RUSSIAN WEDDING

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21296, 24 September 1932, Page 3 (Supplement)

RUSSIAN WEDDING

PICTURESQUE CEREMONY SUMPTUOUS MARRIAGE FEAST "I, Nina, take then, Stepan . . The marriage of two young Russians in St. George's Syrian Orthodox Church at Redfern, Sydney, recently, was not half as simple as tliat, says a Sydney newspaper. For one hour and a-quarter Nina Shaparoff and Stepan Fedoroff stood on a square of pink satin before the altar, with six bridesmaids ancl their attendants grouped behind thein, until they were finally made man and wife to the satisfaction of Father Inocentio Serisev. Behind the couple stood the bride's parents and the six bridesmaids and their attendants, while a choir of four sang througho.it the ritual. During the, ceremony itself tho bride and groom held lighted candles, drank wine from two shallow bronze bowls, and were led by the priest three times around the altar. A small white wreath was held over their heads all through the service, by relays of men. The couple kissed the Cross, the Bible, and then each other, and then were, kissed again by the. guests who lined up two by two. When the newly-wedded pair left the little incense-dimmed church they drove to the home of the bride's parents, where, toasts were, to be drunk with cries of "gouko," which means "hitter." The whole phrase is, "llie wine is bittei a hint for the couple to kiss, so that the wine will be made sweet. A hundred guests, all talking in Russian, crowded into the house and sat around a table laid with colourful food and wine—enormous bowls of mixed salads and seasoned fish; roast turkey and chicken; cold meats and salami; cakes thick with cream; elaborate sweets and rye bread. There are five daughters in the Shaparoff family, and a son, Boris, and they live on a poultry farm. The bridegroom, dark, handsome, and moustached, is a hairdresser, and was a partner in a syndicate which won first prize in a recent lottery. All the women were beautifully gowned in evening clothes, with fur wraps and jewels. In the kitchen an elderly Russian was kept busy at two big langes with food for the guests, and neighbours kept coming in through the back door with chairs for the guests.