Features of a Caucasian wedding
At every wedding in the Caucasus, there are several features that have already become mandatory conditions for the celebration. These include:
- Duration of the wedding.
- Excessive pomp.
- Ransom.
- Separate celebration (first in the groom's house, and then in the bride's house).
- Complete exclusion of young people from preparing for the holiday.
- A large number of invited guests.
For example, if often in Russia future newlyweds independently plan the celebration and prepare for it, then for a Caucasian wedding this is a strict taboo. In the Caucasus, it is the parents who are responsible for ensuring that their children’s life after marriage is absolutely comfortable. Therefore, as soon as a child is born in a family, parents already begin to prepare for his wedding and save money. On the one hand, this seems absurd, but on the other, very thorough preparation is always crowned with success. And if the groom can still take part in the preparations for the wedding, then all the bride can do is decide on the choice of her dress.
Regarding the duration of the wedding - in the Caucasus, the celebration is celebrated for at least 2 days, if the families of the newlyweds are sufficiently wealthy, then everything can drag on even for 10 days. Moreover, one of the features that is unique to the Caucasian peoples is that every day is different, despite the fact that celebrating a wedding for 10 days is really a very long time.
It’s not even worth talking about the brightness and splendor of Caucasian weddings. There is a belief that the more luxury there is at the holiday, the greater status the family has and the happier the life of the young will be. Nobody knows whether this is true or not, but weddings in the Caucasus are truly impressive in their scope.
Betrothal of Caucasian newlyweds
A few days after obtaining the consent of both parties, the engagement ceremony takes place. The groom and his parents come to the house of the future wife, and they present the girl with gifts (ring, dresses, sweets, shoes) and praise her (the bride) in every possible way. The girl's family sets the table. A holiday is held during which the groom or the groom's brother (different nations have different ways) puts a ring on the bride.
In Dagestan, during engagement, girlfriends smear henna on their palms, fingers and toes, so that the road to happiness will also open up for them. In some Lezgin villages, after betrothal, newlyweds should not see their new relatives, nor see each other. At the time of engagement, the wedding date is set.
From one to three years can pass between the engagement and the painting itself. Both sides are thoroughly preparing for the celebration. They often get married in the fall, after the harvest is harvested. Wedding celebrations last from two to seven days, depending on the financial situation of the parents. Poor families walk for one or two days. There is another feature of Caucasian weddings - bride kidnapping. The bride is usually kidnapped a couple of days before the wedding and taken to the house of the groom's parents. There they take care of her and please her so that she does not want to return home before the wedding.
The main traditions of the celebration
A Caucasian wedding consists entirely of various traditions and rituals. We will give only a few of them, but in fact, there are a huge number of them.
Embrace
At the end of the wedding, before leaving with her husband for privacy, the bride was expected to hug some family members. Each hug had its own meaning. For example, the first should be a small boy or baby. This symbolized the birth of the first-born son.
Prosperity
In order for the Caucasian bride to be surrounded by prosperity, harmony and poverty in her new home, the mother of her future husband put a spoonful of honey in her mouth, and the guests showered the girl with coins, rice or candies.
Kalym
Ransom or in other words - dowry. The bride's parents naturally prepare her dowry. But in order to get him and his beloved, the groom must pay the bride price. Previously, it was paid in rams, horses or other livestock. It was also possible to pay in grain. Now this is not relevant, and the bride’s parents agree with the groom on the amount of money, and sometimes refuse the ransom altogether.
Dancing
Dancing at a wedding is an unchanging tradition at all times. Naturally, one of the most popular dances is Lezginka. What is noteworthy is that Caucasians learn to dance it from childhood, thus preparing for the upcoming wedding. The man in the dance acts as an eagle, and the woman as a swan. This is an unusually beautiful dance that symbolizes the eternal love of young people and devotion to each other.
Features of Armenian weddings
Armenian weddings have absorbed the traditions of all-Caucasian wedding celebrations, but they also have a number of special touches. Most likely, this is due to the fact that the Armenians are an Orthodox nation.
For example, a bride may attend a matchmaking ceremony that ends with the groom putting a ring on her right ring finger.
The future spouse pays the bride price. Such ransom is traditional for many nations. A Ukrainian wedding, like a Russian one, cannot do without it either. These are not cheap gifts and sweets. The groom also prepares the wedding dress for the bride. It is customary to place gifts and clothes in large baskets: they are carried by the groom’s relatives. While the bride is dressing in her wedding attire, relatives and friends of the future husband are dancing in the street - live national music is playing all the time.
Armenian weddings are very long and large-scale. A long feast begins after the wedding in the church. It is customary to give a lot of jewelry to the bride at an Armenian wedding. The newlywed does not eat anything at the festive table. She can dance only at the end of the feast - one traditional national dance.
In Armenia, there is a vivid ritual: the first wedding night ends, and the husband sends his mother-in-law a basket of red apples, symbolizing the purity of the chosen one.
Nowadays, some of the details that interest Caucasian weddings have changed. But even now, preparations for the Caucasian and Armenian wedding, and the celebration itself, are taking place on an unprecedented scale, because what could be more important than the marriage of a son or the marriage of a daughter.
Caucasian weddings today
Modern Caucasians try to bring their wedding celebrations as close as possible to past traditions, but some of them have completely lost their purpose. So, for example, the bride and groom do not have to hide from everyone until the end of the wedding ceremony.
In Dagestan, a wedding can already begin from the moment of engagement. But the wedding celebration itself, after the engagement, can take place three years later, since such an important event needs to be thoroughly prepared.
If in ancient times the wedding suits of the bride and groom resembled traditional wedding suits with white flowers, now this restriction has sunk into oblivion. The bride can wear a classic wedding dress, the main thing is that she looks dignified and modest in it. And the groom is allowed to wear a classic trouser suit.
Also, these days you rarely see 2 weddings - separately in the house of the bride and groom, as this is an unnecessary expense. Parents jointly make one magnificent celebration.
It is very remarkable, but Caucasian wedding traditions can be found most often in villages and auls. In cities, Caucasians do not follow all traditions and bring the wedding celebration closer to classical, generally accepted norms.
Wedding Caucasian toasts
Of course, Caucasian toasts are very popular, as they have their own unique structure. First, a short story is told, and then the essence is extracted from it in a short form. Toasts have such a structure, thoughtful and interesting, in almost no other culture. In addition, all Caucasian toasts have a deep philosophical meaning. After all, any traditional toast that is pronounced at a wedding has been perfected for several centuries by the best speakers of the people. Therefore, now Caucasian wedding toasts are very popular and are a highlight at any celebration. After all, such a toast combines parting words, congratulations and an invitation to guests to raise their glasses to the health of the newlyweds.
Therefore, if you are planning to say a beautiful congratulation at your wedding, a toast in the Caucasian style is one of the best options. After all, if you simply say toasts or congratulations, they will not give such a positive result. In addition, almost all Caucasian toasts contain some bit of humor, so they are an excellent solution to cheer up and amuse guests a little.
Of course, such a performance needs to be remade a little in a modern way, however, this is not difficult. The most important thing is simply not to miss the essence. After all, the philosophical meaning of congratulations is always appreciated.
Bottom line
To perform Caucasian dances, it is necessary to select suitable accessories. They use folk costumes, hairstyles and related details. If you can’t decide on folk costumes, then a man and a woman should look beautiful and dignified.
The length of a girl's skirt should be up to her toes. But a man is supposed to wear a national headdress. A classic black suit is suitable as clothing for the stronger half of humanity.
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Top best compositions
You can always choose from the most popular tunes that are most often chosen for wedding parties. They will cheer up your guests and help them feel the flavor of the nationality you choose.
- Sultan Hurricane - Caucasian night.
- Symphony Orchestra – Caucasian motives.
- Shamkhan - Ibrahim.
- Ali Dimaev - Mountain Woman.
- Anzor Kaziev - Lilies.
- Umar Munayev - Shepherd.
- Yulduz - I love you.
- Magat - North Caucasus.
- Shahman - Letter.
- Eldar Dalgatov - Caucasian Guys.
Such musical compositions allow you to select a large number of dances. It can be either a slow and lyrical movement, or a performance that picks up the pace.
Beautiful traditions of a Chechen wedding
A wedding is a special holiday, for which people always carefully prepare and celebrate “magnificently”. However, each nation celebrates this important day differently; traditions and customs differ greatly depending on the cultural and religious values of the nation.
It is worth noting that the peoples of the Caucasus are the most devoted to traditions; for them, creating a family and procreation is a sacred event; it requires compliance with established rules that are interconnected with Sharia norms. Using an example, we can consider how a wedding takes place in Chechnya - this is a truly large-scale event of extremely important significance.
Wedding celebration of Sarina Turetskaya
Musician Mikhail Borisovich Turetsky married his daughter to the son of a Georgian restorer. The famous Valentin Yudashkin embroidered Sarina Turetskaya's wedding dress with a 3-meter train with precious stones.
The walls of the banquet area were decorated with branches of wild grapes, white roses and hydrangea flowers. The idea of decoration belonged to florist Tatyana Tridvornova. Guests were treated to delicious dishes of national cuisine.
Eight hundred guests attended the event. The presenter A. Malakhov's fee was two million. Guests at the wedding were artists Joseph Kobzon, Soso Pavliashvili, Nikolai Baskov and other star representatives.
On the second day, the magnificent wedding moved to the groom’s homeland. In the Georgian city of Mkhtseta, seven hundred and fifty people were invited to an expensive restaurant.
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Magnificent wedding of Said Gutseriev
The wedding of Said Gutseriev and Khadzhi Uzhakhova cost the parents a billion euros. Billionaire Mikail Gutseriev is known as a talented businessman and generous philanthropist. Songs based on his poems are heard on the Russian stage.
A Muslim girl who honored Ingush traditions was chosen as Saida’s wife. Five hundred guests from the North Caucasus and Russia attended the event in the Moscow restaurant “Safisa”.
The celebration continued in London. The guests were entertained by world-class guests. Of the Russian stars, Alla Pugacheva sang on stage. The singer was paid three hundred thousand rubles for the performance.
The bride's dress was custom-made in France. Together with the crown, the dress weighed twenty-five kilograms. We spent more than tens of millions of rubles on it. In memory of the wedding, the guests were given chests made of precious metals, in which the date of the wedding of Said and Hadji was engraved. Gutseriev spent fifty million rubles on gifts for guests alone.
