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FOVAZH:*
Traditionally, Gamics don’t like to rush into marriage. Marriage is a serious business and in many parts of Liniarstia an engagement may last three or even four years, allowing plenty of time for the couple to get to know each other, enabling them to see each other at their best and at their worst.
Gamic weddings today still observe some traditional customs, such as seating by gender and the high table. In Gamat co-habitation of a couple without a formal wedding has not carried as much stigma as elsewhere. It is not uncommon for people to marry after having been in a relationship together for years, even decades.
Many of the wedding traditions in the Liniarstian countries go back hundreds of years. In Gamat, for example, it is traditional for an arch of pine branches to be built in front of the bride’s home. This arch is known as the Gates of Honor.
At the wedding reception in Gamat it is traditional for the groom to disappear during part of the ceremony so that all the unmarried young men can kiss the bride – and then it is the bride’s turn to disappear while all the single girls kiss the groom.
To ensure good luck and to ward off evil spirits it is required that a Gamat couple cut their wedding cake together, the new husband and wife holding the knife together, and then for each wedding guest to eat a slice of cake.
Wedding feasts would commence over a number of days, depending on the status and wealth of the respective families. In the ancient Gamic sagas weddings are important functions where deals, friends and enemies are made.
In Gamat it is tradition for the bride-to-be to walk from house to house with a pillowcase to collect her wedding presents. While she walks from house to house an older, married man walks beside her, holding an umbrella or parasol over her head as a symbol of protection and shelter.
It is also traditional for a bride in Gamat to wear a golden crown and during the wedding reception she is blindfolded and spun around while all the unmarried girls dance around her – the one she places the crown on will be the next to marry!
Weddings usually consist of a 30-45 minute ceremony, generally held in a church but outdoor weddings have gained popularity and can be held where a suitable location is found. Offices of magistrates generally have very little room for guests but some do perform the ceremony at a location of the couples choosing. The invitations are usually sent by the couple themselves but it is also customary for the parents of the couple to send out a joint invitation.
Traditionally men sit on the grooms side while women sit on the brides side. The father of the groom joins his son at the altar and they greet everyone who enters with a curt bow. The mothers greet the visitors as they enter the church itself in the foyer. Once the mothers take their seats the guests know that the bride has arrived, she is led by her father to the altar where they take their seats on the brides side. 3-5 songs are performed by artists (possibly a choir) In this case it cpuld be her... during the ceremony. Once the rings have been drawn upon the fingers and the couple declared man and wife, the bride returns to her seat and the groom and the father of the bride change their seats. Once the ceremony is over the couple make their way up the aisle, followed by their fathers who take their own wives in hand from the front pew. The guests then file out in seating order, with those at the front filing out first and then the next row and so on, couples usually walking hand in hand.
Immediately after the ceremony the bride and groom usually go away for an hour or so for a photosession. In the meantime the invited guests make their way to the location of the reception and place their gifts on a designated table. The gifts are not opened until the next day. Receptions are commonly an all-evening affair with food, music and dance but alternatively the reception can be a much shorter one with coffee and cake offerings. When a couple is married in Gamat their friends and neighbors plant two small pine trees on either side of their young couple’s front door as a symbol of fertility.
Also, a Liniarstian/Gamic bride wears a silver/golden crown in silver charms hanging all around it. As she walks the charms tinkle, making a beautiful music sound which wards off evil spirits which love to cause havoc with newlyweds.
In Fovazh mother of the bride traditionally presents her daughter with a gold coin to be placed in her right shoe and her father gives her a silver coin for her left shoe. In this way they hope to ensure that their daughter will never be poor.
When a girl in Fovazh is engaged it is customary for her to receive an engagement ring. Then, during the wedding ceremony the bride’s husband slips the wedding ring onto his new bride’s finger plus he slips a ring of motherhood onto her finger as well – meaning that a Fovazh wife will wear three golden rings.
While the details may vary from one country to another, many customs and traditions are the same. Throughout all of Liniarstia there is some fertility custom that goes along with all marriage ceremonies, a recognition that the purpose of marriage is not to be a couple… but to become a family.
Once the ceremony is over the couple make their way up the aisle, followed by their fathers who take their own wives in hand from the front pew. The guests then file out in seating order, with those at the front filing out first and then the next row and so on, couples usually walking hand in hand.
Immediately after the ceremony the bride and groom usually go away for an hour or so for a photosession. In the meantime the invited guests make their way to the location of the reception and place their gifts on a designated table. The gifts are not opened until the next day. Receptions are commonly an all-evening affair with food, music and dance but alternatively the reception can be a much shorter one with coffee and cake offerings.
Once the newlyweds arrive an honorary toast is made before dinner commences. Immediately after dinner a couple of speeches are held. The bride and groom jointly cut the wedding cake (usually a multi-tier). Once cake and coffee have been served the newlyweds dance the first dance together, traditionally a bridal waltz. After the first dance they are joined by their parents and next of kin and then other guests on the dancefloor. The bride tosses her bouquet over her shoulder to the assembled unmarried women; the woman who catches it, superstition has it, will be the next to marry. The process is repeated for unmarried men with the groom tossing the bride's garter for the same purpose.
GRAND (non-royal):
The preparations for the wedding of a couple usually begin one year before the actual date of the beginning of the wedding. The couple to be married announces their engagement, usually before the local priest and possibly before some of their relatives. They then send an order to the Imperial Brewery for a specific amount of opeimien drink to be prepared for the wedding.The preparations (besides the opeimien order), begin one month before the beginning of the wedding. The church, which preferably has a large open space around it, has a large circular platform, usually 5-10 meters in diameter, with a second ring-shaped platform around it, constructed on the church grounds, while the relatives and friends of the couple assist them with the selection and purchase of a suitable home and also things they might need.
On the first day of the wedding, there is a grand feast set on the ring platform, while lively dancing takes place on the circular platform. The bridegroom wears dark blue, yellow, and red in any combination he chooses, while the bride wears green, purple, and brown in any combination she chooses. A few of the many dishes included in the feast include shasse awalow, shasse stapaw, pwakeoik, and stapaw, not to mention the traditional wedding drink, opeimien. The guests and the couple don’t leave that evening, but spend the night in special underground chambers featured in every Grandian church especially for the occasion.
On the second day of the wedding, the festivities continue, with many popular games added to them. This time however, the dances are not as lively, and are calmer and more relaxed instead. The colors of the bride and the bridegroom are also switched. That evening, they perform a dance for their guests on top of the circular platform, and afterwards, they are given a sum of Enieos, usually around E1000, by the local viscount (the Grandian equivalent of Mayor), or, if he isn’t able to attend, one of his officials. After this, they all retire to bed.
On the third day of the wedding, all the men at the wedding wear specially-provided vests sewn of silver thread, while all the women at the wedding, including the bride, wear specially-provided dresses sewn with thread made of gold. These clothes are extremely expensive, for obvious reasons, and nowdays are often replaced by clothes made with gold and silver-colored thread. The feasting, games, and dancing go on as usual, with the dancing often livelier than ever, and that evening, after a final opeimien toast, the two crown each other, the bride with a crown of date fronds, and the bridegroom with a crown of mulberry branches. They are then paraded by torchlight through the streets, finally arriving at the newlyweds’ home, which has been prepared for them by their relatives. After they bring all the wedding gifts into the house, the newlyweds are left to themselves.
GRAND (royal):
Traditional royal weddings in Grand consist of the bride wearing a simple, yet elegant dress, often with green, purple, and/or brown incorporated into the dress, and gold thread outlining designs of the bride's choice, while the groom wears a complete ceremonial military uniform (complete with ceremonial sword) befitting his rank in the military; if the groom is not in the military, he is automatically appointed as a captain in the Grand Army a few hours before his wedding.The groom arrives at the cathedral a few minutes before the bride, and waits for her, along with the Prince Imperial (unless it is the Prince Imperial getting married, in which case the King-Emperor replaces him) and the Louwahkutapaht, head of the Church of Grand, by the altar at the far end of the cathedral. When the bride arrives, they bow together before the Prince Imperial and the Louwahkutapaht, head of the Church, the Grandian royal handing the Prince Imperial his ceremonial sword, and the bride handing the Louwahkutapaht her bouquet of Khwint Roses.
They then take vows of fealty to the nation and to each other, while both the bride & groom touch the outstretched sword, and then after the sword, the bouquet, with one hand, and hold each other's other hand at the same time. They then rise, the Prince Imperial handing the sword to the bride, who then gives it to the groom, while the Archbishop places the bouquet in the groom's hands, who then hands it to the bride. They then exchange their wedding rings (two simple, unadorned golden rings), and then they kiss, the Archbishop declaring them husband and wife from that point on.
With weddings of prominent royals (such as the wedding of Princess May and Duke Horace IX in 2008), a wedding ball and banquet is usually scheduled to take place after the wedding. The newlyweds, who are brought to the ball in a special gilded carriage, select which foods and drinks will be served at the banquet (often with relatives' assistance, as dozens of different dishes may be served at a single banquet, and no two banquets are exactly the same).
*Many general Fovazhan wedding traditions are also to be found in Gamat.
Last edited by Daniel on Mon Jan 23, 2012 1:37 pm; edited 1 time in total
