Russian Wedding Traditions

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.