Russian Wedding

Russian wedding protocol is quite different from the any other marriage ceremonies anywhere in the world. For example, there are no bridesmaids, a best man and flower girls.
Engagement: In Russian wedding, there is no such a thing as engagement. A man asks a woman if she would marry him, but there is not ring exchange. Also there is no big announcement about the event but just the closest friends and family are informed.
The wedding is usually planned soon, within 1-3 months. The time depends on the department of registrations. The couple is supposed to apply in writing to the department of registrations asking to register their marriage. The department will give them available dates but according to the law there must be at least 1 month of "waiting period". During Soviet time this period was 3 months. People in Russia marry early, mostly at the age of 18-22, and often one of the partners collects the application form from the registratios office - ZAGS. After the couple has applied to the department of registration, they are considered as being a bride and a groom.

In Russian weddings "engagement rings" are those which the couple exchanges during the wedding ceremony. The two buy them together; the groom pays; this is the necessary part of the wedding tradition. Russian engagement rings are in reality just plain wedding bands of gold, without diamonds or stones, and they wear them on the right hand on the finger. An "engagement ring" on the LEFT hand on the same finger will mean for Russians that the person is divorced or widowed.
The bride`s dress is usually made especially for the occasion.
The necessary part of the wedding ceremony is a wedding train of several cars. Big black cars are considered as luxury in Russia and usually if the couple has money, they will hire at least one for the bride. The more cars participating in the wedding train, the more proud the couple will be. Usually they ask all their friends and relatives who have cars to join the ceremony. The cars are used to collect the bride, and go to ZAGS for registration ceremony.
A Russian Wedding is an event where everybody must be drunk. No one will be surprised if people drink themselves to unconscious on the wedding - and many do. Having plenty of food is typical for any Russian function, and a wedding is not an exception.
The Wedding - Day 1 
A Russian wedding lasts for at least two days. Sometimes it stretches to a week.
The groom and the bride have their family and friends with them; it means, the groom`s company meets at groom`s place and the bride`s company meets at bride`s place. The groom goes to pick up the bride for ZAGS, and then they go go to the ceremony of "brakosochetanie" - when a bride and a groom exchange rings and put their signatures in the registry.
Traditionally the wedding is ruled by "witnesses". The best friend of the groom/bride usually acts as his/her "witness". Those witnesses must prepare a script for the wedding so guests are entertained all the time. A Russian wedding must be fun, or it is not a wedding.
When the groom arrives to fetch the bride he must have some spare time until the ceremony as he is about to fight to get the bride. Russians live in blocks, and the higher the bride`s apartment, the more effort the groom has to spend. There are posters with jokes about family life and wedding all over the walls on his way up made by the bride`s friends. Each stair-well is a challenge for the groom - he must answer a question to be allowed to make those few steps up. It`s a team work - bride`s friends ask devious questions, and the groom must answer with the help of his friends. For example, he may be shown a few photos of baby girls and he must say which one is his bride. If he guessed wrong, he must pay cash to pass this stair-well. He can be also asked to sing, to dance or anything else. But eventually he will make it of course. This tradition seems to be similar to the teasing rituals and juta chupana kind of rituals in Indian weddings, where the bride`s sisters and friends would tease the groom and would have him pay for every challenge and prank.

After the groom reaches his bride, they go to ZAGS. Usually it`s only the closest family and friends who accompany them and the rest of the guests only join at the reception.
Two crossed golden rings are Russian symbol of marriage that may be also seen on wedding invitations and at wedding venue and vehicles.
The ceremony in ZAGS is similar to what happens at a civil ceremony in the West - the bride and the groom will be asked if they want to marry each other, and they must answer "Yes", then they exchange rings, then they kiss each other, then sign the registry, then the witnesses sign. The official representative of ZAGS will say a few words of greetings, and play the official hymn of marriage ceremony - march of Mendelssohn. The guests who are present give flowers to the bride, and drink a bottle of Champagne.
Nowadays many couples opt for a marriage in a church but church marriages in Russia still do not have official status, and the couple must be officially married by ZAGS before the marriage in church. So if the couple plans to have a church ceremony, they will usually go through the civil ceremony a few days before the wedding.

The Russian church ceremony is colorful and solemn but the complete traditional ceremony is very long, and guests and the couple have to stand during the ceremony as there are no benches in Russian churches at all; people must stand during all church services. Most couples wisely opt for a shortened version of the church marriage ceremony.
After the marriage ceremony the couple leaves the guests for a tour around the city sights. Usually it`s only the couple and the witnesses in one car but sometimes it may be two cars and the closest friends. After 2-3 hours of the city tour the couple arrives at the reception. Having more than 100 guests is not typical; guests at Russian weddings are usually only family and friends.
Welcome to their home by the mother of the bride with salt, karavay and honeyThe most important role at the reception is that of the toastmaster (tamada). Usually this role is placed upon a friend or relative who is famous for his or her verbal talents. Whether a hired professional or a close personal friend, it is the job of the tamada to introduce the guests, toast the newlyweds, organize singing contests and make sure that everyone is having a good time.
The biggest concern at the wedding is to have enough liquor. A Russian Wedding is an event where everybody must be drunk. No one will look at you odd if you drink yourself to unconsciousness on the wedding – and many do. It is considered rude otherwise.
Having plenty of food is typical for any Russian function, and a wedding is not an exception. If you have enough liquor and food, the wedding is basically ready. A Russian wedding must be fun, or it is not a wedding.
Popular Russian Wedding Traditions including having a Tamada (toastmaster), bread and salt ceremony, breaking glasses, and the stealing of the bride or Krazha Nevesty among others. There is also a traditional wedding welcome bread, the Karavay, usually on a decorated handmade towel called a Rushnik, welcoming the newlyweds to the family.

First thing to start the reception is a toast. The first toast is of course for the new couple. One of the witnesses will announce the first toast, and then the parents have their say. Witnesses will also add some greetings, usually in the form of a poem, and eventually announce the toast itself: For the first toast people usually drink Champagne, and after the first sip somebody says "Gor`ko!" ("Bitter!"); it means the vine is bitter. All guests together start to shout "Gor`ko! Gor`ko!" To make the vine sweet, the newlywed couple must kiss each other. They must stand up and kiss each other for as long as possible, and all the guests start counting while they are kissing. If the couple was not kissing long enough, the guests can insist that the vine is still bitter, and request another kiss. This happens after almost every following toast, so the couple has lots of kissing during the wedding.
The second toast is always for the parents; and after a witness announced the toast, the bride and the groom have their say of "Thank you" to both bride`s and groom`s parents.
Usually when a person says the toast, he gives his gift to the newlywed. Some time after the beginning of the reception when people start to become drunk the witnesses will ask everybody to give their gifts and one of the witnesses will collect envelopes from the rest of the guests with a tray. Then the first part of the reception is over. Then people have time to dance. First dance is opened by the new couple. After the music starts, there is no exact script anymore, and witnesses can relax a little.
Movements become quite hectic; some people go out "to refresh", and at some moment in this movement the bride gets "stolen"! She disappears, and when the groom starts looking for her, he is faced with a request for a ransom. Usually it`s his friends who "steal" the bride. But he must watch out - the bride sometimes may be stolen a few times!
Then there are the bride`s friends - they steal the bride`s shoe. The groom must pay ransom for the shoe too - the guests enjoy watching wrangles. (Sometimes the groom is having so much fun that he does not notice that his bride has disappeared; and his buddies have to tell him about it. Some grooms don`t seem to care, and have their first marriage scandal on the day of the wedding - of course the bride participates in the "stealing".)
There is no tradition of a wedding cake in Russia though they have adopted this western tradition. They give a cake at the end of the reception, but there is no custom of bride and groom cutting it together.
Often guests leave the wedding in such a condition that they cannot remember what happened. If this was the case with the majority of guests, then the wedding was a huge success.
The Wedding; Day 2 The day after the reception, the immediate family and close friends will get together again at the home of the bride or groom’s parents. There are lots of games and funny events designed to raise more money for the newlyweds. For instance, guests are often told that they have to “rent” their forks and knives for eating. Guests are not given knives, forks or spoons. Nor are they given glasses. They must “Rent” any utensil they use. This money goes to the newlyweds.
Once everyone has had their meal, the Bride must “clean” the floors. The fun part is that the guests are allowed to mess up as much as they want while she is cleaning. The catch is – NO dirt, etc. They can only mess the floor up with money – coins or banknotes.
Usually people make a special effort to get LOTS of change, so the bride has to work hard to “clean” the mess. The collected money goes to the newlyweds and some generous guests can significantly contribute to the new family’s budget.
Traditional foods are served, such as borscht (beet soup with vegetables and meat) and ukha (fish soup); main course of pelmini (a noodle dough encasing a filling, similar to ravioli). There is no custom of cutting a wedding cake in Russia.