俄罗斯婚礼.ppt

Russian wedding Kate Brief Introduction A traditional Russian wedding lasts for at least two days and some weddings last as long as a week. Throughout the celebration there is dancing, singing, long toasts, and a lot of food and drinks. The best man and maid of honor are called witnesses, svideteli in Russian. The ceremony and the ring exchange takes place on the first day of the wedding. Russian weddings have adopted some of western traditions, including bridesmaids and others. Traditional Wedding Rituals It is a term in Russian known as vykup nevesty. At first the groom comes and gives something (often money or jewelry) for the bride, and so the parents of the bride bring out a woman or man (the latter for amusement) that is not the actual bride, but is dressed up like one, covered in a veil, so the groom cant see their face. When the groom realizes that it is not his bride, he asks for his love, but the family of the bride will demand a bigger ransom to be paid. So, upon satisfaction with the ransom given, the brides family gives away the bride to the groom. In the next step, the bride and groom have an optional traditional ceremony in a church. In Russian this is called the venchanie. The wedding ceremony takes place in a church and is divided into two parts: the Betrothal and the Crowning. The service traditionally takes place in the morning, after the celebration of the Divine Liturgy（圣餐仪式）, during which the wedding rings were blessed by being placed on the Holy Table (altar祭坛). The betrothal is now commonly done at the same ceremony as the wedding itself. The priest blesses the bride and groom and gives them lighted candles which they will hold throughout the ceremony. The priest then says two brief prayers for the couple and the rings are blessed and placed on the couples right hand. The priest then says a prayer blessing the couples betrothal. In the Eastern Orthodox Church Holy Matrimony is considered a Sacred Mystery (sacrament圣礼，圣事), and the sig