A Hungarian wedding...

Sat17nov07
Attended the wedding ceremony of Project 3 family members Aniko and Zsolt at the mayor’s office. The bride and groom arrive in separate cars via a specified route. Upon completion of the ceremony they take a different route than the way in which they arrived, a “good luck” tradition.
Before the days of printed invitations, when a couple began preparing for their wedding, it was the responsibility of the best man (the godfather of the bride and groom) to make personal verbal invitations to the guests, often in a rhyme. He was often also responsible for arranging up to three days of festivities and amusements. Today, couples are still expected (as much as possible) to invite their close relatives, friends and neighbors in person together as a couple. For us, Aniko hand delivered invitations in the company of her mother and children, with a specially printed English insert for yours truly.

Traditional bride's attire included a marvelously embroidered dresses with floral patterns and a bold variation of three bright colors, often with many underskirts and an elaborate head-dress often with wheat woven into it. The fancy beaded and embroidered dolls popular as tourist items in Hungary are modeled after traditional wedding attire. Modern brides usually wear white gowns; Aniko was beautiful in a simple pale ivory satin bodice and skirt with a scattering of ivory embroidery.
In olden times Hungary, large groups of people, often the whole village, would form a Wedding Procession marching to the bride's home and escorting her and all her trousseau in a painted and decorated cart to the groom's house or the church. (I have seen variations of this in summer weddings here, with the wedding parties in horse drawn open carriages.) Celebrations along the way would take place as people would come out of their homes and often toast the couple and offer their best wishes. Arriving at the groom's home, the bride would be greeted by his parents - sometimes with a candle or a glass of wine - the glass she would toss behind her - or with an egg on the floor that she would break to assure healthy children. Or sometimes they would offer her honey and braided cake to assure sweetness. Sometimes a handful of small coins ("little money") would be tossed on the floor and a broom would be left in the home's doorway for her to grab and start sweeping to show her industriousness. A couple would be given a couple of dishes to smash loudly for her to sweep up as well - carefully separating the coins from the pottery. The more shards the better - "Many pieces makes for a successful marriage." These are often done at family parties after the wedding and reception is over.
In general, today, Hungarian weddings are less formal and rehearsed than in the US, and follow a similar, but simpler, format. Today, a required civil wedding will take place one month after all paperwork is completed, with the bride and groom entering the Courthouse hand in hand together followed by their witnesses, the four of them sitting at the front of the room, the couple signing their names in a book. This brief "State" ceremony is secular, so a religious ceremony will often follow at a church.
While I’ve no idea what preceded their arrival at the “mayor’s house”, Aniko and Zsolt were accompanied by a “procession” of relatives and friends bearing cakes and wine for guests waiting there to share before the ceremony. All then preceded them into the room where the ceremony took place. Their names were entered in the city book of records; vows and rings were exchanged, followed by the lighting of a unity candle. Each parent was presented with a red rose. At the completion of the ceremony, the person performing the ceremony and parents, bride, groom and witnesses shared a symbolic toast with wine… then all had the opportunity to congratulate them in a receiving line before they headed off to their reception.

Very cool.

Given the festivities, Aniko and Zsolt were “excused” from construction today and tomorrow, though the remaining families will brave the cold and keep on working. I opted for a warm (inside) weekend off, though I did walk for a while in the light snow that began falling as the wedding processional of cars sped on to their next destination. Wet and quite lovely, cold enough for flakes to dust the village briefly in white [smile]