Katya and Vitalik were married on Saturday, July 14, 2007, in a beautiful wedding. I was honored to be the stand-in-father of the groom (since Vitalik's father had left the family long ago). Part of my duties involved giving a little speech at the wedding office. I did this in English (with Nadia translating) and then in Russian on my own. I think that the best feature of my speech was that it was short: "I love you and we all love you very much and wish the best for you."
The Russian wedding tradition is very similar to American weddings, but there are some unique features. One such feature is that the groom has initially to ransom the bride before he can see her. This is done in a fun and light way. Part of the ransom is answering questions about the bride. Vitalik bravely did this as he went through a series of questions and exercises going up four flights of stairs to his mother's apartment where Katya awaited. I participated in this exercise my asking Vitalik to tell me my name and when I had first met Katya. He gave the correct answer: February, 1996. I had given him the answer the day before.
Here is Katya waiting for Vitalik. (Remember that you can left-click on any photo to view it in larger format.)
Here is Vitalik coming to ransom his bride.
The bridal couple together at last.
Although they did not have a church wedding (which they may have at a later date), the wedding did have a religious elememt. The mothers of the bride and groom gave them icons with a Christian blessing.
Family and friends ready to go the the wedding office.
The older lady is Katya's great aunt, Tonia.
The girl in the foreground is Julia, seventeen-year-old cousin of Katya.
More relatives: Vladimir is Katya's uncle (her mother's brother). His wife is Ludmila. Her father was Korean. Their daughter, Tatyana, on the left, is a 23-year old university student. I have a balalaika given to me by Vladimir in 1997 when I visited the family in Novgorod.
Entering the wedding office. It is more like a wedding hall and the ceremony is like our church weddings rather than our civil ceremonies. The recorded music playing as they entered was the familiar tune, "Here comes the bride..."
Here is the government official presiding over the wedding ceremony which consisted of her making a short speech, asking obligatory questions. "Will you have this man? Will you have this woman?" The couple signed a wedding registry in four places, had a ring exchange (to piped in music of Stevie Wonder "I love you just the way you are.") Later someone told me that the wedding office officials had understood that half the wedding party would be Americans so they provided their best wedding person for the ceremony. Perhaps they were disappointed to discover that there was only one American.
The entire wedding party
Immediate relatives and friends
After the ceremony there is the tradition of going through the city visiting verious historic sites. They visited the eternal flame, strolled across the pedestrian bridge with Vitalik carrying Katya the entire way, drove out of town about 20 miles to the General Suvorov museum (where we got to ring some old bells), and finally about 5 p.m. back to the restaurant at the Sports Complex. Here is Katya riding a horse to the bridge. The sign in back is a picture of the bridge. It says, "I love Borovichi."
Here is one of two long tables of people enjoying the wedding feast.
Katya's sister Masha with husband Dima (Dimitri). The sisters treated me by singing "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" which I had taught them when they were still young girls.
Tanya and Masha
The youngest and oldest of Katya's relatives: little Olga and aunt Tonia. I danced with both.
Aunt Tonia and three of her grandaughters
We danced and danced and danced some more until about 1:30 a.m.
More wedding guests. I didn't know these people, but they asked me to take their photo so I obliged.
There were lots of merry games and fun events. Here is a stand-in bridal party. There was a master of ceremonies, a very energetic woman. One game was questions to selected guests. I was asked, "How often do you need love?" The only phrase I could think of in Russian was "Every day". That brought approving laughter.
Another game I participated in was playing the role of a baby while a succession of young women put a bib on me, a bonnet, had me drink most of a baby bottle of water, and rock one of them on my lap. Here I am in a hat they put on me. I think everyone was happy to have an American participating in these fun games. Many people told me, "We love the American people."
Late at night we went outside for a fireworks display. I had seen one of the boxes of fireworks earlier. In large letters it was marked KGB.
I think this photo was taken about 1:00 a.m. I still felt good, but I look a little tired.
Nadia with some young friends at the conclusion of the day.
In my next blog entry I will show you photos of the big reception on the following day. As always, I apprciate your comments. Rather going through the cumbersom process of leaving a comment on the blog, you can e-mail me directly at wmgoff@cox.net.
The girl in the foreground is Julia, seventeen-year-old cousin of Katya.
More relatives: Vladimir is Katya's uncle (her mother's brother). His wife is Ludmila. Her father was Korean. Their daughter, Tatyana, on the left, is a 23-year old university student. I have a balalaika given to me by Vladimir in 1997 when I visited the family in Novgorod.
Entering the wedding office. It is more like a wedding hall and the ceremony is like our church weddings rather than our civil ceremonies. The recorded music playing as they entered was the familiar tune, "Here comes the bride..."
Here is the government official presiding over the wedding ceremony which consisted of her making a short speech, asking obligatory questions. "Will you have this man? Will you have this woman?" The couple signed a wedding registry in four places, had a ring exchange (to piped in music of Stevie Wonder "I love you just the way you are.") Later someone told me that the wedding office officials had understood that half the wedding party would be Americans so they provided their best wedding person for the ceremony. Perhaps they were disappointed to discover that there was only one American.
The entire wedding party
Immediate relatives and friends
After the ceremony there is the tradition of going through the city visiting verious historic sites. They visited the eternal flame, strolled across the pedestrian bridge with Vitalik carrying Katya the entire way, drove out of town about 20 miles to the General Suvorov museum (where we got to ring some old bells), and finally about 5 p.m. back to the restaurant at the Sports Complex. Here is Katya riding a horse to the bridge. The sign in back is a picture of the bridge. It says, "I love Borovichi."
Here is one of two long tables of people enjoying the wedding feast.
Katya's sister Masha with husband Dima (Dimitri). The sisters treated me by singing "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" which I had taught them when they were still young girls.they sing beautifully together.
Tanya and Masha
The youngest and oldest of Katya's relatives: little Olga and aunt Tonia. I danced with both.
Aunt Tonia and three of her grandaughters
We danced and danced and danced some more until about 1:30 a.m.
More wedding guests. I didn't know these people, but they asked me to take their photo so I obliged.
There were lots of merry games and fun events. Here is a stand-in bridal party. There was a master of ceremonies, a very energetic woman. One game was questions to selected guests. I was asked, "How often do you need love?" The only phrase I could think of in Russian was "Every day". That brought approving laughter.
Another game I participated in was playing the role of a baby while a succession of young women put a bib on me, a bonnet, had me drink most of a baby bottle of water, and rock one of them on my lap. Here I am in a hat they put on me. I think everyone was happy to have an American participating in these fun games. Many people told me, "We love the American people."
Late at night we went outside for a fireworks display. I had seen one of the boxes of fireworks earlier. In large letters it was marked KGB.
I think this photo was taken about 1:00 a.m. I still felt good, but I look a little tired.
Nadia with some young friends at the conclusion of the day.
In my next blog entry I will show you photos of the big reception on the following day. As always, I apprciate your comments. Rather going through the cumbersom process of leaving a comment on the blog, you can e-mail me directly at wmgoff@cox.net.
1 comment:
How beautiful furniture!! I love everything about this wedding. The decoration is truly adorable. I am also finding such beautiful venue for my big day. I would prefer local Malibu wedding venues instead of destination places.
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