What does the ceremony of removing the veil from the bride at a wedding symbolize?
Any wedding celebration is not complete without traditional rituals: the bride price, the marriage ceremony, the meeting of the parents of the newlyweds with “bread and salt”, and also the ceremony of removing the veil from the bride.
Everything happens at the end of the holiday in front of the guests, a significant event occurs, a young girl becomes a woman.
This symbolizes that she is ready to become a wife and mother, protect her family and fulfill her marital obligations.
This custom is preserved not only in Russia, it is also carried out in other countries, taking into account their traditions.
Rose ceremony
It’s not for nothing that in the popular show about love, the bachelor gives the girls a red rose as a sign of his sympathy. A scarlet rose has long been considered a symbol of love, and by giving such a rose to a girl, a man confesses his feelings to her in the language of flowers.
Having chosen a rose ceremony for their wedding, the couple exchange flowers as the first gift to their beloved husband/wife. Afterwards, if you wish, you can give the rose to your significant other’s mother as a sign of gratitude for the birth of your loved one. You can plant these roses in your garden or even embalm them using a special technology and leave them at home for many years.
You can continue this tradition by giving each other red roses every anniversary (you can according to the number of years you have lived in marriage). And a red rose is a wonderful way to apologize after a quarrel and remind your loved one of your feelings and the day when you became a family.
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How is the ceremony performed?
Traditionally, the bride's veil is removed at the end of the ceremony.
To do this, you can think through various scenarios for removing the veil from the bride:
The honorable role in such a ritual is given to the mother-in-law. Removing the bride's jewelry signifies the beginning of married life and the transition from one family to another.
If the ceremony is carried out in a comic form, the mother removes the veil from the bride. At the same time, a small scene is played out in which the girl three times refuses to obey her mother to remove her veil. For the fourth time, the bride gives her consent, and the mother hands her daughter over to the groom.
There is another option in which, after removing the veil, the bride’s head is covered with a scarf. This action carries the meaning that in the life of a young family there will be not only pleasant events, but also adversity.
The rarest scenario for removing the veil from the bride is when the groom does it himself, while taking out each hairpin and showering his chosen one with compliments. Upon completion of everything, he puts a beautiful scarf on his wife’s head.
To make the ritual more solemn, purchase candles for the guests and seat the bride and groom on a chair in the center of the hall. Guests should stand around the newlyweds, light the wicks and watch the sacrament of the ceremony in complete silence.
In the event that the veil is removed by the mother or mother-in-law, the groom must kiss the chosen one with each hairpin removed. If the groom decides to independently remove the decoration from the young woman’s head, to do this it is necessary to seat the bride on a chair.
After the headscarf is worn, the bride begins to dance with all the unmarried girls, holding the veil over their heads. It will be like a wish for speedy marriage and motherhood.
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At the end of the dance there is an address to the groom. The bride covers his eyes with a veil so that he never looks at other girls.
Nuances of carrying out
For this ritual, it is necessary to pay special attention to the choice of scarf with which to cover the bride’s head. When choosing, you should take into account the color of the scarf, since the headdress should not look contrasting against the background of the color of the veil.
The main purpose of the ritual with a veil is to show that family life does not bring hardships, but, on the contrary, is bright and beautiful. The color of the headdress should match the color of the girl's wedding dress.
In addition, it must have a beautiful shape, be light and beautiful, and also have an attractive appearance. The most beautiful wedding scarves are made of satin, silk or delicate veil; lace decoration is also allowed.
A wedding ceremony is a joyful celebration that will remain forever in the memory of the newlyweds and guests. It is necessary to take the holding and scenario of such a celebration seriously.
An important component of any wedding will be wedding ceremonies, which have a special sacrament. They will be able to distract guests from fun competitions and immerse themselves in wonderful memories of their youth.
An alternative to the traditional veil
A veil is an undoubted decoration of a girl, but it is impossible to give a definite answer to the question of whether a veil is obligatory for a bride. Each bride has the right to decide for herself whether she wants a veil or can do without it.
There are plenty of options for replacing a veil. This is where various articles in magazines about what a bride’s veil should be and photos on the Internet come to the rescue.
- Headband. A good choice for a refined look with long hair and updos. Modest and tasteful.
- Ribbon. Wide ribbons are in fashion now. This decoration is especially suitable with a retro style dress.
- Hat. For bright and fashionable brides. The hat can be with or without a veil. The result will be a flirty and original image.
- Wreath. It will look good on young girls whose choice fell on a dress in a boho or rustic style. In addition to the flowers themselves, the wreath can contain beads, rhinestones, leaves, and twigs.
- Diadem. The choice of brides who dream of being a princess. You can attach cotton wool to it or wear it separately.
- Natural flowers. Fresh flowers in hairstyles have recently become very popular. They are chosen by both young and mature brides, since flowers refresh the look at any age. A sophisticated, collected hairstyle or loose curls will become even more beautiful with a fresh flower.
Greece
A Greek wedding is noise, fun, flowing wine, smooth lines and branches of a green vine. For a banquet, it is better to choose a spacious, bright hall with columns. The color scheme of the design can be of several types: white with sky blue, like the sea in Santorini, olive-gold or white-green. The banquet hall is decorated with red, yellow and orange flowers. A Greek wedding is filled with theatrical thematic scenes that delight many guests with their originality and originality, and of course, an obligatory stage of the show program is the joint performance of the national dance sertaki. At a Greek wedding, there is generally a lot of dancing in a circle, with the guests placing their hands on each other's shoulders. The Greek wedding menu includes Mediterranean cuisine: Greek salad, cheese with olives, souvlaki - pork kebabs on wooden skewers. Be sure to bake wedding bread with coins mixed into it. For alcohol, wines and metaxa are suitable. An original solution would be to serve wine in special Greek amphorae. The bride wears a white dress with a bright veil and gloves. Groom's suit in light shades. Guests usually give envelopes with money and flowers.
Before the wedding
There are many signs and traditions, and some of them relate to the period of preparation for the wedding: this is traditional matchmaking, which now takes the form of a small feast for parents and newlyweds.
There is also a tradition of bachelorette and bachelor parties. According to Russian traditions, the bachelorette party was held before the wedding day: the bride's friends gathered there, the bride cried and wailed, said goodbye to her girlhood, and unbraided her hair.
Nowadays, hen and stag parties are increasingly held as we often see in Hollywood films - fun, noisy and with alcohol.
Let's return directly to the day of celebration. What ritual begins almost any Russian wedding?
What started this custom?
The tradition of removing the veil dates back to ancient times, when a girl getting married took care of her virginity until the wedding.
Where did the Ukrainian name “cover” come from? Those girls who did not maintain chastity were subjected to public ridicule: their hair was cut off and a piece of dirty linen was thrown over their heads. Such punishment was a significant incentive to preserve one’s innocence until the wedding.
If a girl lost her honor, after the wedding and the festive table, the bride took off her wedding dress, unraveled her girl’s braids, did a woman’s hairstyle and put on the headdress of a married woman.
Often this ritual was performed by the mother-in-law, who thereby symbolized that she was accepting her son’s wife into the family. It also symbolized that the mother-in-law believes in the innocence of her daughter-in-law and confirms this with her actions.
