Your gorgeous hens and her guests will be happily ready to shine all night after you choose a perfect hens night venues Melbourne. Which day of our life is the most exciting, long-awaited and unforgettable? Indeed, it is our wedding! A wedding’s shining light can ignite hearts of all those who attend your marriage ceremony.
From as young as
12 years old I began to dream about my future family and my wedding day!
I tried to get all possible information about wedding tips and ideas.
Very soon my shelves were stacked with wedding cuttings from magazines,
adverts, e-cards, copies from books on weddings. Many years passed since
that time. Till now this information helped not only me for my the most
important day in my life, but to many of my friends and colleagues –
for their wedding day. And today I would love to share my homework on
weddings with you. Worth-trying wedding ideas from foreign cultures.
Surely, it will make your own wedding very unique and really memorable.
And here it follows… An example of unique combination of old and
modern traditions we can find in Russian and Ukrainian weddings.
Customs of weddings in Russia
Nowadays,
Russian weddings come in a variety of different forms. They can contain
elements of a traditional Russian wedding and also hints of a European
or American-style wedding. The latter have become more and more popular
and modern in recent years. True Russian weddings are unique in the fact
that they are always lavishly played out! We say “played out,” as a
Russian wedding ceremony is usually conducted as though it were a
theatre spectacle where there is a script and everyone knows their role.
In
times gone by, a form of courtship would have taken place to secure the
union of the happy couple. By tradition, the groom’s parents would ask
the bride’s parents for their daughter’s hand in marriage for their son.
Nowadays, this tradition has become practically extinct and only from
time to time will the groom ask the bride’s parents for their daughter’s
hand in marriage or request an approval of their union.
As part
of the Russian wedding ceremony, people still enjoy the tradition of
ransoming the bride. Before the young couple leave to go to the ZAGS
(Registry Office), the groom must go to his future wife’s house where he
will be greeted by friends of the bride, relatives and guests. They
organise various fun games for the groom, like, for example, asking him
challenging risque questions, persuading him to carry out certain tasks
and demanding a ransom for the bride. The groom must fulfill all the
tasks, namely, singing, dancing, reciting poetry, solving riddles and
various other challenges. Then, as a ransom, he must give out sweets and
money to all those who have arranged the obstacles along the way to him
winning his bride (in other words, those who have set the groom
challenges to prove that he is worthy of his bride.)
There is an
age-old tradition that on the day before the wedding the bride will
arrange a hen party and invite all her friends who will support and
protect her in her new life. It is becoming an essential part of new
traditions that the groom should organise a separate party for his
male-friends; a tradition that has been imported from the West. The
groom will say goodbye to his bachelor lifestyle whilst in the company
of his friends.
After the registration in the ZAGS or the ceremony
in the church, the newlyweds and all their guests go to the reception
which is usually held in a restaurant, a banqueting hall or at someone’s
house. By tradition, the young couple is met by the mother of the groom
or all the parents who offer them bread and salt. The young couple must
then take turns to eat the bread. The person who eats the largest piece
of bread will be the head of the household. This equal opportunity
ritual between the couple has only been observed recently as before it
would have always been the male who would stand at the head of the
household.
It is while everyone is sat around the table that all
the guests will pass on their good wishes to the couple, raise toasts
and offer presents. By tradition, two toddlers will be put in the centre
of the room, one dressed in blue to symbolise a boy and the other
dressed in pink to symbolise a girl. The guests will then offer sums of
money to whichever toddler they choose. The toddler who receives the
most money determines the sex of the married couple’s first child.
A
fundamental component of the Russian wedding is the cries of “gor’ko”
where the newlyweds must stand and kiss for as long as possible. All the
guests stand round them and count “1, 2, 3… 15…. 20, etc.” The
longer the young couple can kiss for, the stronger their union will be.
The guests always demand that they kiss for as long as possible. Often,
the reception can be a tiring experience for the young couple as they
have to entertain their guests by this kissing ritual.
According
to European tradition, the wedding ends with the bride throwing her
bouquet over her head to all the unmarried girls in the crowd. Whoever
catches it will become the next bride. After the ceremony has ended, the
young couple goes off to their new house or hotel. At this point, the
groom must take the bride in his arms and carry her across the
threshold; a local custom that indicates the strength of their marriage.
As a rule, the young couple then happily journey off into the sunset
for their honeymoon.
Ukrainian Weddings
Given their common
Slavic roots and culture, it is not surprising that Ukrainian weddings
are very similar to Russian weddings. However, some variations do exist.
On
the day of the wedding, the groom’s first duty is to pick up his bride
from her house. Before he meets his loved one he is met by relatives and
friends who will demand a ransom for the bride. This is the most
special and exciting part of the whole affair. The groom must complete
several tasks in order to demonstrate his strength and intellect. If he
fails to complete a task, then he must give out money, sweets and drinks
to the guests. The result of his efforts is the possession of his loved
one. This tradition remains popular to this day. After the groom’s
challenges, the young couple will go to the ZAGS (Registry Office) and
then the church (if they so choose). A celebration of the events usually
follows the registration of the marriage.
In today’s world,
weddings in Ukraine can be compared with weddings in Europe, where the
main ceremony is conducted in prestigious restaurants or big halls.
One
of the old customs that is still being practised in today’s weddings:
guests give a round loaf of brown bread to the young couple. As a rule,
the loaf is baked only by those women whose family life has been very
successful as it is said to bring good luck to the young couple in their
own family life. The newly-wed couple will free two white doves –
usually in front of the building where their wedding proceedings take
place.
One of the distinguishing parts of a Ukrainian wedding is
that a giltse (a large wreath which is decorated with flowers and
ribbons) is placed on the table next to the karavai loaf. This
symbolises maidenly beauty and innocence.
On her head, the
Ukrainian bride will wear a wreath with different coloured cascading
ribbons. At the end of the festivities, the bride will throw the wreath
into a crowd of unmarried girls. The person who catches the wreath will
become the next bride. This tradition is very similar to the European
tradition where the bride throws her bouquet into the crowd. It has been
said that the European tradition of throwing a bouquet into the crowd
came from the Ukrainian tradition of throwing wreathes, however,
nowadays Ukrainian weddings usually conform to European traditions.
The host of the occasions will organise fun games, poems and little ditties. Guests usually give the couple useful, practical gifts, which will be helpful to the couple in their married life. Accepting the gifts is no easy matter. It is a national wedding custom that requires both, bride and groom, to unpack each and every gift immediately in the presence of the giver. They must unwrap the present, study it and then express their gratitude to the guest. The money usually goes to the groom, and other items and flowers go to the bride.
Without any
doubt, some wedding traditions are intertwined and interrelated in all
cultures. There is always room for improvement in preparation for the
moment of your dream – wedding day. Do your own research, share ideas
with others, send me your own wedding tips – it will assist us all. Our
efforts can make a difference to make wedding ceremonies better,
brighter, more exclusive and worthy to be proud of.
Lilia offers exclusive articles on marriages and weddings, co-authored by her and Alice. How to entertain guests and make your wedding unforgettable: Get free unique wedding ideas here=> in wedding portal MarryMeCity
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