Russian wedding traditions are a bit different from traditional weddings in the USA.  For instance Russians do not have a maid of honor, bridesmaids or groomsmen.  Instead, they have witnesses. These are usually the best friends of the bride and groom.  The witnesses are the rulers of the wedding, so to speak. The witnesses make posters, plan contests and other fun things for the groom and the bride to do.

Russian Wedding Rules

One rule for Russian weddings is they must be full of fun and good times.  So, what qualifies as fun? Well, I mentioned that posters are made and also a script is written.  The posters are placed in the bride's apartment building (as most Russian live in apartments). These posters will have jokes on them about family and marriage. As the script goes the groom must pay a ransom to the bride's family.

The ransom is just good-natured teasing. As the groom makes his way to the bride, the groom has to answer questions: such as when is the brides birthday? or what colors does she love? (His friends can help him answer).  If the groom answers incorrectly, the groom has to pay a ransom to whomever asked the question.  The ransom could be that he has to sing a song, dance or do both.  The ransom amount is usually written in the script, so it can be anything the witnesses think up.

Finally after all the fun, the groom finally makes it to the bride and he whisks her away. The witnesses follow the couple to the ZAGS (this is the official state registry office).  At the ZAGS office, the bride and groom exchange vows and sign the registry. The witnesses also sign. The couple is now married.

Often, witnesses will be the only ones with the bride and groom. However, sometimes other close family members will go to the ZAGS office as well.  Some Russians will have a religious wedding ceremony, but these are not recognized by the government.  Couples must go to ZAGS and formally marry there.

Throughout history food has been used to symbolize many different things in different cultures. In Polish tradition you have the Bread and Salt blessing. In Russian weddings the use of bread helped determine who the head of the family would be. Two different cultures but each use bread in their wedding tradition.

Polish Wedding Tradition- Bread and Salt Blessing

The Polish wedding tradition of The Bread and Salt Blessing is a sweet tradition that can be incorporated into today's modern weddings. At the wedding reception the bride and groom are met by both sets of parents. The parents have a loaf of bread sprinkled with salt and a goblet of wine. The parents then say "According to our Old Polish tradition, we greet you with bread and salt so that your home might always enjoy abundance."

The bread is given in hopes that the bride and groom will never go hungry or be in need. The salt conveys that time may be difficult but they must learn to cope with the struggles in their life and marriage. The wine, as with the bread, give hope that the couple never goes thirsty and their lives be filled with joy and happiness.

The bride and groom each take a piece of the bread and a drink of the wine and then break the plate and the glass by throwing them to the ground. The parents then give a kiss to the couple and the reception begins.

Russian Bread Tradition

The Russians have a unique way to determine who the head of the household is. During the wedding ceremony or at the reception, the bride and groom are given a loaf of karavay (a small round loaf of bread). Someone holds the bread for them as they each take a bite from the loaf. Whomever takes the bigger bite is the considered the head of the family.

As with the Polish tradition the bread is also a symbol for health, long life and wealth. And after the bites are taken, the bride and groom take a drink as well and then break the glasses from which they drank.

Even though each culture has different ways to use bread in their ceremonies, the bread still has the same symbolization. That symbolization is what makes this these traditions so great. The Polish and Russians probably got the ideas and varied the ways the breads are used from the Romans. This shows us that the tradition, even if changed slightly, goes on forever, passed down from generation to generation.

How lovely that we can enjoy all the cultural traditions and differences and incorporate them into our modern days weddings.