I attended my first Russian Saturday night and it was a very interesting experience. It was not the official wedding as that is what takes place when you register your wedding with the government. This was the part of the wedding that you share with family and friends. It usually takes place in a reception hall or café that has been rented for the night and it is overseen by a wedding organizer. The wedding organizer (a tamada) not only plans the wedding she also oversees it almost as a host. She has a portable microphone and organizes all the games, tricks etc of the evening. At our wedding we also had a disc jockey.
A small part of the wedding party (in our case the bride, groom, grooms parents from Denmark and witnesses) starts in the afternoon traveling from place to place in the city taking pictures of the bride and groom all dressed up in their wedding attire (very much the same type of wedding dress and tuxedo that I was used to) with the city’s most picturesque spots as backdrops. They travel in a group of 2-4 cars that have huge bouquets of flowers attached to their roof. On the weekends you will sometimes see these groups all over town. After the picture taking you then head to your café, usually at 5 or 6 o’clock. You are then greeted by your guests which in our case was about 35 people.
Lena was one of Nadia’s translators several years ago. She and Сlaus met on the internet about three years ago and then in person, in Moscow, later that year. Сlaus is Danish and lives in Copenhagen. They got married last month in Denmark and were getting married in Yaroslavl so that Lena’s parents, friends and relatives could attend.
After they arrived at the café they were greeted by Lena’s Mom (with the traditional Russian loaf of bread and salt) and her father (with two glasses of Champagne). They each took a bit of the loaf of bread (with their hands behind their backs and the biggest bite determining who will be the head of the family) and then dank the champagne and tossed the empty glasses over their shoulders. They then entered the café and received each guest and their presents and flowers.
Then we all sat down to a preset table and begin to eat hors d’oeuvres.
After a few minutes it was time for the parents to toast (in this case make a short speech) the bride and groom. After this it was time for everyone to get up and go to the dance floor for the bride and grooms first dance as newlyweds. Then everyone else danced for a couple of songs and it was time to go back to the table to continue the eating and toasting. After about 30 minutes the lady announced that it was time to get up and play some games. After about 30 or 45 minute of games it was back to the table for more toasts and food. Dane, food, games, food……. .
At around 11 oclock it was time to cut the wedding cake, take more pictures and then eat cake and tea. What an evening. It was truly a lot of fun as everyone was really enthused and sincere. I have attached some pictures but most of ours did not come out because of the darkness.
