13/02/2017
Themed weddings - Russian Wedding. Book It!
Russian Wedding (Свадьба)
In Soviet times people either had a simple, unpretentious wedding ceremony in the local registry office (ЗАГС) or a more elaborate and grand affair in the so-called Wedding Palace (Дворец бракосочетания). Nowadays there is an increasing tendency for people to get married in church. The festivities which follow the wedding ceremony have always been big occasions, with an abundance of food and drink, which can last anything up to two or three days (especially in rural areas). The celebrations include numerous speeches, a great deal of music and dancing and countless toasts, frequently to the accompaniment of the refrain Горько! (Bitter!), which is the prompt for the newly-weds to kiss, thereby sweetening the atmosphere. Couples who decide to take their honeymoon (медовый месяц) after the wedding (which is by no means the norm) will not usually leave until all the revelry has finished.