Language/Bulgarian/Vocabulary/Weddings-and-Marriage-Customs

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Bulgarian Vocabulary → Celebrations and Festivities → Weddings and Marriage Customs

Weddings are a significant milestone in everyone's life. They are often associated with love, happiness, and joy. Weddings are celebrated all over the world, but they vary in terms of their customs and traditions. In this lesson, we will explore Bulgarian wedding customs and relevant vocabulary.

Bulgarian Wedding Customs

Bulgarian weddings are steeped in tradition and often very elaborate. Here are some unique Bulgarian wedding customs:

**Pre-wedding customs**

Bulgarian wedding customs start days before the wedding ceremony. Here are some pre-wedding customs:

   * **The engagement ceremony** is where the couple is officially engaged to be married. The groom visits the bride's family and asks for her hand in marriage. The bride's family then gives him a glass of rakia, a strong Bulgarian alcohol, to drink, and if he finishes it, this means the engagement is official.
   * **The bridesmaid sacrifice** is a Bulgarian tradition that involves the bride's friends getting together to make a sacrifice to keep evil spirits away. The sacrifice is usually a rooster, and it's said to protect the couple's future happiness.
   * **The bridal shower** is where the bride's friends and family gather to shower her with gifts and well-wishes.

**Wedding day customs**

On the day of the wedding, there are several traditions that the bride, groom and guests must follow:

   * **The horo** is a traditional Bulgarian wedding dance. The dance is performed in a circle, and the bride usually leads the dance. The dance is believed to bring happiness and prosperity to the couple.
   * **The bread** is an essential part of the Bulgarian wedding. The mother of the groom bakes a special bread called 'pitka,' which is similar to challah bread. The couple has to take a piece of bread and dip it in honey, salt, and red pepper. This symbolizes the bitter, sweet and spicy moments in life.
   * **The veil ceremony** is where the groom must remove the veil from the bride's face. This symbolizes the bride's transition from maidenhood to wifehood.

**Post-wedding customs**

After the wedding ceremony, there are a few customs that the couple must follow:

   * **The sneaking of the bride** is where the bride must leave the reception without being noticed by the guests. This is believed to keep the bride and groom safe from evil spirits.
   * **The tug of war** is where the groom's family holds the bride hostage until the groom negotiates her release by giving them gifts or money.
   * **The planting of the tree** is where the couple plants a tree together. The tree symbolizes the growth of their love for each other.

Vocabulary

Here are some Bulgarian wedding-related words that might be useful to know:

Bulgarian	Pronunciation	English
Сватба	svatba	Wedding
Младоженец	mladozhentz	Groom
Млада	mlada	Bride
Духова музика	dukhova muzika	Bagpipe music
Венчален пръстен	venchalen prasten	Wedding ring
Сватбени ритуали	svatbeni rituali	Wedding rituals
Брачен шар	brachen shar	Wedding cake

Learning vocabulary relevant to a specific topic is essential to speak and understand the language better.

Sources

Table of Contents - Bulgarian Course - 0 to A1

Course Presentation

Alphabet and sounds

Greetings and Introductions

Bulgarian Traditions

Nouns and Adjectives

At the Restaurant

Bulgarian Cinema and Literature

Verbs and Tenses

Traveling

Bulgarian Music

Future Tense and Modals

Celebrations and Festivities

Bulgarian Theatre and Performance Arts

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