Orthodox Wedding Symbolism & History
Orthodox Wedding Candles
The candles that are used during the sacrament of the wedding in the Orthodox church symbolize the light of purity of Christ that must be illustrated by the life of the couple. The bride and groom each hold a lit candle during the sacrament to show their willingness to receive Christ, who comes to bless them with His Grace. Called "lambades" or "lambathes" in Greek, the candles are a mandatory item for the wedding.
At Dahlia, we aim to provide you with new, modern designs on your wedding candles yet ones that continue to follow traditions. You will find our candles to be elegantly understated in both our hand held designs and the ones for the church. We continually search for new textiles and put much thought in the composition of materials for each design.
Orthodox Wedding Crowns
The crowns used during the wedding sacrament symbolize the glory and love bestowed by the Church upon the newlyweds. The bride and groom are crowned as the King and Queen of their new home which they have the obligation to rule with wisdom, justice and integrity.
The use of wreaths worn by the bride and groom at their wedding dates back to ancient Greece. The crowns were then made of natural materials such as branches from grape vines, olive trees and lemongrass. In certain regions, the crowns were made out of asparagus and worn by all that were part of the wedding procession. In the early Christian years, the wedding crowns were created from lemongrass and symbolized virginity. During the Byzantine years the crowns looked more fit for a king and queen. They were symbols of royalty and in parallel hinted to the meaning of martyrdom of Christian life. Finally today, the two crowns symbolize two separate circles of life that are connected as one. The couple gets crowned and is united just as the crowns are joined with the ribbon.
In our shop you will find Dahlia stefana designs that are unique and created by us such as the Royal Garden, Forever and Life's Fairytale stefana. You will also find imported European designs. The wedding crowns are a reminder of the sacredness of marriage and therefore kept in a special crown case - stefanothiki - near the holy Icons in the couple's home.
