Encountering a wedding ceremony during the tour

The wedding ceremony

The wedding is not only an institutional union between two people, but also building a relationship between a woman and a man in love with each other. In Bulgaria the traditional wedding continues up to a whole day. (What an exhausting event!)

The wedding begins with ‘taking’ the bride from her home. This moment is usually connected with the custom of ‘looking for’ the bride’s shoe. When the groom finally manages to find it, he is made to put some money (not coins, of course) in order to make the shoe the right size for his beloved. The ‘visit’ at the girl’s house ends up with a traditional Bulgarian dance – horo.

Photo Source: dnes.bg

Horo is a common dance

It is widely spread on the Balkans, in which people arrange either in a line, or in a circle.

The next destinations are the ritual home and the church. In our country the civil marriage is the only legitimate form in the Bulgarian Family Law. In order to be legal, a marriage should be contracted in the ritual hall in the municipality which you have chosen to legalize your union and in the presence of a registrar.

The church wedding is optional but by tradition most couples have it.

As Constantine and Helena Church and Cathedral “Assumption of Mary” are part of our route, near them married couples can often be seen taking photos together with their bridesmaids and bridesmen.

These are some photos from the wedding of one of our guides – Mariyana!

[photo]

The Old Town of Plovdiv is a favourite place for the couples to take photos – usually the spot near Hisar Kapia.

[photo]

Despite the suffering for the women with high heels who have to endure the long hours spent on the pavement, they turn out to be real heroes!

[photo]

Another famous spot is the sculpture of Tsanko Lavrenov which was mentioned in a previous blog post. The picture frame which is held by the famous artist is conveniently used in the photos.

( For more interesting and informative articles – visit Free Plovdiv Tour’s blog )