Ukrainian wedding traditions

Ukrainian wedding is the marriage custom in Ukrainian culture both in Ukraine and her diaspora. The traditional weddings included folk song, dance, music, and visual art, with rituals dating back to pre-Christian times. Over time, the ancient customs became less significant, and the Church took their place.

Features

* Rushnyk - The rushnyk are embroidered towels. They are used as decorations during traditional weddings, and often have pairs of birds embroidered on them, used to represent the couple. [Dr. Natalie Kononenko. "Ukrainian Village Project" [http://cti.itc.virginia.edu/~nkm/rushnyk/rushnyk4.htm Rushnyky - Ritual Uses] ]

* vesillia
* svashky - Woman's choir
* divych vechir
* Korovai - the Korovai is the traditional symbolic wedding bread. Traditionally it was a large round braided bread, baked from wheat flour and decorated with symbolic flags and figurines, such as suns, moons, birds, animals, and pine cones. [Betsy Oppenneer. "Celebration Breads: Recipes, Tales, and Traditions ". Simon and Schuster, 2003. ISBN 0743224833] It was given to the bride and groom as a blessing. [ [http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/display.asp?linkpath=pagesKOKorovaiIT.htm Korovai] at the [http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/default.asp Encyclopedia of Ukraine] ]
* Periwinkle Crowns
* Bread and Salt
* Hand Fasting
* Music
* Dance
* Wedding Songs
* Attire
** Folk Dress
** Formal

Locations

* Church
* Civil

Weddings

* Historic
* Medieval Rus'
* Cossack
* Arranged
* Regions
** Hutsul
** Central Ukraine
** Ukrainians in Canada
** Ukrainians in Romania

* Soviet Influence

* Present Day

Reception

* VesilliaВЕСІЛЛЯ

Weddings in Literature

*"Natalka Poltavka" ( _uk. Наталка Полтавка, "Natalka from Poltava") is a Ukrainian play written by Ivan Kotlyarevsky.
*"Ukrainian Wedding" ( _uk. Українcькe Beciлля, translit. "Ukrayins’ke vesillya", _ru. , translit. "Ukrainskaya svad'ba") was first performed in 1851, with Semen Hulak-Artemovsky in the role of the father-in-law.

References

External links

* [http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/display.asp?linkpath=pagesWEWedding.htm "Wedding"] at the Encyclopedia of Ukraine
* [http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/display.asp?linkpath=pagesWEWeddingsongs.htm "Wedding songs"] at the Encyclopedia of Ukraine
* Dr. Natalie Kononenko. [http://www.arts.ualberta.ca/SEEFA/UKRWEDDING.HTM "Ukrainian Village Weddings; Collected in Central Ukraine, 1998"] SEEFA Journal, vol.4, no.1 Spring 1999 pp.65-72
* [http://www.museums.ualberta.ca/exhibits/ukrnwedding/r_trad.html "Wedding Traditions in Ukraine"] University of Alberta Museums
* Orysia Paszczak Tracz. [http://www.ukrweekly.com/Archive/2002/430219.shtml "Vesillia: Ukrainian weddings in Manitoba over the last century Part I"] . The Ukrainian Weekly, October 27, 2002.
* Orysia Paszczak Tracz. [http://www.ukrweekly.com/Archive/2002/440224.shtml "Vesillia: Ukrainian weddings in Manitoba over the last century Part II"] . The Ukrainian Weekly, November 3, 2002.
* [http://books.google.com/books?id=D8b4dEcUENsC&pg=PA176&lpg=PA176&dq=ukrainian+weddings&source=web&ots=dJVIFYUqiB&sig=p91ZRBN53x8_JYYWjWLgiYeDUhM Nancy Millar. "Once Upon a Wedding: Stories of Weddings in Western Canada, 1860-1945". Bayeux Arts, 2000. ISBN 1896209335]
* Dzvinka Kachur. [http://www.wumag.kiev.ua/index2.php?param=pgs20033/64 "Traditional Hutsul wedding in Western Ukraine"] . Welcome to Ukraine magazine.
* [http://www.wumag.kiev.ua/index2.php?param=pgs20044/36 "Welcome to a wedding, Central Ukrainian style!"] Welcome to Ukraine magazine.