Wedding according to Chuvash traditions
A national Chuvash wedding was held at the International RUSSIA EXPO. The wedding takes a special place among the region's festivals and is characterized by an abundance of rituals. Visitors saw ancient traditions as well as national outfits.
The celebration began with a greeting of guests from the groom's side, where he and the father (head of the wedding) paid gate money to the guests from the bride's side. This was followed by the bride price. To invite her to the table to all the guests, the groom answered mock questions and gave gifts to her girlfriends.
The appearance of the future wife was accompanied by a rite-song "Lament". It had a special meaning, because it was believed that, having cried all the tears before the wedding, the bride will not have to shed them in the house of her husband. Before leaving her father's house, the bride gave gifts to her close relatives - her father was given a shirt and her mother a handkerchief.
"There are so many new things at modern weddings. Newlyweds come up with something to make their celebration different from others. It was important for us to recreate exactly the traditions that our people had," said newlyweds Maxim and Anastasia Gorsky.
The newlyweds were welcomed at the groom's house by the mother-in-law and father-in-law with bread and an icon. They spread out a koshma - a felt carpet, and the guests threw money and small gifts on it, which were then collected by the bride.
After the rite the girl was expected to enter the groom's house, but only after being dressed in a new outfit. Having changed her clothes, she received bread from the groom's parents as a symbol that she had become their daughter-in-law.
