A Ukrainian wedding is one of the most ritual-rich celebrations in our culture. It once lasted several days and involved dozens of customs, each with its own meaning, from matchmaking to the day-after feast. Today more and more couples bring folk traditions back into their weddings — embroidered shirts, rushnyky, the korovai loaf and periwinkle wreaths. Here are the main stages and symbols.
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The groom sent starosty — respected, well-spoken men — to the girl’s family. If the parents and the girl agreed, the matchmakers were tied with embroidered rushnyky and the groom received a scarf. If not, the girl brought out a pumpkin, which is why “to give someone a pumpkin” still means to turn them down in Ukrainian.
At the betrothal (zaruchyny) the parents finalised the wedding arrangements and the couple exchanged gifts. From that day the girl was considered engaged.
The korovai is the main wedding bread. Married women baked it with songs and decorated it with dough doves (a couple), pine cones (fertility) and periwinkle (eternal love). On the eve of the wedding the bride’s friends held a hen night and decorated the hiltse — a little tree or branch with ribbons and flowers, symbolising maidenly beauty.
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On the wedding day the parents bless the couple: they stand on a rushnyk, elders hold icons and the korovai, and the parents wish them harmony, prosperity and health.
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Her friends help the bride get ready, braid her hair and crown her with a wreath of periwinkle, myrtle, viburnum and flowers tied with ribbons.
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The couple enter the church together, hand in hand, as equal participants in the sacrament. An embroidered rushnyk is laid before the lectern so they “never stand on bare ground” and live in plenty; folk belief says whoever steps onto it first will head the family. The priest blesses the rings — worn on the right hand in Orthodox and Greek Catholic tradition — binds the couple’s hands, places crowns on their heads and offers them a common cup.
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The parents greet the newlyweds with bread, salt and honey. At the feast the korovai is shared: every guest receives a piece and gives the couple a gift. Songs, dances and jokes fill the celebration, with every region having its own.
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At the end of the evening the bride’s wreath was removed and her head covered with a cap (ochipok) or scarf — she was now a married woman. She often passed her wreath to an unmarried friend so she would find a partner soon.
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The next day the families gather at the table again for popravyny, to congratulate the couple on their first day of married life.
A modern bridal bouquet can include periwinkle or viburnum to blend fashion with tradition. Wedding flowers are available in bridal bouquets with delivery in Kyiv.
Turning down a marriage proposal: in the past a girl brought the matchmakers a pumpkin to say no.
It symbolises prosperity and the family’s path through life; after the wedding it is kept as a talisman.
The right hand, following Orthodox and Greek Catholic tradition.
Author: Maria Svitlovir
Graduated from Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Institute of Biology and Medicine (2001). BSc in Biology, MSc in Horticulture. Writes about plants, works at a garden centre selecting and repotting plants, and contributes to plant reference guides.
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