Our wedding will begin at 2pm at the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Cathedral of the Holy Family on Duke Street in Mayfair, London (W1K 5BQ). This is just off Oxford Street and about five minutes’ walk from Bond Street tube station (see ‘Travel’ above). The Cathedral was once the King’s Weigh House Chapel — a Congregationalist church built in 1891 — so it’s smaller than you might expect for a cathedral, but it does still hold up to 900! The Ukrainians bought it in 1967. You can find out more — and see some beautiful photos of the Cathedral — at https://www.ucc-gb.com/

Paul’s grandparents on both sides of his family were from western Ukraine. They settled here after the Second World War when their country was invaded by the Soviet Union and their Church was outlawed (all the way up to 1991). Paul will become the third generation of his family to be married in a Ukrainian church on British soil.

The service might be a little different to what you’re used to! The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC) is part of the Roman Catholic Church — meaning they recognise the Pope as their head — but their practices and rituals are more like those of the Eastern Orthodox Churches. This is because the UGCC was once Orthodox, but united with the Roman Catholic Church when Ukraine became part of Catholic Poland, in 1596. The ‘Greek’ part of the name refers to the Eastern ‘Byzantine’ Rite of Constantinople.

An idea of what you can expect.

The Service

The service is mostly sung by the priest and the choir. The priest will speak and sing in English, while the choir will sing in Ukrainian. One thing you’ll notice is there will be no hymns! In fact you won’t really be expected to do anything except sit down and stand up every now and then, so don’t worry if you’re not sure what’s going on — everything will be in the Order of Service anyway. There will be Bible readings just like any other church wedding but another difference to your standard Latin Catholic or Church of England wedding is there will be no Holy Communion. You can find a copy of the Order of Service here.

Another interesting difference to Latin Catholic and Church of England weddings is the crowning. In the Eastern Churches, the moment of matrimony actually takes place when the bride and groom are crowned by the priest. This symbolises the glory and honour bestowed upon them through the Sacrament as king and queen of their new family. They are to be a martyr for each other, to be the king or queen of the other, and to be the example of holiness for each other.