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As with most Russian brides, my wedding day became the happiest day in my life. But in order for that to be so we had to plan well in advance and coordinate all aspects of the wedding. Fortunately I had the assistance of both friends and family, otherwise it would have been an impossible task. Choosing and procuring a wedding dress, a restaurant, a toastmaster, entertainment, etc, were all part of the process.
And finally that most special day had arrived. The wedding commotion began in the early morning. My mom, aunts, sisters were all busy doing this and doing that. Also they were all giving me encouragement and advice for the future.
Many small things were misplaced but then were found in the most unexpected of places. My dog even tried to chew the petticoats of my wedding dress and I began seriously to panic with tears welling up in my eyes. But my mom was able to save the situation. She very quickly corrected the damage to the material of my petticoats.
When I was nearly ready to walk down the aisle my mom gave me a small velvet box. There was a golden locket in it. It had been presented to my mom by her mother, who got it in her turn from her mother. It was said that this locket had always brought happiness to my forbears and now it belonged to me. At that point tears flew down from my eyes and my bridal makeup had to be restored.
When the groom arrived, my sister and my bridesmaids decided to demand a ransom for me. The Russian brides ransom was an old tradition based on a time when Russian women were sometimes kidnapped and held until her family agreed to allow her to marry the kidnapper. They had prepared many interesting and funny tasks but kept them in secret until his arrival. My beloved bravely tried to sing my favorite song. His lack of singing ability was compensated by his brave efforts. After this he performed the feat of trying to say as many compliments to me as possible for each letter of the alphabet!
And then it was time to go to the marriage registry office. We were a little tentative of course, but when I saw that all our friends had come to escort us there it was not only pleasant but a very touching moment as well. After getting the marriage license we took a walk which is also a Russian brides tradition. We wanted to choose an unusual route, not the usual one for newlyweds among the monuments. So we decided to take a river voyage on a white yacht.
The fresh wind and the splashing water will be in our memories for a long time. We were lucky with the weather. It was a sunny day and the river was calm and our photographs came out wonderfully!
After the voyage, we were tired but content. Our parents were waiting for us in the restaurant and we went there directly from the yacht club. The reception went extremely well thanks to an excellent host person. He did not recite the usual love poems, but really improvised. He even made a real theatrical show with the kidnapping of my shoe.
In a Russian brides wedding the first dance is one of the most important moments. We had chosen our favorable tune "All for love". To be honest we prepared for it a little bit, because everybody at the reception would be looking at us in this moment. Everything passed successfully, and my beloved did not even step on the edge of my dress. We had been worried about this most of all.
Toward the end of the reception there was the ceremonial wedding cake, decorated by sparklers. After the cake ceremony I threw the bride's bouquet. And then there were fireworks… And then we went to a spa hotel in which our friends had booked a room for us. It was their wedding present to us. We spent an unforgettable wedding night there. But that is the beginning of quite another story...
To learn more about Russian women read Russian women bus tours, an article about traveling through Europe by bus.
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