«WEDDING ICONS» - The "Tradition of Presenting Icons in a Wedding"

A charming tradition in Orthodox Eastern Europe is the Wedding Icons.

In Orthodox Christianity, one of the most beautiful and mysterious ceremonies to this day is the Wedding, when those who marry before God make their vows and receive blessings from their parents.

The wedding icons are an important part of this holy ceremony for Orthodox Eastern Europeans.

The custom dates back to the late seventeenth century.

The Wedding icons are a pair of icons made in the same style.

Parents bless their children before marriage with these icons. After the Sacrament of Matrimony, the priest gives the bridegroom an icon of the Savior and the bride an icon of the Most Holy Theotokos. These icons accompany the married couple all their life and are the main icons in their home iconostasis.

There is a tradition to pass family icons from one generation to the next as a family heritage.

Any image of the Holy Savior and the Mother of God can be a wedding icon. However, the icons must be consecrated in an Orthodox church.