My family and I had the great pleasure of attending a very special Traditional Ukrainian Wedding. What made this wedding extra special, is that it was very close to our hearts, and many of the traditional wedding items were created by people very close to the heart of the Bride and Groom.

Since I already have several posts about Traditional Ukrainian Weddings, in this one I will share several pictures of the handmade treasures incorporated into this traditional wedding.

Ukrainian wedding ceremony actually begins at the home of the parents of the newlyweds, with a special blessing by their parents with Holy Icons, to wish them many happy years together in a religious lifestyle.

These two icons were hand-painted and framed, by the Father of the Bride.

 

These wedding bands and the special treasure box were also crafted by the talented and artistic Father of the Bride.  How lovely and special is that!  Quite special I would say.

This beautiful Greeting Bread is used at the reception hall, to greet and welcome the Newlyweds into the union of the Bride’s and the Groom’s family, to become one united family.

This Greeting Bread was prepared with love, by the Mother of the Groom.

The traditional decoration for Greeting Bread and Korovai is the Barvinok (Periwinkle) vines with leaves and flowers,  These were cultivated in the flower garden of the Mother of the Groom, to use for weddings, and to decorate Easter Baskets.

The Mother of the Bride also has Barvinok in her garden and weaved these beautiful and symbolic Wedding Wreaths for the Bride and the Groom to use at the church during the Crowning Ceremony.

The Mother of the Bride baked, assembled, and decorated this gorgeous Korovai, which takes a center stage alongside of the Greeting Bread at the reception hall.

The decorations on this Korovai were crafted by the Bride, her sister, her sisters-in-law, her Bride Maids, Flower Girl, and the Mother of the Bride and the Groom, during the evening after her Bridal Shower.

This was a very special joint effort of love and creativity, to be part of such a beautiful project.

Even the Father of the Bride couldn’t resist all the fun we had and joined in to offer his talent in making a few of these as well.

All the pews of the center aisle of the church were adorned by hand-embroidered scarfs with traditional Ukrainian cross-stitch geometric design, in shades of blue embroidery floss on white linen.  Stunning!

The Bridal Party was traveling to church and to the reception in this specious Party Bus,

As the Newlyweds exited the church after the wedding ceremony, the chauffeur of the Party Bus greeted them with this elegantly displayed bottle of chilled Champagne.  Very thoughtful and gracious of him, to say the least.

These are the gorgeous 5 feet tall centerpieces on each table at the reception hall.  They were carefully and thoughtfully designed by the Bride and prepared by her florist.

The very tall crystal vases were filled with blossoming Cherry branches, surrounded at the base by luscious White Hydrangea blooms, and illuminated by hanging tea lights.

The Bride and the Groom decided on a Sweetheart Table for themselves, rather than having the traditional long table shared with the Bridal Party.

It was very sweet and romantic how the Bride’s and the Bride Maids’ bouquets were arranged around the edge of this table, and accented with votive candles.

This type of arrangement also allowed the rest of the Bridal Party to join their spouses or significant others at their own tables, to enjoy the evening together.

Here is the absolutely stunning and elegant Wedding Cake, incorporating the lace decoration found on the Bride’s Wedding Gown, and White Peonies in her Bridal Bouquet.

The cake topper, representing the Bride and Groom dancing together, was made of white porcelain, by Lenox.

The Bride loves succulent plants, so decided to share this love with all the wedding guests as a Thank You Favor, for them to take home to enjoy, and reminisce about this beautiful occasion.

It was a beautiful Traditional Ukrainian Wedding, with so many special touches, but one more thing made it even more special and different.

The Bride and Groom decided not to have the usual throwing of the bouquet, so instead, they invited all the married couples to join them on the dance floor for a special dance.

After a couple of minutes of dancing the band leader would ask the dance couples who were married for less than 5 years to leave the floor, then the 10 years married couples, and so on, until one pair was left, who were married for 50 years.

At that point, the Bride and Groom congratulated them on their accomplishment and presented them with the Bridal Bouquet.

I thought it was so precious to recognize this couple’s love for each other for all those years, in such a beautiful way, on such a perfect occasion.

It also was a wonderful example for the Newlyweds to witness this, and to look forward to such a day on their own married road ahead.

I hope you enjoyed this post and would love to hear from you about other special touches you have experienced at the weddings you attended.