St Paul calls marriage a great mystery, for in it the union of husband and wife images the union of Christ and His Church. The two become one flesh, and the Church blesses their union at the altar. St John Chrysostom calls the Christian home a little church.
The service has two parts, once held separately and now celebrated together. At the Betrothal the priest blesses the rings in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and the couple exchange them. At the Crowning, crowns are set on the heads of the bride and groom: in the Russian tradition crowns of gold or silver, in the Greek tradition crowns of leaves and flowers.
The crowns are crowns of joy, and also crowns of martyrdom, for marriage asks self-sacrifice of both; a martyr is a witness. The Epistle is read from Ephesians, and the Gospel of the wedding at Cana. Then the couple drink from a common cup, a sign of the one life they now share, and the priest leads them three times around the table.