Do you know how the custom of buying a bride came into being?
What traditions are associated with the purchase of the bride? And what role it plays in modern marriage?
Nowadays, buying the bride is a joyful and fun ceremony. The groom must be prepared to pay for his bride or exchange her for something else, moreover, during this ritual his love for the bride is tested. Their bridesmaids, friends and neighbors prepare in advance various tests and games that they either make up themselves or know from previous weddings.
For the groom, complicated riddles and trick questions are invented – and all this to strengthen the memory of the wedding day of the bride and groom.
The widespread bride purchase
On the steps leading to the bride’s room, different letters are put down. The groom should find a tender word for his bride for each letter and call it out loud.
In addition, questions about the bride and her family are placed on the steps, which the young groom must answer in order to be allowed to step up one step. If he answers a question incorrectly, he must pay a fine.
The best man gets an apple with lots of toothpicks in it, he has to find a kind word for the groom for each toothpick he pulls out.
The groom also gets an apple with matches inserted. One should be shorter than the others. The groom must pull out the matches and name one good quality about his bride to each until he draws the shorter match.
You can also put paper hearts on each step, on the hearts are written different reasons for marriage, for example: “Marriage of reason”, “Marriage of money”, “Because of pregnancy”, etc. On the top step, a heart with the inscription “For love” is placed. The groom should not step on the steps with the wrong answers, he should not use the banister either. The meaning is that the best man should come up to carry the groom up in his arms.
Another variant: in the staircase put cardboard chamomile flowers in two colors.
If the groom stepped on the step with a red chamomile, he must find a tender word for the bride; if stepped on the step with blue chamomile, he must scold her. If he does not want to say a swear word, he must pay a fine.
Slips of paper are placed inside inflated balloons. A piece of paper says “key.” The groom should gradually burst the balloons. When he pops the balloon with the note “Key”, he gets the key of the room where the bride is waiting for him. If he bursts a false balloon, he will have to pay a fine again.
The groom is received with a glass of water. He should throw so many coins into the glass until the water overflows. The groom is given 3 glasses. Into one glass he should put what rushes; into the other, what splashes. …The groom should show imagination!
3 wine glasses are proposed to the groom: with sour water, fresh water and salt water.
With which facial expression he drinks the water from all 3 glasses, he will also live with the bride.
The entrance door to the bride’s apartment and all the doors in the apartment are closed.
In a room, behind a locked door, the bride is waiting for the groom. On each door hangs a piece of paper with tasks. The groom does all the tasks little by little. If he solves it correctly, the door will open. If the bride is not in the room, he goes to the next door answers the questions there. If he gives a wrong answer, he has to pay a fine. This goes on until he finds the bride.
The groom should write the name of his bride on a tray or table with money coins.
The groom should recognize his bride from children’s photos. The photos can be hung on threads from the ceiling. The future husband should jump up and kiss the bride in the photos.
On the wall hangs a target with some inscriptions: “For love”, “Marriage for money”, “The friends set us up”, “Made a foolish thing”, “How should I know”, and so on. The groom must try to hit the right inscription. The inscription he meets is the reason for the marriage.
On playing cards are pasted various photos of other people and a photo of the bride. The groom should draw a card with the bride on it if possible. A failed attempt or the decision to draw another card must be paid for.
The groom should recite a poem for his bride or sing a love song with friends.
The groom should dance the “Dance of the Swans” or the “Gypsy Dance” under his own musical accompaniment.
On a sheet of paper, all the women present leave their lipstick imprint. The groom should recognize from the imprint which lips are those of his bride.
The groom should recognize the bride by her finger. A bed sheet is stretched, behind which some girls show a finger. The groom should recognize on which finger he will put the wedding ring.
When the groom comes to the bride’s room, he should say such a “magic word” or “magic phrase” to make the door open. The groom should come up with the phrase “I love you!”.
Wallpaper is pasted on the door into the bride’s room. The groom is told that there is no more room. If he does not believe this and tears the wallpaper on the door, he must pay a fine for the damage inflicted.
Funny bridal purchase: “Call me, my darling”.
The groom comes to the room of his bride. The door is closed, and on the door hangs a leaf with a colorful inscription: “Call me, my darling”.
The lower part of the sheet is cut into small strips (as for the tel. no. in classified ads). The groom should tear off the strips in order and find a dear word (in alphabetical order) for his beloved for each strip.
If the groom can not think of anything, he will have to pay money.
The contest is over when all the strips are torn off or the bride comes forward.
Bridal purchase: “The hunt for the bride”.
The groom comes to the bride’s house and learns that his future wife has hidden somewhere and he has to look for her. Now his hunting instincts are aroused.
For starters, he should get on her trail, that is, find out which direction she ran. To further confuse the groom, various shoe prints have been left next to the bride’s house. For each false lead, the groom must pay a fine and ask the bridesmaids to try again. Once the direction is set, wild animals await the groom on the way (on the wall of the house are pasted various funny photos, including unusual photos of the bride). So that the animals do not disturb the groom, he should shoot them with the bow. The bottom line is that the hunter should hit all the animals and not touch the photos of his future wife.
If the groom hits a photo of the bride while shooting, he has to pay a fine. A good hunter must have a fine nose, that’s why in the next task he has to choose from different things the ones that smell like the perfume of his bride. Once these tests are passed, one last task remains: his bride is supposedly hidden in a dungeon (it can be a small house with a lock). The groom must earn the key to the lock to save her. For this purpose, above the cottage float balloons with notes inside, in one of them is the word “key”. The groom must hit this balloon with bow and arrow. If he hits a wrong one, he will face a fine. He can free his bride by hitting the right balloon.
The bride purchase in the hospital
The groom and his friends come to the bride’s staircase. The door is closed, the sign “Quarantine” hangs across the door. On either side of the door stand two friends of the bride, both wearing white coats (are the nurses of the sick).
Before the groom is allowed into the bride’s house, he must be disinfected. Vodka (wine or juice) is injected into his mouth from a syringe. From a jar labeled “Viagra” the groom gets pills.
…
Doctor (says to the groom):
“We got a call that there was a patient diagnosed with being in love. Are you?
…
Therapist: “Yes, you are excited, pale, you have an accelerated pulse, a strange smile. We need to examine you before you go in the apartment….
I’ll give you a referral for the specialist, they need to be examined!
But medicine is not free in our country. That’s why you have to pay for the investigation.”
Ophthalmologist:
“So, now we need to examine your eyes! Please look at these numbers and tell us what they mean.”
– A number that corresponds to the age of the bride. (e.g. “20”)
– The date of birth of the bride.
– A number that corresponds to the age of his future mother-in-law.
– The date of the wedding ceremony.
– The date of the meeting with the bride.
If the groom gives a wrong answer, the ophthalmologist says:
“You gave the wrong answer. You need to be treated and, of course, pay for the treatment.”
The Psychotherapist:
“Are you a painter by any chance? Paint a portrait of your bride, please!”
(A piece of paper is brought and the groom must draw)If the bride is not recognizable at all, the groom must make new attempts or pay a fine.
Geneticist:
“You look healthy, but we need to examine your genotype. We don’t know you at all, and we’d like to meet you.”
The groom’s friends should describe his successes.
Otolaryngologist:
“Dear.(groom’s name),
They have decided to get married. And as you say – for love.
So that no one doubts your love, you must shout very loudly, “I love you!”
Why is he shouting so softly?
Maybe he has a sore throat?
We need to treat Him.”
Therapist:
“After our examinations, we are convinced that they are terminally ill, and the diagnosis is life in love!”
“So, take your medicine that we prescribed for you. The medicine is called: (the bride’s name). Take it with you to the registry office.”
