A Traditional Slovenian Wedding

Every country has unique traditions that take place atgoing on the rest of the guests are thoroughly enjoying
a wedding. Most often these are diversified as to thethem and enjoying the wine.
customs and religion of the various ethnic groups.When the groom meets the kidnappers of his bride to
Slovenia has such a zest for life and love and theirbe, the groom must then prove he is manly enough to
marriages most aptly depict this.take the woman from her village. Some of the feats
The traditional Slovenian wedding consists of muchhe will have to perform or more ransom money will
activity. It all begins in the morning at the Bride's house.have to be produced and he will have to show that he
As the morning progresses the wedding guests willcan drink his wine with the best of them.
begin arriving and gathering outside the house. TheThen the groom must perform the sragna, meaning he
groom will also arrive here and will be asked by themust demonstrate his physical strength by sawing a
guests to participate is some games that will takelog. By this time the groom has aptly proven himself as
place prior to the wedding.to be a fit catch for his Bride and they are ready to
One of the most favored of all the pre weddingstart off to the ceremonies.
games is the Kidnapping of the Bride being a mostAn interesting aspect of marriage in Slovenia means
intriguing game. There is such fun and festivity involvednot only are they married once but twice. The law of
in this game. To begin with some of the male villagersSlovenia stipules the couple must be married in the
will be within the bride's house. Here they will dress upregistry office by a government official. This is the only
in the bridal attire pretending to be the Bride. Thelegalized marriage. A Church wedding in Slovenia is not
objective is for them to exit the house and attempt toconsidered a legal marriage. So to have a church
trick the groom into thinking that they are his real bridemarriage it means the Bride and Groom must go
to be.though the ritual of exchanging their vows and rings
Then the groom must perform some real negotiationstwice.
for his loved one. The groom must approach one ofSo as you can see there are many activities that take
the Brides male relatives, such as her brother forplace during a traditional wedding in Slovenia. For
example. He must bribe this family member withforeign weddings the only stipulation that must be
money or some type of household appliance in returnfollowed is the legal wedding in the registry. From this
for the release of his Bride. Later on the money orpoint on the couple to be wed can add in any of the
appliance is given to the Bride and Groom as aother traditions that they choose to incorporate into
wedding gift. All the time these festive games aretheir wedding.