't speed it up enough and she just suddenly disappeared off to one of the side alcoves and one of her friends ran after her. So I ended up standing there alone for several minutes waiting....can you say awkward?!? lol I would have been freaking out except we'd already said the "I do"s and what not. I would have been more nervous during the day except that it overall it was really interesting and I was always waiting to see what was next because we hadn't really talked about what all we had to do. Someone basically cued me in to what I needed to do at the appropriate times. In hindsight that was probably a good thing. But yeah...what an amazing day.

[james&olya 1,121]

We had a couple videographers and photographers...maybe sometime when I get a chance I'll post them for those interested.

Please do!

[eekee 182]

Wow, you had to convert to Catholicism? Will they not marry a Protestant in the Church?

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Wow, you had to convert to Catholicism? Will they not marry a Protestant in the Church?

Eekee, I think they would have had an issue with me holding the crowns as protestant. I recall some rather flustered reaction when Alla made the statement before the wedding that "it's OK, Gary is Catholic" Lutheran. "Vooooooowhat? You told me you were Catholic" Lutheran. "NO WAY! You said you were Catholic" Lutheran. Always Lutheran, never Catholic. I was in a Catholic Church once for a wedding. There was then lots of worrisome discussion and a notice served to me that no matter what...I was CATHOLIC. No one checked my Catholic registration or anything.

[eekee 182]

Eekee, I think they would have had an issue with me holding the crowns as protestant. I recall some rather flustered reaction when Alla made the statement before the wedding that "it's OK, Gary is Catholic" Lutheran. "Vooooooowhat? You told me you were Catholic" Lutheran. "NO WAY! You said you were Catholic" Lutheran. Always Lutheran, never Catholic. I was in a Catholic Church once for a wedding. There was then lots of worrisome discussion and a notice served to me that no matter what...I was CATHOLIC. No one checked my Catholic registration or anything.

Ahh, I see. I don't have much experience with Protestants so it never came up.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Ahh, I see. I don't have much experience with Protestants so it never came up.

We are very much like humans but with tails and horns. You'd think Alla would have noticed.

Actually I am not the least bit religious. I thoroughly enjoy visiting Orthodox Cathedrals and Basilicas as I AM a construction guy and engineer and I am fascinated by beautiful buildings and love the artwork.

My mother (VERY Lutheran) loves all the Orthodox cathedrals also and Alla has presented her some very wonderful photos she took and framed. I really wish my mother were up to visiting Ukraine, healthwise, I am sure she would love it.

Edited March 20, 2012 by Gary and Alla

[eekee 182]

We are very much like humans but with tails and horns. You'd think Alla would have noticed.

Actually I am not the least bit religious. I thoroughly enjoy visiting Orthodox Cathedrals and Basilicas as I AM a construction guy and engineer and I am fascinated by beautiful buildings and love the artwork.

My mother (VERY Lutheran) loves all the Orthodox cathedrals also and Alla has presented her some very wonderful photos she took and framed. I really wish my mother were up to visiting Ukraine, healthwise, I am sure she would love it.

They are very pretty, but I actually prefer the Orthodox churches you find waaay out in the countryside that are very simple to the super ornate major ones. I find all the fanciness in the big ones to be very hollow, if that makes sense.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

They are very pretty, but I actually prefer the Orthodox churches you find waaay out in the countryside that are very simple to the super ornate major ones. I find all the fanciness in the big ones to be very hollow, if that makes sense.

Alla was a bit disappointed at churches here. There was even a church for sale in our former town, which really flipped her out! "How can you sell a church?" She finally decided that the capitalist society probably WAS as evil as Brezhnev said.

It freaked her out even more when the Catholic Diocese in Burlington had to sell out all their property, convent, offices, day camp on the lake, everything, to pay off the settlement for the Priest sexual abuse lawsuit and now Burlington College owns all of it and uses it as their campus.

[LvivLovers 39]

I have always been kind of non-denominational to be honest because I just don't think you can know which flavor is the correct one (if there even is a correct one). I stick to the basics and let others worry about the details. Back in Ukraine, my wife went pretty interchangeably between Orthodox and Catholic churches and didn't even know what the differences were. When she came over here we started off going to a Catholic church near where we lived but it wasn't at all like what she was used to...for example...you had pews to sit in and the services are only like an hour long. We found a nice little Orthodox church that was much more like what she was used to back home (standing for 3 hours or so at a time, for one). Only problem was, we were talking to the main priest about our situation and how we were married in a Catholic church and he told us that they don't even consider Catholics to be Christians! I had no idea they take the minor differences so strongly but I think it's silly...the services are basically the exact same other than Catholics have statues and Orthodox only have 2D icons. Anyway, I'm sort of Bapticathodox at this point.

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

Wow, you had to convert to Catholicism? Will they not marry a Protestant in the Church?

In Belarus they only recognize Catholics and Orthodox. Say a Catholic is marrying an Orthodox in Belarus...they can marry in either a Catholic or Orthodox church, but protestant is out of the question over there. Not sure about the church wedding side of it, but if you get married at the ZAGS office the Best Man and Maid of Honor both have to be single...and those are also the two witnesses that sign for you after the two just married people sign the paperwork...which is immediately after the ceremony.

We had our wedding at the ZAGS office seeing how I'm Lutheran...well baptized anyways, getting married in a church over there was out of the question unless I was to convert. Classes, etc... and screw all that #######. ZAGS office is nice enough and there's always the reception afterwards. Ours lasted four days...two in Zhodino ...close family and friends the first night, just about everyone the next day, and then we moved it all over to Brest Oblast near the Polish border for all her relatives over there.

The ZAGS where we had our wedding service was pretty decent. A large room with mirrors on one wall, a pulpit stand for the gal that does the service, then you also had a dressing room.

That rug you see in the foreground in front of us...well the bride and groom walk up to that rug from the "pulpit" and the first one to step on the rug calls the shots in the marriage (or so says their tradition)... superstitious people. Supposedly we both stepped on it at the same time but it doesn't feel that way. Also you keep the rug as a wedding memento.

After the ceremony the groom, bride, best man and maid of honor sign some kind of paper to make it official.

Then the bride and groom have have a "first dance" I guess you call it. It's some slow classical song they play and it seems to last forever.

Then before, after and during the wedding the photographer takes like a gazillion pics. Our wedding was in November so it was cold out which sucked. Seems like the photo shoot took forever. Anyways that's one of the pics taken right outside of the ZAGS office after the ceremony #######.

Then we had the reception at a her parents friends house and they have you tear off a piece of that bread, dip it in the salt and chase it down with a shot of booze...wine or vodka...I can't remember which one. Then you throw the glass over your shoulder so it breaks. Both bride and groom do this.

Then after that the hold that white piece of cloth up and the bride and groom walk underneath it and into the house. That's when the serious partying begins...although we killed a litre of vokda in the parking lot outside of the ZAGS office waiting for the wife to be to show up. Late as usual...

Then the bride and groom have to do another "first dance" at the reception. I knew those guys in the band from the first time I was there. We met them at a night club in Minsk, partied down with them and kept in touch. They left a gig in Moscow to play our wedding which was totally cool of them. The lead guitarist was in the World Games, European Championships and Olympics representing Belarus in Judo.

Everyone gets loaded and dances...same thing at our weddings here. I think it's global.

Edited March 22, 2012 by Why_Me

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

Then you have a sh*t load of food and booze in the dinner room. We had a few gals that came in and kept reloading the tables with booze and food.

Of course the cutting of the cake. That's an American tradition that I introduced at our wedding. I figured #######, I have to all their stuff, they can do some of our stuff.

They toast everything during that dinner. I mean everyone at the table has their shot to stand up and toast the bride and groom and that means a shot of booze for every toast...which adds up. Then they all line up to give gifts...usually money, and they wish you well, etc...

Then it starts all over at the same place the next day...like around noon, but this time with twice as many people. The ones that weren't invited to the first night. Food, booze, dancing, etc... and goes on for what seemed forever. It's insane.

[eekee 182]

Thanks for sharing your pics!

I think the differences are a LOT bigger than just 2D versus statues. Theological differences, philosophical differences, and the whole Pope thing.

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

Thanks for sharing your pics!

I think the differences are a LOT bigger than just 2D versus statues. Theological differences, philosophical differences, and the whole Pope thing.

There's a lot of similarities and differences between those two faiths even though they started out as one and the same church. The main difference being the Holy Trinity and how they view it. The Orthodox have their own version of the Pope in Constantinople aka Istanbul. If you ever get a chance to attend a Russian Old Faith church service it's like going back in time. It's the closest to the original Orthodox there is. They didn't change much since the time the Eastern Slavs were first converted to Christianity. Then you have the Greek Catholic Church in Western Ukraine, Romania, Moldovia, etc... and it's a cross between Western Catholic and Greek Orthodox.

But again a Catholic marrying a Orthodox have no problems being married in either church ...at least in Belarus. But it's only those two faiths that are allowed that.