European style wedding. Features of the event

We are already accustomed to the fact that showering the newlyweds with grain, cutting the cake and throwing a bouquet have become invariable attributes of any wedding. But even these completely modern wedding traditions were not always present in Europe.

The cradle of most European wedding ceremonies was ancient Greece, Rome and other ancient states.

Features of a European wedding.

A European-style wedding is somewhat different from what we are used to. A sample wedding scenario looks like this:

The groom proposes to the bride. Official engagement.
After the engagement, on the day before the wedding or a couple of days before it, a bachelorette and bachelor party are held.
Pre-wedding photography of newlyweds (not on the wedding day).
Meeting of the bride and groom at the place of marriage (most often such weddings are not held at the registry office).
Photo session after marriage.
Wedding reception in nature.
The newlyweds go to a hotel or go straight to their honeymoon.

The main difference between the European style and Russian weddings is the scenario. A lot of entertainment activities, such as competitions, quizzes, etc., are quite calm. This wedding is quite elegant due to the many details thought out to the smallest detail. Such weddings show good taste. They often turn to professionals for advice: they will help organize a European wedding the way it should be held. Most often, at such events there is no toastmaster; they usually hire an entertainer who only coordinates the event: announces the next moments in the wedding.

Stylistics

A lush dress with a crinoline, an expensive limousine, a posh restaurant, velvet tablecloths - what else comes to your mind to characterize the “classic luxury” style? More laconic and simple styles are suitable for the European wedding format: rustic, boho, elegant classics, eco-style. Garden floristry, delicate flowers, interesting color combinations and... details help to support this style in wedding decoration. Today, details play a very important role in wedding decoration: printing, table settings, floristry - all this helps to create a cozy atmosphere and tell the story of the couple’s love in every detail of the wedding.

Wedding banquet venue

In Russian weddings, morning preparations usually go something like this: a make-up artist and hairdresser, as well as bridesmaids, come to the bride in the morning, everyone helps her get ready for the celebration, and then the groom and his friends drive up to the house and buy the bride. And the photographer records on camera the bride’s preparations.

A European-style wedding requires a slightly different approach. Firstly, for getting ready, 2 hotel rooms are usually rented: for the bride and groom. Or one for the bride. Secondly, they hire two photographers, since they record the preparations of both the bride and groom. Thirdly, most often there is simply no ransom. And the most important difference is that such weddings are extremely rarely held in the registry office.

Images of witnesses

Everyone remembers that at weddings there is a witness and a witness. But at a European wedding there are more of them, three or four people each. It is imperative to think through the images of friends with them. Girls are expected to wear matching dresses. And this is extremely difficult to implement. After all, one person may like the dress, another may not, and a third simply doesn’t fit. Therefore, the advice is this: let there be one common detail - fabric - but different styles suitable for each girl. Young people wear the same suits (or the same color). The main thing is that the groom stands out among everyone. The groomsmen can also add a bright detail - a tie or bow tie - in the same color scheme as the bridesmaids' dresses. Such images of witnesses look quite stylish and make the newlyweds stand out from the crowd. It also looks very interesting in photographs.

Images of guests at a wedding and the location of the ceremony

If there is no wedding planned on the wedding day, guests gather where the painting itself is taking place. It is better to have a wedding outdoors. To do this, you leave an application at the registry office, and the employee comes directly to the ceremony site. To complete the look, decorate the wedding arch or pedestal with a canopy.

Everyone has watched films with weddings and remember how the guests were seated or placed on two sides of the path, and the bride and groom walked towards the arch. It’s worth doing about the same for your wedding. Lay a carpet or place flowers on the sides to imitate it, place chairs or benches for guests to the left and right of the impromptu corridor. According to European traditions, the father leads the bride to the altar, and the groom is already waiting for the bride near the arch.

If you were denied an outdoor ceremony, then consider having the painting and celebration take place on different days. And the role of a registry office employee can be played by a specially hired person.

When everything has been thought through, invitations are sent (distributed) to the guests with the date, time and place of the gathering or banquet.

In addition to the witnesses, there will be many more guests at the wedding, so a dress code is expected for them. The appeal of wedding photos depends on the people and atmosphere around them, not just the bride and groom. Girls are expected to wear evening or cocktail dresses, men - formal suits.

Wedding banquet decoration

If the wedding is held in the summer, choose places in nature: a park area, a picturesque shore of a reservoir, or even an area near a house or cottage.

Naturally, when holding a wedding in winter or bad weather, you should think about booking a restaurant or banquet hall. It must be designed in accordance with the European style.

In a European wedding, the unity of all details is important. To do this, you can choose a specific color scheme or wedding style. It is necessary to think through everything - from the images of the bride and groom to the smallest accessories. Don't miss this moment, it is very important.

Once you have decided on the style of the wedding, you can begin to select many important details: the wedding cake, table decorations, the bride’s bouquet, the decor of the hall, the design of the wedding arch or pedestal - all this needs to be carefully thought through. The ideal combination of details and the beauty of the holiday are the main characteristics of a European wedding.

Stylish accessories made in the same style will clearly stand out and attract the attention of guests. Guests will appreciate the consistency of the styles of the menu, invitations, cards with the names of guests on the tables, the decor of the hall, and the decoration of the table of the bride and groom. To add your own twist to the overall picture, you need to work in detail on the design of the entire wedding ceremony and banquet.

In Europe, not so much attention is paid to the wedding table (food and drinks), but rather to the design and decoration of the celebration.

Exchange of rings

Before the advent of wedding rituals, rings were considered attributes of power. The tradition of giving rings to brides was born thanks to ancient Roman grooms, who gave rings to their girls as a symbol of the inviolability of their feelings.

The first wedding ceremony with rings took place in Egypt. Moreover, it was then that the fashion began to wear a wedding ring on the ring finger. Egyptian priests and healers believed that wearing a ring enhanced the magical and healing powers of this finger. Any ointments and medicines were applied to the body with its help.

The Greeks also believed that the finger and the heart were connected, but not by a nerve, but by blood vessels. In ancient Greece, the ring became associated with passionate love.

Banquet

Before the wedding ceremony, it is worth introducing the guests to each other by organizing a small buffet table with drinks and snacks - this is a common occurrence at European-style weddings. Such a place could be a buffet with food already prepared.

At such weddings there is usually no common large table; this style involves placing several tables for 5-9 people. For such a banquet, a full dinner is ordered. There are minimal common dishes on the tables. Almost all food is served by waiters. Dinner does not last for several hours. How to seat guests needs to be thought out in advance. There are many seating options: by age, getting to know each other or a group of friends.

If the celebration takes place outdoors, you can get by with a light buffet. This will emphasize that the wedding is taking place in a European direction. In such a case, it is worth setting several tables, laying out dishes, tartlets, canapés, any other snacks, salads, drinks, fruits, desserts on each of them. To prevent guests from crowding around the set tables, it is worth hiring several waiters who will serve food and drinks on trays.

A few hours (usually three to four hours) after the buffet, the waiter brings out the cake and cuts it. Here you can hold a somewhat Russian competition with the sale of the first piece. In another couple of hours the event ends.

This type of feast is perfect for a small number of guests and if the newlyweds are soon leaving for their honeymoon, which does not allow extending the event, and also allows you to save on the banquet.

Marriage is the goal of every young lady

Vladimir Makovsky. Mother and daughter. 1886. State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow

Alexey Venetsianov. Girl in the hayloft. 1830s. State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg

Andrey Ryabushkin. On a visit (fragment). 1896. Nizhny Novgorod State Art Museum, Nizhny Novgorod

At the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th centuries, a successful match was considered the most important thing in a woman’s life. Memoirist Ekaterina Andreeva-Balmont wrote that in those years “marriage was the goal of every young lady,” and girls were raised so that they would make good mothers and wives. At that time there was a proverb: “A girl is born as soon as she is fit for marriage.” Much attention in raising girls was paid to etiquette and housekeeping. They got married at 17–18 years old - this was unusual compared to the previous century, when people became wives from the age of 13.

But men in the 19th century were in no hurry to get married: many decided to get married only at the age of 30. The hero of one of Pushkin’s first prose manuscripts reasoned that most of his contemporaries see in a wedding either a dowry, or a sedate life, or “they get married just because they are 30 years old,” and at the same time reflected: “I sacrifice independence, my careless, whimsical independence, my luxurious habits.”

Wedding

As already written above, such a wedding does not involve a toastmaster. And that's even better. Sometimes the toastmaster can completely ruin a wedding with his unsuccessful competitions and stupid speeches. To hold a wedding, select a good entertainer (or simply host) who will announce the events. Ask him for a portfolio, study it thoroughly to be sure that he is a professional.

Selecting good music is also important. Choose light, melodic music, focusing on your taste and audience. Or invite musicians to have live music at your wedding. This will be a great solution. Choose from pianists, saxophonists and many other musicians.

Don't forget to thank the guests for attending the wedding: give each one a bonbonniere - this is a small bag or box with a small souvenir or sweets.

Don’t think that a European wedding is boring and doesn’t involve any entertainment at all. There are plenty of entertainment events, they are just unusual in Russian realities. Most often, these are not competitions, but some kind of events with the participation of artists (a magician, a musician, or even a fire show). But you shouldn’t forget about games and competitions either. The main competitions are tossing the bride's bouquet and garter. There are many more dance competitions, mini-relay races, talent competitions and much more. The main thing is to choose original entertainment, and your wedding will not be boring at all.

A European wedding does not involve long celebrations and a plentiful table laden with food. Usually they make do with a short dinner or buffet in the afternoon. And towards evening, the newlyweds go either to the hotel or on their honeymoon. Guests, if desired, can continue the festivities without the newlyweds.

Intersections with Russian customs

In every culture, a wedding will acquire new details and customs borrowed from other peoples. The most striking confirmation of this is the ceremony of throwing the bride’s bouquet. It is believed that the unmarried girl who catches him will be the next to marry.

Previously, there was no such tradition in Rus', although it was similar in meaning. All the girls who had not yet started a family danced around the newlywed, and she closed her eyes and spun in the opposite direction. Whoever she points to when she stops will be the one she will marry next. And by the way, Russian girls never gave the bouquet to anyone, keeping it in the family for good luck.

It is interesting that in many European countries and in Russia there is a similar ritual of lighting the family hearth. The parents of the newlyweds bring fire from their home to help the newlyweds light their own. In the modern interpretation, the hearth is replaced with ordinary candles, since not everyone even has a fireplace.

If a European wedding is being organized, traditions and customs make it possible to make the celebration elegant and romantic. Many couples strive to plan their wedding in the Western style, avoiding vulgar ransoms, vulgar competitions and other inappropriate events. Such customs will not only diversify the celebration, but also make it memorable for guests.