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Bride and Groom standing on a towel
with money beneath it |
Like all Moldavian weddings I have seen, they start at the Mayor’s office so they can be legally married. After that they go to the church. The marriage service at the church is about 30 minutes long and they have some interesting traditions.
One tradition is that they give the priest and the choir director a gift; in the two weddings I have seen they were beach towels. They also stand on a towel which money is placed under, which I forget the meaning of that, I think it is something about having money in the marriage or who will control the finances. The bride and groom choose a married couple that will be their advisors for their marriage.
 |
A married couple who is suppose to
give guidance during the couple's
marriage |
Another interesting thing is the wedding ceremony is not attended by very many people. It is usually about 20 people max and is usually parents and bridal party. The ceremony also doesn’t seem to be as big a deal as in the US. I say this because the priest jokes around, at times it is a choppy ceremony because it doesn’t seem like the bride and groom knows what is going on, and sometimes they are still lighting candle and preparing when the bride and group come in. I am just use to US wedding where everything is planned and rehearsed. I also find it funny that I have observed two Orthodox weddings and did not know the people, I just went because that is where my host dad went and my host mother was there leading the choir.
It was a beautiful ceremony, it is interesting to learn about the traditions and see how things are done in other countries.
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| Walking around the pulpit 3 times |
My description of a Baptist wedding in Moldova:
www.timothyhornsby.blogspot.com/2010/09/first-wedding-in-moldova.html
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