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Traditional wedding rituals

A friend of the bride who is already happily married places first earring on the bride-to-be.
• Paying the ransom - Once the groom arrives at the bride’s home, he must pay a ransom for the bride, a term in Russian known as “vykup nevesty”. The entire event is played out in a comical fashion and everyone is entertained. At first the groom comes and gives something (often vodka) for the bride, and so the parents of the bride bring out a woman or man (the latter for amusement) that is not the actual bride, but is dressed up like one, covered in veil, so the groom can't see the face. When the groom realizes that it is not his bride, he asks for his love, but the family of the bride will demand a bigger ransom to be paid. So, upon satisfaction with the ransom given, the bride's family give away the bride to the groom.
• Traditional Ceremony - In the next step, the bride and groom have an optional traditional ceremony in a church. In Russian this is called the “venchanie”. Churches do not have official government status and a civil ceremony must be held.
• Civil ceremony - Following the traditional ceremony, the couple must have a civil ceremony called “rospis v zagse”. This ceremony takes place at the department of public services, formally known as ZAGS. At ZAGS the couple is greeted by family members with bread and salt. The ceremony ranges from 15 to 30 minutes and during this time the rings are exchanged and the couple is pronounced husband and wife.
During the civil ceremony, the parents offer the married couple two crystal glasses, which they are asked to break. The more shards of glass they create, the greater the number of years of happiness they will spend together. It is also customary for the married couple to release either balloons or, better, two white doves to symbolize their love and partnership which is written in the sky for all to see. And the bride also releases another balloon with her maiden name written on it, as she embarks on her new life.
• Tour of the city - Following the civil ceremony, the newlyweds and their witnesses, travel around the city on a limousine and view many historical sights. Sometimes very close friends join as well. This presents the primary opportunity for the majority of the wedding photographs that are taken at varying historical places around the town/city.
• Reception - After touring the city for several hours, the couple meets the guests for the reception.
o The first toast is made to the newlyweds and after the first shot, the guests begin to shout “Gorko, Gorko, Gorko,…”. “Gorko” means “bitter” and the guests are referring to the bitter wine. At this point the couple must kiss for a long time to take out the bitter taste of the wine.
o The second toast is made to the parents.
o The new couple dances the first dance of the night.
o As the night continues the guests dance, sing, play games, and make toasts.
o For the next several days, the family continues to eat, drink, and celebrate.
o It is traditional to have an entertainer, in Russian "Tamada", who organises games, the disco and ensures the guests get to know each other and are looked after.

The Honeymoon

The term "honeymoon" is though to originate from the times when a man captured his bride. The couple would hide from the bride's parents before marrying. The couple would remain in hiding for a further cycle of the moon after the wedding. During this period they drank honey wine.
In Scotland the custom was for a woman with milk in her breasts to prepare the marital bed to encourage fertility in the newlyweds.
In Ireland a laying hen was tied to the bed on the first honeymoon night in the hope that some of its fertility would be passed on to the couple. Eating a double yolked egg was also thought to bring fertility

The Best Man

It is the best man's duty to protect the groom from bad luck. He must ensure that once the groom has began his journey to the church he does not return for any reason.
He must also arrange for the groom to carry a small mascot or charm in his pocket on the wedding day.
When the best man is paying the church minister's fee he should pay him an odd sum to bring luck to the couple.

Crossing The Threshold

After the wedding the bride must enter the new marital home through the main entrance. It is traditional for the groom to carry the bride over the threshold when they enter for the first time. The reason for this is uncertain. One explanation is that the bride will be visited by bad luck if she falls when entering. An alternative is that the bride will be unlucky if she steps into the new home with the left foot first. The bride can avoid both mishaps by being carried. A third explanation is that it symbolises the old Anglo-Saxon custom of the groom stealing his bride and carrying her off.
Hindu's have a similar tradition. The bride is carried by her new husband so that she does not touch the threshold when entering her new home

Throwing The Bouquet

After the reception the bride throws her bouquet back over her shoulder where the unmarried female guest group together. Tradition holds that the one who catches the bouquet will be the next one of those present to marry.
A parallel custom is for the groom to remove the garter worn by the bride and throw it back over his shoulder toward the unmarried male guests. Again the one who catches it will be the next to marry.

Butterflies in the air!

I promised some pictures. Here you are!

Next time...

I'll show you how I made the "Menu" and the table cards.Lots of butterflies!
Remember the invitation?

Ce nu intelege el la ea

Cum de sustine cu atata ardoare pacea si diplomatia cand din cauza ei se naste razboiul.
Cum de nu poate sa se lase cuprinsa de bucurie fara sa gandeasca la suferinta care-i va urma.
Cum de atunci cand face nazuri, nimic nu-i mai poate scoate din cap ca tu, “cel iubit” esti cel care trebuie sa i le suporte.
Cum de-i simti urma buzelor pe obraz la mult timp dupa ce te-a sarutat.
Cum de vorbeste mult, zgomotos si tare tocmai atunci cand ii spui sa taca malc.
Cum de intelege perfect autori precum Dostoievski sau David Lodge si ii admira din tot sufletul, insa sufletul sau il prefera pe Coelho.
Cum de este singura care ii poate intelege pe toti ceilalti, dar este ultima care se intelege pe sine.
Cum de reuseste sa se strecoare inauntrul unei camere cand tu te-ai asigurat ca ai inchis toate usile, aruncand cheile indaratul usilor.
Cum de probeaza zeci de perechi de pantofi care ii plac toate, insa alege numai una, pe cea care nu ii place.
Cum de este prima care spune “te iubesc” si ultima care iti demonstreaza acest lucru.
Cum de-ti poate spune chiar si cu ochii inchisi unde sunt lucrurile tale, insa rujul preferat nu-l gaseste niciodata in geanta.
Cum de sustine intotdeauna ca de fapt interiorul este cel care conteaza cand este dispusa sa faca orice ca sa arate bine in exterior.
Cum de crede cu tarie in nemurirea frumusetii ei si totusi se grabeste sa si-o prelungeasca din plina frumusete si tinerete.
Cum de pune atata pret pe sinceritatea complimentelor, insa atunci cand le rostesti sincer iti reproseaza lipsa adevarului din ele.
Cum de isi doreste propriul cuib de rai si atunci cand in sfarsit il construiesti pentru ea, o sa sustina ca arata altfel decat raiul.
Cum dintre toti copiii pe care ii are, cel mai drag ii este cel pe care il poarta in pantece.
Cum de mentinandu-si aceleasi principii de-o viata, ajunge sa zamisleasca principii noi in alte vieti.
Cum de incurajeaza atat de mult schimbarea, insa primul lucrul la care ar vrea sa schimbe ceva esti chiar tu, iar ultimul… este chiar ea.
Cum de sufletul ei ajunge acolo unde gesturile tale se impotmolesc. Cum de tese atat de multe ite fara sa se incurce in ele, insa aproape de terminarea panzei, incurca tocmai ita de la care a pornit.
Cum de lumea iti pare si tie rea cand ea o vede asa.
Cum de te vede in culori cand te afli in plin intuneric.
Cum de florile sunt mai mult decat o adunatura la gramada de petale stropite cu culoare.
Cum de citind aceste banale insiruiri, o sa zambeasca in coltul gurii sustinand ca nu a inteles nimic.
Cum de in realitate rade din tot interiorul ei stiind ca a inteles totul.

from here

Shoes

In the past there have been a number of customs involving shoes which were thought to bring good luck. The best known, which is still upheld, is to tie shoes to the back of the newlyweds' car. This has evolved from the Tudor custom where guests would throw shoes at the newlywed couple. It was considered lucky if they or their carriage were hit.
Less well known is for the bride's father to give the groom a pair of the bride's shoes to symbolise the passing of responsibility for the daughter to her new husband. A variation of the custom is for the groom to tap the bride on the forehead with one of the shoes to assert his dominance.
The custom of the bride throwing her bouquet shoulder, described below, was originally performed by her throwing one of her shoes over her shoulder.