Saturday, September 25, 2010

A Christ-honoring Ukrainian Wedding

Last Saturday, a wedding was held at our church that has been anticipated for such a long time! Lena, the bride, grew up in our church, and Igor has been a part of the church since he was 14 years old, I believe.

Igor and Lena dated for more than 4 years, and most of that time, they were counseled not to date. Igor was unsaved and not interested in becoming a Christian. Lena came to a point in her life where she finally decided to follow God's will and not her heart. Eventually, Igor was saved, and the two of them make an outstanding couple today! Lena told me the day of her wedding, "It is so worth it to wait and do things according to God's will. This day could not be any more beautiful, and I know that everything is falling into place because we sought to do things right." Beautifully said.
Lena, the gorgeous bride Brianna (flower girl) and Anna (junior bridesmaid)
Guestbook and "Money mailbox" for the bride and groom
Homemade cakes (no cake mixes here, ladies!) that took Nelya, the maid of honor, hours to complete
The ring bearer, our darling 6-year-old Nate, who carried the actual rings! (We were not so brave... we gave our ringbearer plastic look-alikes)
The flower girl, our princess 3-year old, Brianna who, by the way, relished every single minute of this dress-up occasion
Nelya, the maid of honor
It took Brianna so long to make it down the aisle, as she painstakingly dropped the rose petals one at a time! (no easy task when you're wearing gloves!)
Igor and Lena exchanging wedding rings, after they were safely delivered by our little man (Whew! We were able to relax after this!)
Lena's parents, who are both deaf. Lena is our deaf interpreter, and simply the best around!
Walking out to the car
The grand, rented car
The darling new couple
The kids, still enjoying blowing bubbles long after the bride and groom had whisked away

Ukrainian weddings are an all-day event. The early morning started out with the official paper-signing downtown (and the bride and groom were already dressed for the day). The wedding was held at 12:00. Then, a wedding banquet that lasted 3 hours was scheduled for 4:00. While everyone prepared the church building for the banquet, the bride and groom drove around town to get their pictures at important statues and monuments in town, a Ukrainian custom that welcomes them into society.
At the wedding banquet, the children take turns quoting Christian love poetry to the bride and groom
Cutting the banquet wedding cake

Preparing to throw the bouquet
May God's richest blessings always be abundant in your lives, Igor and Lena, as you seek to serve Him together each day of your lives!

15 comments:

  1. A beautiful wedding and a beautiful bride. The pictures were so nice to see. Thanks for explaining the way things are done there. It is always fun to know things like that. I love how they decorated the car.

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  2. What a beautiful wedding! Your children are adorable! I enjoyed learning about the different wedding customs there.

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  3. What a beautiful bride! She has an amazing testimony to share.

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  4. Beautiful! Nate and Brianna were darling :) I know you were so proud of them :) ~Love to all of you from all of us!

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  5. Very pretty!!! I love Weddings. Were they putting the rings on the right hands?

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  6. Beautiful wedding, beautiful bride, and beautiful children!! May their marriage be filled with God's grace!

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  8. Absolutely Beautiful! The flower girl and ring bearer were adorable too.

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  9. How beautiful! Here in Uganda there are so many customs they follow. One is that the groom must hand a rooster over to the one giving the bride away (usually an uncle or brother) before he takes her hand and leads her to the platform. The rooster is then kept under the bench, with its feet tied, until after the wedding is over. Keith conducted 15 weddings before we finally had a couple kiss. They don't generally show public affection, so we were just as shocked as everyone else.

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  10. What a beautiful wedding!

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  11. I saw your post on the beautiful wedding of that couple in your church (your kids couldn't be cuter!!) and saw that she's a deaf interpreter. Is there a deaf community there?

    I hope you're doing well and that your pregnancy is going well!! I'm very excited for you!

    Blessings,
    Marianne

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  12. I think the old fashioned way of doing things is so beautiful Bro David's brother is at Bible Baptist church today in El Dorado AR I did not get to go had surgery on my foot and your e-mail were a blessing to me

    Love to all. The children are beautiful.

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  13. What a beautiful bride. You did a great job on her hair! And the little flower girl is absolutely gorgeous! I can't wait to meet her soon!

    Love,
    Anna

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  14. Jolene,
    This is such a blessing! You have such a way with words! I love ya and pray God blesses you and your beautiful family! Love - Brooke

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Thank you for your encouraging comments! "As cold waters to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country." Proverbs 25:25