The Rites of Marriage in Bulgaria - Part II

Taking the Bride Before the groom left the house, his friends poured barley over his head and shot with rifles in the air. Then the groom's father stood at the gate and blessed his son and the marriage.

The order of the ceremony procession towards the bride's house was the following:

• at the head of the procession was the flag-bearer,

• then the dancers (young men and women who play "Rachenitsa" - a popular folk dance),

• then come the best man and the groom,

• then come the musicians, who were supposed to make as much noise as possible.

The rest of the guests followed at the end. There was a special messenger who served as a "hostage". He would go first to the bride's house. Usually this was a man with a great sense of humor who told jokes and tried to divert the attention of the bride's parents by trying to buy a rooster from them. This has a particular purpose, however. It was because the bride was hidden somewhere in the house and if her parents' attention was diverted, someone might come and steal her.

There was a rooster on every wedding. It was decorated with wreaths of white popcorn and chili peppers. Its wings were tied with red cloth and people usually bargained a long time on its price.

The groom's wedding guests were stopped at the front gates. They had to jump and do all sorts of crazy things in order to be allowed to enter the bride's house. Sometimes, if the "hostage" was successful in diverting the parents' attention, he would open the gate or would even steal the bride and take her outside right away!

But if we follow the normal procedure, after the procession was allowed to enter, the most honored guests sat down around tables in the yard.

The attention shifted to the young couple. The bride was locked in a room somewhere, and only the bride's maid could visit her.

Later, after some bargains for admission, the best man and the groom could join them too. The maid's obligation was to "veil" the bride. She veiled the bride three times; two times the bride would reject the veil, on the third time she would agree to keep it.

In the meantime all the wedding guests were singing and dancing outside, expecting the groom and the bride. The "hostage" continued to make jokes, play with the

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