This is my precious Goddaugter Katya from Ukraine. The p icture was taken in 2007, at my wedding:
Here is Katya is singing at my wedding. This traditional
Ukrainian song was a special gift from Katya to me, her Godmother:
And here is Katya is singing again – at the video from her
wedding, in 2013. She is singing only on beginning of the video; rest of
the video was a cameraman’s job. Good job, I must say! The guys from the local
video studio of Ternopil, West Ukraine (where, actually,
was the wedding) did really great on it – they composed this short clip to show
to all the guests at the same day, in the end of the wedding. So, please enjoy
watching; that’s how modern Ukrainian wedding looks like nowadays:
Now, I am happy to tell you more details about this
wonderful wedding, with pictures my husband and I took.
Here is the happy bride:
Happy groom and bride:
Katya’s bridal bouquet – pink peonies and white roses:
Here is the Mom of the bride. Honestly, her dress was the
best mother-of-the-bride dress I have ever seen in my life:
The dress was made by local tailor and also design of the
dress is created by her – the tailor is very talented lady, as you can see from
her work.
Here are bride and groom being crowned – at the marriage ceremony
in Ukrainian Orthodox Church:
And here… here… I have no words, only emotions J
Ukrainian wedding table! Something that you can see (and enjoy eating, of
course) only at Ukrainian wedding! And these are just appetizers – entries to
come!
Speaking of entries, my husband’s and mine favourite one at
Katya’s wedding was a beef liver sautéed with pears. Something very different
that we never tried before and… amazingly delicious! As well as all of those
sweets, desserts and fruits, beautifully served:
Ukrainian custom says that a Godmother has to bake a korovay (special wedding bread, a sweet one) to her Goddaughter’s wedding, or at least
to buy the wedding bread for the Goddaughter. Well, I wanted to, but the
Godfather of the bride has decided to order the korovay to our Goddaughter, so
I came up with the wedding cake. Actually, this is very modern tradition at a
Ukrainian wedding – to have both, korovay and a wedding cake. I had no idea
what design of the korovay is going to be, but I stuck to my favourite style in
cake design – a traditional Ukrainian style, with traditional Ukrainian
flowers, which are poppies, cornflowers and chamomiles, and with colours of
Ukrainian flag, which are yellow and blue, and, of course, for the cake topping
I picked up newlyweds in traditional Ukrainian clothes. Nobody knew how the
cake I have ordered will look like, so I was pleasantly surprised when I found
out, already at the wedding, that design of the Godfather’s wedding bread is
perfect match with the cake! The same poppies, cornflowers and chamomiles!
So, here are both, the wedding bread (on the left) and the
wedding cake (on the right) from Katya’s Godparents:
Another great surprise at my Goddaughter’s wedding was the
musicians – the Veseli Halychany band from Ternopil. The same musicians that played at Ron’s and my wedding!
It was so nice to find it that idea to have these musicians
at her wedding came up to Katya when she was attending our wedding. Actually,
it was Katya’s dream to have Veseli Halychany at her wedding. Why dream, it is
because the Veseli Halychany band are not just musicians – they all
professional musicians, one of the best folk band of the western Ukraine, so to
get them to the wedding is not that simple, they are quite busy, touring in
Ukraine and abroad. Oh, and interesting fact! Back then, in 2007, when Ron and I got married, Katya has not even met her groom yet J, but! She already knew which musicians
will play at her wedding – well, the dream came true!
So, here they are, the Veseli Halychany musicians,
entertaining guests at my Goddaughter’s wedding:
And here the musicians are playing at the ceremony of
sharing the wedding bread. Normally this ceremony – sharing of the wedding
bread – is being performed at the end of Ukrainian wedding. First two Starostas
(Matchmakers) have to dance with korovays (forgot to mention that typical
Ukrainian wedding nowadays has to have two korovays wedding breads – one from
the groom’s side, one from the bride’s side):
Then, after the dance, the Starostas are sharing wedding
breads. Top of the breads come to bride and groom, middle part, sliced – to all
the guests at the wedding, and finally, bottoms of the breads traditionally
belong to musicians. Here is more about Ukrainian wedding bread korovay
traditions, meanwhile – enjoy the video of the korovays sharing at my
Goddaughter’s wedding:
Yes, my Goddaughter’s wedding it was a day to remember! So
happy for newlyweds! Also, I hope, you got an idea from this story how
Ukrainian weddings look like and feel like. So if you are travelling in western
part of Ukraine
and you are happened to be invited to a wedding, go for it! You can experience
of these feelings and emotions yourself, and it might be a highlight of your
trip.
