How are weddings in the USA
A fluffy white dress, a classic suit, a sea of flowers, as well as a lengthy bride price, a solemn ceremony at the registry office and a chic feast – all this is typical for a Russian wedding. Abroad, weddings are celebrated differently: instead of a long feast in a restaurant – a buffet table in some landscape place, instead of a ransom – a beautiful ceremony in a church, instead of a huge number of guests – a narrow circle of closest friends and relatives. What else distinguishes Russian weddings from foreign ones? Let’s try to figure it out.
In the US, as in many other Western countries, marriage is a business. In America, future newlyweds practically do not prepare for the wedding celebration on their own. All pre-wedding chores are taken over by employees of special wedding agencies.
However, everything starts in the same way in all countries. A young man proposes to his girlfriend, after which an engagement is held, at which it is customary to give a diamond ring. Only after this, the couple in love officially becomes the bride and groom. Between the engagement and the wedding usually takes from six months to 2 years.
During this time, preparations for the wedding take place. Future newlyweds book a hall where a banquet will be organized, negotiate with a priest or presbyter, agree on the place and time of the honeymoon trip, and also begin to look for apartments for living together.
Six months before the wedding, the bride and groom begin to send out invitations to the celebration. Invitations to the USA are very different from Russian ones. Firstly, usually the young people themselves come up with their design, and secondly, this is not just a postcard indicating the time and place, but rather a whole package of messages. It indicates the time and place of the celebration, the possibility of renting a hotel, as well as a list of desired gifts. In addition, an additional envelope and a card are inserted into the envelope, which must be returned before the specified time, indicating whether the invited guest will be at the wedding or not.
A month before the celebration, the bride and groom arrange a stag and hen party, respectively. It is pointless to describe these holidays, since they are always held in different ways, and the traditional Hollywood stripper does not necessarily jump out of the cake, she may not be in boyish fun at all. Bridesmaids come to the bachelorette party with gifts. This is a long tradition dating back to the first settlers.
Typical for American weddings is the rehearsal of the celebration, which takes place on the eve of the ceremony itself. The rehearsal is usually attended by the bridesmaids and groomsmen of several couples, the parents of the newlyweds and their godparents. After the rehearsal, all participants traditionally go to a restaurant for dinner.
The wedding ceremony itself is very solemn and beautiful and is not much different from Hollywood films. The groom stands at the altar and waits for the bride, who walks along the red carpet arm in arm with her father, and a little girl covers the road in front of the bride with rose petals. During the wedding itself, the newlyweds give each other an oath of love and fidelity, put on rings for each other and the holy father declares them husband and wife, after which they leave the church. After the ceremony, the newlyweds and immediate family go either for a walk or for a buffet.
At the entrance to the beautifully decorated hall where the celebration will take place, cards with the names of the guests and table numbers are displayed so that everyone knows where his place is. There is also a special table for gifts.
There is not much food on the buffet table, usually the tables are served with cheese, olives and various other snacks for wine or beer, usually a salad and one hot dish are served this way. And of course, the traditional multi-tiered cake that the newlyweds cut. Of course, not without dancing. And at the end of the evening, the groom removes the garter from the bride’s leg and throws it to his unmarried friends, the bride, in turn, throws her will to her girlfriends, after which the newlyweds go on their honeymoon.
Of course, this is just an approximate scenario for a wedding celebration. Here everything depends only on the imagination of the young. For example, in Las Vegas, both Marilyn Monroe and Elvis Presley can hold a wedding ceremony. Of course, in this case, the wedding will not be so magnificent and solemn, but it will still be remembered for a lifetime.