St. Petersburg Brides
Woman in the Middle | October 10, 2013To take my mind off my lingering illness, I thought back to my recent vacation and …brides…. You are probably wondering how vacation and brides came together in my mind. I swear I wasn’t delirious!
When Hubby and I were on our trip we happened to be in St. Petersburg Russia on a Friday, and Saturday. It just so happens that those are the most popular days of the week to get married there. When we came out of Catherine’s Palace we happened to see a bride and groom, along with a photographer and what looked to be their maid of honor and best man. All the women in the tour group of course went ooh and ahh and I snapped a photo of the happy couple.
Little did we know that this was just our first bride in a long succession of brides we saw on our two-day visit. According to our tour guide, it is a Russian tradition to have a small civil ceremony at the local registry office (otherwise known as the wedding palace). Then the bride and groom hop into a car of some sort and drive around the city drinking vodka. As you can see from my photo, this couple rented a classic American car. We also saw limos and even a Hummer. They stop at all the scenic/historic sites in the city where their photographer takes their photo. Eventually, exhausted and snockered I presume, they head to a restaurant they have hired for a reception and meet up with their family and friends for the wedding reception.
As tourists, it was our main objective to drive around and see all the scenic/historic places in and around St. Petersburg, kind of like the wedding couples but without the white dress and with a very limited amount of vodka. Since we were there on the days of the week most popular for weddings, we saw lots, and I do mean LOTS, of brides and grooms. I saw more brides those two days then I do in 20 years back home. Sometimes we even saw more than one couple jockeying for position in front of a particular monument.
It was a fun little window into the real lives of actual Russians.
That’s funny that couples were fighting over who got to pose first at a statue.
What a nice tradition; getting married, having a blast around the scenic city and then having a party. I like the way they think!