subject: When Russian Women Brides Consider Wedding Ceremonies [print this page] A wedding is not an unimportant event to people in Eastern European cultures. Weddings are so celebrated, in fact, that the reception might last two full days of dancing, feasting, music and drinking and sometimes even three. The term, Russian women brides, has come to symbolize women from cultures all over Eastern Europe. And, different countries in Eastern Europe have different wedding traditions when they think about getting married.
In the country of Belarus, for example, towels hold significant meaning. The couple stands on one, referred to as the wedding towel, while reciting their vows. Towels can be used as wrapping paper for gifts. After the marriage is done, it is traditional to bind the bride and grooms families together with towels to symbolize the joining of the families by matrimony. Wedding towels are often passed down through families.
Bulgarian wedding traditions have not changed a lot in the past few centuries. Folk songs are often sung during the wedding ceremony itself. At the reception, it is traditional for the mother of the groom to feed the new couple a honey cake to wish them a sweet life together.
In Romania, girls begin collecting items for their wedding trousseau as young as first grade. There is a great love of romance in the Romanian culture. Another tradition is to throw candy or nuts at the new couple instead of rice. In Moldavian weddings, folk stores and poetry may be recited during breaks in the ceremony. The union is sealed by a dance called the Hora. In some areas of Moldavia, the groom is challenged with a series of riddles he must solve in order to win his bride and marry her.
Bread and salt are presented to the new couple in the Russian tradition. This is to wish them good fortune in the future. After the toasts are drunk, the champagne glasses are dropped on the floor deliberately. It was good luck if they smashed. Sometimes, the guests took up a particular chant that signals the groom to kiss the bride just like western guests clink their glasses with a spoon.
In Eastern Europe, it is common to have two versions of the ceremony. One is civil and conducted in a registry office. The couple files their marriage license and this makes the union legal. The second ceremony is generally in a church where the priest crowns them with ceremonial crowns and blesses the marriage. It is the church vows that are most often attended by family and friends.
There are some traditions that are shared between East and West. Typically, the brides wear gowns and the grooms wear tuxedos. The colors of the wedding clothes do have different meanings in different cultures, however. Music, dancing and special foods are universal as well. The wedding rings and a photographer are other shared elements. Some couples symbolize their love by releasing white doves after saying their vows.
Bringing presents to the new husband and wife is a common tradition almost everywhere. Therefore, when Russian women brides consider their special day, it may be a great idea to include a few of the customary elements from their culture of origin.
