Each nation has its own customs, traditions that relate to literally all aspects of life, including such an important event as marriage. Of course, they changed over time. To the citizens of Russia, some of the old marriage traditions would seem strange and ridiculous. How have marriage traditions changed, which of them are practically not used now?
As before the preparation for the wedding took place
The day before the wedding, the bride's mother baked kurnik (a tall pie stuffed with chicken) and sent it as a gift to her future son-in-law. He, in turn, had to send a live rooster as a gift to the future father-in-law and mother-in-law.
On the wedding morning, the bride was seated on a bench covered with a fur coat and dressed to the crown. Then the so-called "wedding train" drove up to her house - a line of horse-drawn carriages decorated with multi-colored ribbons and bells. Depending on the social status and wealth of the spouses, it could consist of carriages, wagons or simple carts. The groom's witness, who used to be called "friend", knocked on the locked gate and told the bride's father who came out that they were going to hunt hares, but bad luck, one hare ran away from them, jumped over the fence and hid somewhere in this house. Would the owner allow you to search? The bride's father, hesitating for the sake of appearance, agreed. During this time, the "hare", that is, the bride, was hidden in a secluded place, for example, in a closet. The groom, examining the house, eventually found a "hare" and asked the parents of the future wife for a blessing for the marriage. Having received it, he put the bride on the wedding train and took her to church for the wedding.
Such a marriage tradition has long become outdated, and the search for a "hare" has been replaced by a playful "bride price". And rarely does any mother-in-law send a kurnik to the future son-in-law on the eve of the wedding. And to find the groom who presented the future mother-in-law with a live rooster is possible only by accident.
How was the wedding celebration
During the wedding in the church, the bride's relatives prepared a wedding meal for the guests, set the tables. And her mother was preparing a marriage bed for the young spouses. It had to be arranged in strict accordance with ancient traditions. It was prepared in a special room - a cage. First, 21 sheaves were laid on the floor, then they were covered with a feather bed, the feather bed was covered with a blanket, and either a marten fur coat or (if wealth did not allow) the skin of this fur-bearing animal was thrown onto the blanket. As a last resort, you could replace it with a weasel skin.
Wooden tubs with wheat, barley, rye and honey were placed next to the marriage bed. When everything was ready, the mother of the newlywed walked around the bed, holding a rowan branch in her hand.
During the wedding feast, the young were forbidden to eat. Only when they were escorted to the marriage bed were they given a bowl of fried chicken - a symbol of fertility. Of course, such marriage traditions have long become an anachronism, and in our time they no longer meet.
