The ceremony started off in German then switched to Russian. We had our own personal translator. The cousin of the bride lives in Canada so she sat with us and translated.
The bride and groom come down the aisle together. There was no wedding party except for flower girls and boys and the maid of honor and best man. It was such a long ceremony that the bride, groom, maid of honor and best man all had their own chairs up on the alter. There was no ring exchange. The minister tended to talk more to the congregation than to the couple. He had to ask couple if they were there of their own free will and for love rather than forced to be there. He explained to the bride her responsibilities and duties as a wife, which were to obey her husband as she obeyed her parents, raise the family, love her husband. This lasted 20 minutes. Basically he repeated her duties over and over with different stories and the like. Then on to the groom. He explained his responsibilities as a husband which were to be gentle with his wife, compliment his wife often, and to the provider for the family. This also lasted 20 minutes. Then there was part where they were asked to call their in laws "Mama" and "Papa" to show that they are all one as a family now. They were also told that even though they are married they must maintain a good relationship with their parents and take their advice. In turn their parents were told that they should not be overbearing and controlling in the marriage. There were prayers said by the bride and groom, then each of their parents. Everyone was crying when the parents were praying. Even the bride and groom were crying. There were a lot of prayers (where some people were speaking in tongues) and a lot of songs sung by the choir.
After 2 hours we had lunch but our translator told us that after lunch the wedding resumes and we go back into the church for prayers, well wishes to the bride and groom, as well poems and songs then finally dinner at 6pm. The lunch was really really good. There was some kind of meat kabobs, a Russian wedding soup (very good), mashed potatoes, pork steak with cream sauce, and bottles of self serve soda at the table. The dessert was fruit cocktail in a yogurt type sauce. The church youth group were the servers and made sure all the food was kept replenished on the tables. It was in the church community center and it was family style where we all sat at fest tables and served ourselves. There were no toasts to the bride and groom or any alcohol for that matter. Everyone sat, talked and ate. After that we went outside and had our picture taken with the bride and groom. Then it was back into the church while they took pictures of the bride and groom's families. At this time the guests were socializing. Derek and I did not stay for the rest of the ceremony or dinner since we had to get home to let the babysitter go home. They had a lovely wedding cake which I am sure was cut at the dinner.
Anyway, here are some pictures from the wedding. Not the best quality as they were taken with Derek's Blackberry.
This is the groom's family....
This is the bride's family - our neighbors. All their kids, including their 2 grandchildren and son-in-law.
Bride and Groom
1 comment:
That wedding sounds very interesting!!
Post a Comment