The Rites of Marriage in Bulgaria - Part II

steal each other's happiness, that is husbend... Even today there are occasions when a wedding ( in Bulgaria, the word "wedding" - or "svatba" is often used as a collective noun as in English "the police" or "the blind" etc. When used in this way, it would mean the whole procession AND at the same time every single man or woman who walk along with the bride and groom. Here I use it contrary to the English rule... ;-) )wander and sneak around the neighborhood in order to avoid facing another marriage procession.

The Marriage Ceremony

The marriage ceremony in church is a very important part of the wedding even though it had nothing to do with the folk rituals! They remain from the times of the Tribal Union ( which occupied the territory of future Bulgaria ) when the population had multiple religions and obeyed the rules of polytheism!

Marriage in a Christian Orthodox church ( this is the official religion in Bulgaria ) is very different from the one in a Catholic or a Protestant church. If you would like some details or if you have questions on this subkects, please do not hesitat to write and I will do some research!

Now, very often, the bride and the groom would try to enter the church with their rihgt foot first... But that is more of a superstition. Anyway, many people believe that the bride tends to step with the left one first all the time so the groom actually attempts to carry the bride.

Later, after signing of the official documents, instead of kissing the bride, the groom tries to step on one of her legs... Sometimes it is she who succeeds to do it on the first place and then, there is a general applause for that is considered a sign that the bride would wear the pants in the family.

In the next part of the article, I will tell you something about the after-marriage procedures, the celebrations and the first night after the wedding.

( to be continued soon )

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