Wedding omens and superstitions at a Slavic wedding — meanings and traditions.
Wedding Omens and Superstitions at a Traditional Slavic Wedding
Those who insist on holding the wedding by all the rules need to arm themselves with knowledge of wedding superstitions.
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Wedding omens and superstitions said that the period from January 20 until Maslenitsa is the best time to send matchmakers.
The young couple should announce and hold their wedding within one quarter (three months). Otherwise, misfortune will follow.
Wednesday and Friday — according to wedding superstitions — are not good days to schedule a wedding.
A wedding held after noon brings a happy life.
On the eve of the wedding, placing the wedding rings in a bag of water and freezing them — this superstition foretells a strong union.
Rain on the wedding day is a good sign.
The bride should cry before the wedding.
The bride's friends should not stand in front of her at a mirror — the groom might be taken away.
Before the marriage registration or church wedding, the groom and bride should share a single chocolate if they want life to be sweet. According to superstitions, this should be done secretly.
Before the wedding, the bride's mother passes down a family heirloom that the bride should have during the ceremony — it serves as protection against the evil eye.
If the bride, before going to the civil registry office (ZAGS), slightly tugs the tablecloth on the wedding table, her sisters will marry quickly.
Another wedding superstition promising a strong marriage: place a padlock under the threshold, and when the newlyweds step over it, lock it and throw away the key. Keep the padlock for life.
Whoever of the newlyweds steps onto the rug first during the church ceremony will be the head of the household.
Whoever slips the wedding ring onto the other's finger up to the base will be the head of the household.
If the ring falls during the wedding ceremony — it's a bad omen; a well-known wedding superstition.
Breaking off a heel during the wedding means losing one's spouse.
After the church ceremony, the couple looking into the same mirror was said to predict a long marriage.
At the end of the wedding celebration, the bride would throw her bouquet to the guests, turning her back. The one who catches it will marry soon.
The groom removed the garter from the bride's leg and also tossed it over his shoulder; whoever catches it will soon find a bride. These wedding omens and superstitions are widespread and often included in wedding scripts.
For good luck, the first glass presented to the newlyweds should be broken.
When the newlyweds leave the church or civil registry office, they are showered with coins and grain, and carpets are laid out before them so they will live richly and easily, and tread gently through life.
Another superstition that determines who will be head of the family: whoever first crosses the home's threshold is the head.
A consummated marriage on the wedding night was said to mean the spouses would be happy.
By tradition, knives and forks are not given as wedding gifts — they bring quarrels.
A husband and wife eating from the same spoon is said to bring mutual dissatisfaction.
If husband and wife do not clink glasses together — there will be no money.
If husband and wife do not take a bite from the same piece, they will quarrel.