Features of the design and conduct of the wedding in the Russian style

A modern wedding is no longer a family holiday, but a celebration akin to a real show, the preparation of which lasts several months, or even a whole year. Some of the young people prefer to hold an elegant European-style wedding ceremony, while someone pays tribute to the rich traditions of their native country and organizes a Russian wedding in a big way.

It is useful to organize a Russian-style tradition before organizing a wedding in the Russian style. Some rituals are now forgotten, but nothing prevents them from being revived at least as part of their own triumph in the Russian folk style, thereby allowing guests to plunge into the history of their people.

Holding a Russian wedding, even in a stylized version, involves observing the basic canons of the Old Russian celebration. The celebration in the Old Slavonic style should begin and end with a parental blessing. There are no hard liquors in the festive menu; during the celebration, the use of obscene language and dancing until you drop is not allowed. Essential attributes of a Russian wedding:

• a riot of bright colors;
• matchmaking;
• ransom of the bride;
• refraction of a loaf;

• funny festivities;
• round dances;
• comic contests;
• playing the accordion;
• generous table;
• gifts for guests.

A place for a wedding ceremony can be:

• restaurant hall, stylized as Russian style;
• real log home;
• an open area next to a forest or a lake (typical for a noble-style wedding).

The choice of venue for the event depends on the time of year.In summer, for a wedding ceremony, you may prefer open spaces near a pine forest or a birch grove, near a beautiful reservoir. Nature will become an organic background for a wedding in the Russian style and will provide an invisible connection between generations. By the way, a nearby wheat field will be an ideal place for a photo zone. What could be more Russian than endless fields?

If there are many guests at the event, you can rent houses at the camp site. Then the holiday can last several days. The first day is the official events according to the scenario, which will be held in the banquet hall, and the second is an informal holiday, where swimming in the lake, a bathhouse, barbecue, guitar songs and other summer holiday delights are allowed. If you want a chic wedding in Russian, it is recommended to choose a country wooden manor with a large park area for the celebration.

It is more difficult to arrange a winter wedding in the open air due to the vagaries of the weather. Of course, in winter, wedding dresses, tea parties with bagels, riding sleds look even more spectacular, but it is better to prefer closed rooms for the main part of the holiday. It can be a restaurant with a wood-like decor, a tower, a wooden hut or a theater room. It is desirable that the interior was made in a folk style. But if such is not provided for in the design of the room, it is easy to bring it with the help of a hand-made decor.

A Russian wedding will not be quite so unless invited guests are dressed in old costumes. Opponents of such themed celebrations can use only an element of a traditional outfit. For example, girls can decorate the head with a wreath of wildflowers, braid braids with a scarlet satin ribbon, tie a beautiful scarf, put on red shoes. The male half of the guests can use a red tie or insert a scarf with a traditional Russian pattern into the buttonhole. To make it easier for guests to prepare for a Russian-style wedding, the bride and groom can rent all the necessary accessories for them.

Ideally, if the bride’s outfit meets all the canons of such a wedding: a red dress, a kokoshnik, a blouse with embroidery. Modern girls can replace this outfit with a simple white robe, decorated with elements of folk style: embroidery on a corset, scarf, belt. As a hairstyle, it is better to choose a traditional braid or braiding with pigtails. The longer the hair, the more beautiful the hairstyle will turn out. You can decorate the braids with fresh flowers or wreaths of them, scarlet satin ribbons.

Bright shadows and arrows for the image of a Russian girl will not work. To create the “right” face, a rich red lipstick, blush, dark eyebrows (sable), long and voluminous eyelashes are required. Recommended shoes for creating a folk wedding look - red shoes without heels. Today, you can step back a bit from this trend and purchase not only shoes, but also high-heeled boots. Alternatively, use white shoes.

The basis of the bride’s bouquet can be daisies, ranunculus, cornflowers, stockroza or other meadow plants. To give a "nationality" it is possible to add a branch of viburnum, apple trees, and wheat ears to the composition. Bouquets made entirely of lilies, phalaenopsis or roses will not be appropriate at a traditional Russian wedding.

When making a wedding in the Russian style, it is necessary to choose all the decorative elements correctly, since the general atmosphere of the event will depend on their competent choice and location. Mandatory attributes at the wedding in Russian:

• Khokhloma painting;
• kokoshniki;
• beautiful towels;
• canonical outfits (sheepskin coat and boots for the winter celebration);

• bast shoes;
• wreaths of meadow flowers;
• dried flowers;
• berries of viburnum and mountain ash;

• harness with horses;
• samovar;
• wooden spoons;
• Red caviar;

• bagels, drying, donuts;
• linen tablecloths with embroidery;
• accordion or balalaika;
• Russian stove (if possible);

• rocker arms and buckets;
• carved wooden benches;
• braids from onions and garlic.

The general theme in the Russian style should be reflected in the invitation. It is desirable that the dominant color in postcards be red, paper - "antique" with a traditional pattern, invitation text - in the Old Slavonic dialect. You can shade red with ink and gold. It is possible to use white, blue, blue, ash pink and cherry color. The menu should also be in the traditional Russian style. All guests will be able to taste well-known and delicious dishes, as well as interesting new recipes for treats. Wedding cake is also performed in the general style, for example, under Khokhloma.

The design of the hall for the holiday involves the use of wooden utensils with paintings, artfully embroidered tablecloths, meadow flowers. It is better that all the decor elements that are planned to be used in the decoration of the premises are made of natural materials. Redrawing some traditions in a modern way can destroy the whole atmosphere of the old Russian rite. Tables can be composed in many different ways. In the past, it was considered most convenient to set tables in a long row or in the form of the letter “P”. A place for young people was allocated in the middle of the table or they were seated at a separate table.

An important component of the wedding celebration is the design of the photo zone. Here the decor will be the same at any time of the year. All elements of the photo zone are rooted deep in history, and are also reflected in favorite Russian fairy tales. These attributes include:

• nesting dolls;
• sledges, horse-drawn carriage (in winter);
• felt boots;
• traditional musical instruments;
• embroidered napkins, rushnyks;
• painted background with traditional ornament.

A wedding in Russia is a rather lengthy action, which can be divided into the following stages.

• Collusion. At this stage, the parents of the young agree on the wedding. It is they who decide to unite the fate of their children, set a date, agree on the costs of organizing the celebration on both sides and on the dowry. It so happened that young people first saw each other only on their wedding day.

• Matchmaking. The future bridegroom with support in the person of parents or friends came to the house of the future wife for matchmaking. According to tradition, the first time the groom always failed, receiving a negative answer. The parties agreed only for the second or third time. After that, a grand celebration began in the bride's house with generous feasts, songs and dances.

• Hen-party. He passed on the eve of an important event. The bride and her friends locked themselves in a wax fortune telling bath for their future. Also, the girls sang sad tunes, spread braids to the bride and combed them, and she cried.

• Bachelor party. The groom went to wash in the bath alone. After that, he went to bed and did not have to utter a single word until he met his second half. Today, parting with an unmarried and bachelor life has acquired a completely different scope. Events are held in clubs or in nature, can be organized as part of a theme party.

• Buyout. According to old Russian wedding traditions, the duties of the future spouse before the wedding included the ransom of the bride. The girl’s relatives arranged various kinds of trials for the young man to check the sharpness of his mind, kindness, strength, and generosity. After paying the ransom, the tests did not end. The bridegroom needed to find the bride herself, who could hide in the courtyard buildings or in the neighboring house.As a guard, the father or elder brother was assigned to the young. Before giving the bride to the groom, they could repeatedly demand a ransom from him. When all the tests were completed, the parents blessed the newly-born family and laid a small table in the bride's house.

• Wedding and registry office. The recognition of the creation of a new cell of society has always been held in the church, and only then in the registry office. Registration could take place either outdoors, or in the very premises of an official institution, or in a restaurant, where the celebration then continued.

• The triumph. The Russian wedding is generous with dishes, round dances, traditional songs, dances and playing national instruments. Among the most interesting contests held during the celebration, it is worth highlighting running in bags, tug of war, collecting bagels on a tree. Noisy and fun were riding carts with horses or sledding with dogs. All this was complemented by cheerful songs, loud laughter and the ringing of bells.

• Wedding night. The sleeping place for the young was prepared very carefully. As a rule, it was equipped in a bathhouse or closet in the groom's house. The mattress and bedding were taken from the dowry of the bride. The amulets were laid out on the bed. Juniper, poker, pan and log were placed under the bed.

In the morning, a sheet was hung on display for all relatives, on which the young people rested. If there were doubts about the innocence of the bride, she was sent to her parents' house. The matchmaker was put on a collar around his neck, and his father was given a holey mug of wine. The family was disgraced.

• Bad wedding. This event is held the day after the wedding. The main goal is to entertain the guests. The main characters are the mummers of the bride and groom. Together with the retinue, they walk around the village and offer passers-by vodka and dishes in exchange for money.

See how to celebrate a Russian-style wedding in the next video.