Nozze alla Menta - Wedding Planner Torino

One of the most popular Russian wedding traditions is the ransom for the bride. The groom is coming to the bride's home with his closest friends and relatives. To get the bride he has to pay some ransom to the folks on the bride's side. Everything is played out as a joke and both sides are mostly competing in the sense of humour. After getting the bride, the couple gets out of the house into the car to go for the marriage registration. The wedding gowns are traditionally western these days - white for her, and dark (usually black) for him. Also in Russia it is bad luck to see the bride's dress before the wedding.

There are no rehearsals, bridesmaids, and flower girls. The best man and the maid of honour are called "witnesses" that can be neither married nor engaged. The witnesses usually help with all the wedding preparations and conduct the wedding reception and banquet. Throughout the celebration there is dancing, singing, long toasts, and food and drinks.
Later on the bride tosses the bouquet (usually made of roses) as it is done in the western world.

Another deeply Russian wedding tradition before the wedding banquet to welcome the newlyweds with Bread and Salt. It is offered to them by both parents as a symbol of health, prosperity and long life. Both bride and groom must take a bite of the bread and the one that takes the largest bite will be the head of the family!

There is no wedding list as such, so the bride and groom get a lot of different presents. However, none will ever get them knives or forks that symbolize bad luck and rows.

During the wedding feast any of the guests can start chanting "Gor'ko" ("bitter") (previously “Gor’ko” was pronounced for the same reason, but in a slightly elaborate tradition of drinking vodka served by the bride and confirming it’s bitter taste to everyone, then leaving the money on the tray and kissing the bride), which usually is immediately supported by the rest of the guests. In this case bride and groom should kiss each other and the kiss should last for as long as the chanting continues.