The Russian traditions seem very fun. I looked up a bunch today… and here’s a few things that we may include in our wedding:
- At the end of the Russian ceremony, bread and salt is offered to the newlyweds by both parents as a symbol of health, prosperity and long life. Both bride and groom must take a bite of the bread and the one that takes the largest bite will be the head of the family!
- The first day of a Russian wedding ceremony is filled with a series of events that includes the civil ceremony, a tour of the city and the start of the reception. The wedding day begins with the bride and groom in separate locations each accompanied by their own friends and family members. The groom will arrive at the bride’s location well before the two of them need to arrive at the civil service. This is necessary because the bride’s friends and family members make it difficult for the groom to reach his bride. For example, if the bride lives on a high floor of an apartment complex, the groom will be detained by friends or family members at each floor and asked trivia type questions about his bride. If he answers incorrectly, he must pay cash to advance to the next step. Once he arrives at his bride’s side, the two of them travel by train, in separate cars, to the location of the civil service.
(I’m a little torn about this one… it seems fun, but I don’t really want Mr. Red to see me until I’m walking down the isle!)
- The reception always starts with a toast and usually the parents are the first to toast the bride and groom. The rest of the guests then offer their toast. Following the toast is the most prominent Russian wedding tradition. The guests drink wine after each toast and after they sip the guests will begin to shout, “Gor’ko” which means bitter. The couple then has to kiss in order to sweeten the wine. The guests will continue this tradition after each toast requiring the couple to kiss after each toast.
- The second day of a traditional Russian wedding is usually held at the house where the couple will begin their lives together. This is a more relaxed day and although anyone from the first day is invited to attend, usually only the closest friends and family members attend this second day of festivities. Day two of a traditional Russian wedding usually begins in the late afternoon or evening. The guests all enjoy a meal together and after the meal comes another Russian tradition of having the bride clean the floor. The guests will litter the floor with currency and the bride has to “clean” the floor by picking up the money. The guests can continue to litter the floor with additional currency while the bride is “cleaning” and are particularly fond of coming to the festivities with a large amount of coins to make the bride’s job as difficult as possible. This tradition gives the guests the opportunity to make a contribution to the new couple.
- Wedding shoes served the symbol of the bride’s thrift and willingness to be a good housekeeper, as she was supposed to buy the shoes from her savings.
- Often guests leave the wedding in such a condition that they cannot remember what happened. If this was the case with the majority of guests, then the wedding was a huge success.
- As a wedding is supposed to be two days, usually the first day is Friday with the celebrations continuing on Saturday, and time for rising from the dead on Sunday. Wedding is an event where everybody must be drunk, and being sober is simply impolite; there is also so much excellent food that there is a saying “If you are going to a wedding, you don’t need to eat 3 days before and 3 days after”.
