Featured Wedding: Raffi & Mary

Written by . Posted in Featured Weddings

We're thrilled to share with you Mary and Raffi's fairytale wedding! Mary was one of Bride's Story bloggers and she shared her wedding planning adventures on Mary's Story blog series. Mary and Raffi got married on October 21, 2017 at Allure Event's Crystal Ballroom. We spoke with Mary and she shared with us her wedding day timeline, the many Armenian traditions they incorporated into their wedding day, and her gorgeous wedding photos!

Mary started planning her wedding soon after the proposal in August 2016 and she envisioned her wedding as a romantic and elegant event. She chose an all white and gold color scheme and she incorporated a touch of pearl throughout her wedding. 

On their wedding day, Mary and Raffi started the celebration at Mary's parent's house with a traditional Armenian pre-wedding celebration. They incorporated many Armenian traditions including having a male family member put on her bridal shoes and male relatives blocking the door to exit her parent's house.

When we asked Mary what were some of her favorite moments from her wedding, she stated "My wedding was amazing! It was the best day ever! We had a surprise singer from our kavor. {Noro}. I was also very emotional when I was taking pictures with my dad. It was a bitter sweet moment." Mary shared her wedding day timeline with us. As you scroll down to see the pictures, we've organized them in chronological order so you can follow along their wedding day and experience all the key moments!

  • 4:30 AM:  Woke up, got my Starbucks
  • 5:45 AM:  My hair appointment
  • 6:30 AM:  My make-up appointment (mom, mother-in-law, and all bridesmaids got ready at same salon)
  • 9:00 AM:  Left salon, headed home, got ready and took photos with my family
  • 12:00 PM: Raffi and his family arrived at my house; took pictures, danced, got dressed, then headed to Griffith Park's Train Station for photos
  • 4:00 PM:  Church ceremony
  • 6:00 PM:  Cocktail hour
  • 8:30 PM:  Our entrance as Bride & Groom

For a more detailed wedding day timeline, visit our Sample Armenian Wedding Day Itinerary Blog

Mary made her own wedding invitations

Traditional Armenian music by the sazandar

The Armenian Wedding Tradition of putting on the bride's shoe

Cognac is served at the bride's house as part of the Armenian wedding day celebrations 

Mary & Raffi's Armenian Wedding: Leaving the Bride's House

Typically a male family member from the bride's side will "block" the door and insist on getting paid in order to allow the bride to leave her family's home

Photos at Griffith Park's Train Museum

Allure Events & Catering

Suro Music Entertainment

Vendors & Details

Church: St. Mary's Armenian Apostolic Church (Glendale)
Venue: Allure Events Crystal Ballroom
Catering: Allure Catering
Photography: Sakosan and GorFoto 
Videography: Stavro Video 
Flowers: The Flower Girl 
Rentals EMCustoms (tables) 
DJ: Party DJ Karen
Bands/Singers: Suro Music Entertainment, Noro, and Arman Ghazarian
Limousine: The Biggest Limo
Dress: Angel Rivera
Shoes: Manolo Blahnik
Hair: Mike at Studio Kay
Makeup: Linh at Studio Kay
Cake: House of Pastry
Favors: DIY, Mary made them using Lindor Truffles
Invitations: DIY, Mary made them
Bride's House Catering: Sit Catering

Congrats again to Mary & Raffi on your fairytale wedding! Be sure to catch up on Mary and Raffi's love story, from their proposal, engagement party, and Mary's Mackenzie-Child's themes bridal shower on Mary's Story blog series! 

Tags: armenian , bridal bouquet , bridal party , bridal shoes , bride , bride's story , bridesmaid , entertainment , father of the bride , mary's story , tradition

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