Added: 11/29/2007 |
Ukrainian brides delight- An Ukrainian Traditional WeddingA traditional wedding is everyone’s delight. An integration of Easter rites of Christianity and paganistic rituals of the past, Ukrainian weddings are filled with traditional motifs and ceremonies. The opulent marriage ceremonies are meant to honor the parents and the Ukrainian bride walks hand in hand with her groom to the altar of matrimonial bliss...
Ukrainian traditional marriages have a set pattern and it is followed in all the marriages. In Ukraine if a man loves a woman, he seeks the help of his friends called starosteh (matchmakers) to ask the woman’s hand in marriage. They visit the young woman’s house and explain their purpose to her parents. Her parents ask the opinion of the young woman and act accordingly. Sometimes marriages in Ukraine are arranged and a suitable date is set for the marriage after both the Ukrainian bride’s and the groom’s sides consider the alliance satisfactory. Then the groom’s parents request the priest to announce the engagement three times at three different church services.
In the Ukrainian traditional weddings, the Ukrainian brides and their prospective husbands would begin inviting the guests, a couple of weeks before the wedding, riding on horses. They would, and then select their matron of honor, candle girl, bridesmaids and best men.
Before the wedding, it is customary that the Ukrainian brides, the grooms and their families, meet at the Ukrainian bride’s home and seek the blessings of the bride’s parents in a ceremony called the ‘blahoslovenya’. The parents declare their consent and wishes to the couple at the ceremony.
The bestman would shoot in the air to announce the beginning of the ceremony. The marriage party would enter the church in a decorated carriage driven by a team of horses. The priest blesses the rings and places them on the fingers of the couple during the engagement party.
In Ukraine the Ukrainian brides and grooms walk the aisle together .The Ukrainian brides are not ‘given away’ by their fathers. In the Ukrainian weddings the Ukrainian brides are already given away in the ‘blahoslovenya’ ceremony.
The couple kneels on a towel brought by the matron of honor (matko), who also holds the crowns, made by the Ukrainian females in the family, over their heads along with the bestman (batko). The couple places their right hands on the gospel and exchange marriage vows. Then their hands are joined with an embroidered cloth (rushnyk) and this indicates their union. Bound together, the couple circles the altar thrice in the “Dance of Isaiah”. Their life as a man and wife begins with these steps.
After the ceremony the couple drinks wine thrice that emphasizes the prominence of the holy trinity. At the end of the ceremony the Ukrainian brides are lead by a priest to the Virgin Mary and the Ukrainian brides present a bouquet of flowers, kneeling before the statue.
The couple is offered gifts of wine, bread, honey and salt. The new family comprising the Ukrainian bride and her man and their families drinks a toast. The wedding cake in the Ukrainian traditional marriages is replaced with ‘korovai’, traditional wedding bread that represents community. The bread is ornate with baked dough and has two birds and ornaments, made of dough. The birds represent the couple and the ornaments, the family. The ‘hiltse’ is placed in the centre of the ‘korovai’ to represent the tree of life and fertility. Thus, all the ceremonies symbolize and inspire the couple to lead a memorable married life.
Music is ingrained in every ceremony, in the Ukrainian traditional marriage. The Ukraine female sings songs on every occasion. Ukrainian females sew the flowers in the hat of the groom. The Ukrainian females also make the bride’s veil and the Ukrainian females play an important role in reception of the newly weds. The Ukrainian females enthusiastically perform the Ukrainian traditional dance, ‘kolomeyka’ along with the men. The song ‘mnohaya lita’ of good wishes and many happy years to come sung by the Ukrainian females and men in the family, reverberates as the Ukrainian brides and their husbands begin their new journey.
Article comments:
No comments for this article yet. Post your comment now!
