Pastor Chad Veach officiates wedding of Kourtney Kardashian, Travis Barker
Reality star Kourtney Kardashian and musician Travis Barker were wed in an elaborate ceremony in Italy last weekend. Kardashian commissioned her long-time friend, Pastor Chad Veach, to officiate the special occasion.
The celebrity gathering was all over mainstream media this week. Veach, the lead pastor of Zoe Church in Los Angeles, is front and center in many photos. Veach and his wife, Julia, also joined the family for the wedding reception, as seen in photos and videos posted online by the Kardashian and Barker family.
Kardashian and Barker have said "I do" in three different ceremonies. But their Italian wedding is the first time they invited their family and friends to share the event with them.
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The Kardashians are known to reference their Christian faith on their Hulu reality show, "The Kardashians." Still, the wedding was loaded with more Catholic imagery than what is usually seen from the famous family.
Along with a provocative dress that resembled lingerie, the bride was adorned in a sheer fabric Dolce & Gabbana veil with the Virgin Mary embroidered in the center of it. The embroidery was based on one of Barker's skull tattoos, according to Vogue. The headdress also featured the text "Family, Loyalty, Respect."
In a 2015 interview with Vice, the famous drummer from the band Blink-182 explained the meaning behind his religious body art.
"Well, I got the Virgin Mary tattooed on my foreman when I was 18, 19, and I was brought up Catholic," he said. "I definitely pray; I believe in God. I definitely think I was blessed, and I'm here for a reason after being the only survivor of a plane crash."
"I'm not at church every day, and I'm not pushing religion on people, but I believe in God, and I pray and my kids pray," Barker assured.
On the altar of Sunday's wedding ceremony was a statue of Mary holding baby Jesus. The figure was directly behind Veach as he officiated the ceremony.
Kardashian's younger sister, Kylie Jenner, shared an image of the wedding program, which also included a Sacred Heart under "Travis and Kourtney." The Sacred Heart is a symbol of the heart of Jesus as described in well-known Catholic devotions.
Although she uses vulgar language and dresses provocatively, Kardashian has tried to keep a Christian presence in her life.
In a past video interview, the Poosh founder sat down with Chad and Julia Veach to discuss how to teach her children about faith without forcing her beliefs on them.
"How do you teach your kids about religion and what we believe in? You don't want to force your own beliefs on them, but how do you?" Kardashian asked in the video posted on YouTube in 2019.
She told the pastors that her late father, former celebrity lawyer Robert Kardashian, made it a point to raise his children in the Christian faith.
"We grew up always hearing Bible stories. My dad already read us Bible stories, and we would talk about it in the car, we would listen to Bible songs, we went to Sunday school, not every Sunday but a lot," she added. "So I just wonder if there's something you guys do, or that's really important to you, like routines or things that you do with your own family that could be helpful."
Veach, a spiritual leader to celebrities such as Justin and Hailey Bieber and Chris Pratt, said he "grew up with Christian parents who did some of the same things."
"I think with our kids, we are just trying to, even on the drive to school every morning as I'm getting ready to drop off my son, I'm like, 'Alright, I'm going to pray over you and remember, you're a leader in your school and people follow you and I'm going to pray that you are a light on your campus.'"
The pastor said he uses words of affirmation to keep his kids on the right path.
"I think we just try and take regular moments and say, 'We're going to go to bed, but, hey son, is there any friend you want to pray for?'" Veach said.
The Kardashian sister was moved by the idea of asking her kids to pray for their friends. She recalled other moments she had with her siblings and their dad.
"We use to watch these cartoons that were Bible stories," she revealed. "So I know every Bible story, and you remember them growing up."
Julia Veach said that, like many things in culture, "it's more caught than it is taught."
"So yeah, we want to teach things, but a lot of time, the kids are [like] this is what they do, this is who we are," Julia Veach said.
The Kardashians have been spotted at Kanye West's Sunday Service programs in recent years.
Jeannie Ortega Law is a reporter for The Christian Post. Reach her at: jeannie.law@christianpost.com She's also the author of the book, What Is Happening to Me? How to Defeat Your Unseen Enemy Follow her on Twitter: @jlawcp Facebook: JeannieOMusic
