A Ukrainian Wedding- feet washing and wheelbarrow rides!

I have officially attended a Ukrainian wedding. Everyone should do this at least once in their lives. Here is a break down of the solid two day nuptial bonanza.

Day 1- The day kicks off when the groom comes to the family home of the bride and (symbolically) gives the father money and gifts in exchange for his daughter's hand in marriage. Then we proceed to the government building where vows are exchanged and the marriage license is signed. This is the portion that most americans would recognize. Rings are exchanged, the traditional "here comes the bride" music is played, etc. Finally we end up at a restaurant where we sit at a HUGE table filled with food and booze (a bottle of wine and fifth of vodka for each six people that is constantly being refilled). Once you are so full that you can't imagine eating one more piece of sausage the dancing commences. Fun Fact- Ukrainians dance in one large circle around the dance floor all night long. See video for more info on that.

Day 2- The second day of any Ukrainian wedding is bound to start out a bit more tame (possibly due to the amount of booze the guests imbibed the previous day). You kick things off at the church ceremony. This particular wedding took place at the Ukrainian orthodox church. It was very beautiful inside, although I did not understand a word the priest said because they speak an old school mix of polish and russian (or something like that). Then you head back to the restaurant to continue the drink-eat-dance cycle three more times (three is a big number in Ukraine). Throughout both nights you see a smattering of different traditions. I'll tell you about two of the more delightful ones. First, the groom has to wash his new mother-in-law's feet and calves with beer, vodka, and mustard! After this has happened he has to try to get her to put on a pair of delightful rain boots. Her job is to make this as difficult as possible twice and then on the third attempt she succumbs, wears the boots, and they share a dance. On the lucky occasion that one of the newly weds is the last child in the family to get married the parents get loaded into a wheelbarrow and dumped unceremoniously into a puddle (or any available body of water from what I understand). They then have a hilarious dance together to celebrate their truly empty nest.

In closing- Ukrainian weddings are awesome.