Wedding of Xinjiang Minority Nationality
26 min readThe wedding is the most solemn and joyous ritual among the life etiquettes. The purpose of holding a wedding ceremony is to announce the legal and ritual combination of a pair of couple to the world and to proclaim the birth of a new family Wedding ceremony of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang is colorful with its own characteristics respectively and full of rich ethnic customs.
The date of the wedding is the lucky day carefully chosen in advance, so the date is always during the holidays in the city, the spare time in the farming areas and in autumn when flocks and herds are well grown in pastoral areas Uygur and other Muslim nations can’t have a wedding party in Ramadan Generally, Kirgiz people do not set the date for the wedding at the end of the month for they are afraid that couples can’t go for long. Mongolians wedding date should be selected by Lama, and they call the lunar September the Galsar, which means the”fire month”, therefore, they cannot get married this month.
Wedding is not only a big event for the newlyweds personally but also one big thing for their families, friends and the village or the tribe. Both families of the couple are going to have a celebration activity lasting for a few days which is filled with festive joyous atmosphere. Every ceremony of marriage is a grand festival for the local community, and people enthusiastically share the happiness of the couple Uygur wedding is so grand and warm that families and friends gather together, singing and dancing to celebrate. The wedding usually lasts for two or three days. On the first morning of the wedding, the”Nikah”(Marriage Witness) ceremony is held in the bride’s house and the imam will chant and ask whether the bride and groom would like to get married. Generally theimam asks three times, and the groom just loudly answers i do”when asked the first time, while the bride will shyly answer “i do”in a low voice when asked the third time. then the bride and groom eat naan soaked in salt water which means to”share the joys and sorrows together and good marriage forever The bride who was just so coy becomes brave and decisive, agile and fast at this moment. It is said that the first one to eat naan can have the power of making decisions in the family in the future. After the ceremony the groom goes home to prepare for the wedding party. two families of the bride and groom both entertain guests in their own houses at the same time. People playing dutar, rawap or tabor, blowing suona horn, singing and dancing, there is full of joyful atmosphere with happy laughter and cheerful voices. In the morning, the bride, accompanied by the bridemaid and other girlfriends coming to congratulate will wait for the arrival of the wedding troop. the bridegroom accompanied by the best man and friends coming to congratulatewill play the instruments, sing, dance and laugh together to cheer up the ceremony to their heart’s content and wait patiently for the moment to come In the afternoon, the bride wears the wedding dress and dresses up as beautiful as flowers with a veil covering her head, waiting for the wedding troop at home. the groom wearing a new suit comes to the bride’s house to marry the bride accompanied by friends and family. the boys beat the tabor, blow suona horn play the rawap and sing a happy song”marry the bride”all the way:
All folks love the purplish red horse among the horses, Today we are going to marry the cleverest girl in the village
The girl is like a golden flower,
The young man is the flower of winter
One is the bright moon in the night sky,
One is the shining star in the night sky
Two people is really a happy couple,
Two people will be like a running river
Two people will sing happy songs day and night
The females on the bride’s side close the door at once as soon as they hear the song of the groom’s procession, and open the door to let the grooms procession in only after receiving gifts from the groom’s side. The escort guests on the groom’s side receive the hospitality of the bride’s family. Andthen, people on the groom’s side dance for a while in the yard of the bride’s home to increase the festive atmosphere of the wedding the bride needs to say goodbye to her parents before she leaves with the groom the parents of the bride pray for their daughter. It is hard for the bride and her family to avoid shedding tears for unwilling detachment. And at this moment, the guys are loudly singing the “Persuading Song”:
Don’t cry, don’t cry, girl
Today is your wedding
You have settled in a new beautiful bridal chamber
Don’t cry, don’t cry
It’s your great rejoicing
You are married with a man as brave as an eagle
Don’t cry, don’t cry
Today is your wedding
The handsome man has become your confidant
Then, the bride and the groom surrounded by people take a seat on the wedding car decorated with festival festoons. The guys of the procession walk in front while beating tambourines, playing the rawap and singing songs. The whole procession is immersed in a happy atmosphere the procession always encounters the “Stopping”from people on the way people stand in the middle of the road or hinders the way by a jute rope. the procession can move forwards as long as people get a little gift. Of course, the purpose of the Stoppingis not for the gift, but for increasing the wedding atmosphere by such a way. When the bride arrives at the entrance of the groom’s home, the families of the groom pave “Payandaz”(A long piece of red cloth) for the bride The female guests try to grab the cloth as an auspicious object to keep it for a souvenir as soon as the bride and the groom just walk through the cloth Pulling the cloth with each other and grappling with each other all the female guests want to grab one piece of the cloth. The scene is very lively. After entering the house, the young men and young women sing and dance to carry out the veil-uncovering ceremony and one of them takes the chance to abruptly uncover the veil. Then, the guests sit down to enjoy the wedding banquet. The meshrep is held in the evening, and all the people sing and dance with abandon, enjoying themselves. Almost all the people dance trippinglyalong with the cheerful drumbeats. the next morning after the wedding the bride’s family sends breakfast to the bride and the groom, which is known by the Uygur as Issiklik”. After the breakfast, the bride and the groom accompanied by a groomsman and a bridesmaid respectively greet the parents-in-law. Within one week after the wedding, both families will hold Chirlak to entertain the relatives and the friends nowadays with the development of social economy and culture, a lot of new contents in accord with the zeitgeist are added to the wedding of the Uygur.
The marriage of the Kazak generally comprises three major processes of engagement, betrothal gift and wedding. The wedding is the last step of the marriage, and is usually held in autumn. the traditional wedding of the Kazak is very grand and lively, and is divided into a marriage ceremony and an escort ceremony. All the relatives and friends on the grassland come to congratulate on the wedding. Each Kazak treats the marriage of any family in the tribe enthusiastically just as treats his/her own affairs, and exerts his/her utmostFirstly, the marriage ceremony is held usually for 2-3 days in the bride’s home Before the marriage ceremony, the bride needs to say goodbye to the relatives and the neighbors and the groom together with his friends and relatives arrives at the bride’s home early to help to arrange the marriage. On the day before the wedding, the bride’s family slaughters sheep and stews meat to entertain the guests; antiphonal singing activities starting in the evening usually last the whole night, and the atmosphere is enthusiastic On the first day of the wedding the parents of the bride prepare a new small yurt, place dowries and invite an old and prestigious man in the tribe to give congratulations to the bride and wish her a happy marriage. From this day tohe day of leaving, the bride should sit around together with girls and cover the face by a curtain the dearest friends of the bride sing songs for the bride in a fixed “Saren”tune, and the content mainly is praising the groom and advising the bride not to be sorrowful. the next day the invited relatives and friends send gifts to the bride’s family and the bride’ s family holds a banguet for entertaining the guests and holds on which there are various entertainments such as horse racing, wrestling, girl chasing and sheep scrambling and various antiphonal singing activities of the wedding songs. On the third day, the bride officially leaves home. a group of young people gather around the girl’s yurt, singing the”dzar-dzar”(Persuading Song) to see off the bride. In the farewell singing the bride embraces with her families and says goodbye to them and then leaves with the procession to the groom’s home After the bride mounts a horse she is usually not allowed to cry sing sta longer or look back which means that the bride should not be too sentimental to leave the hometown and should devotedly live with her husband. When the bride is welcomed to the door of the groom’s house, the groom’s family holds the escort ceremony. The groom rides the horse quickly to go home to giveinformation when the procession is coming. The bride comes to the door of the groom’s yurt; the greeting motherin-law holds a tray of candies and Baursak(fried small pastes) to scatter to the bride; and the people taking part in the wedding pick up the scattered food with festive color. After the bride is welcomed to the bridal chamber, the bride and the groom stand in front of the elders to carry out the veil-uncovering ceremony. The veil must be uncovered by a lively and humorous young man good at speaking and singing. He holds a tender branch or a small crabstick decorated with various colored ribbons and sings the Song for Uncovering Veil”.
The bride is coming, uncover the veil, come on
Bring your greeting gift to see
Don’t discuss her colorful clothes
Talk about her age first
The bride is coming, uncover her veil, come on
The mother-in-law scatters the wedding candies to her
She is the beautiful Patiyma, Kaysha, Kaydisha
The beauty in the legend, famous in the world
Tasseled headdress vertically covers your beautiful hair
Don’t be depressed all the day because of the marriage
Don’t stir up enmity among neighborhoods
Don’t spread bad reputation all over the world
Learn to be wise and do good things forever
Let your good reputation be praised all over the world
Honor the parents-in-law, make a salute every now and th en
Live together with your husband peacefully
These are the ancestral teachings
We’ ll hand it down from age to age and pass it on forever
The song for uncovering the veil usually contains four or five paragraphs The main content is the praise of the bride and the advice to the bride, warning the bride to respect the old, cherish the young, and manage the household industriously and thriftily and so on. The song for uncovering the veil is just like strips of canons warning the bride. the young man stirs up the veil of the bride once he sings one paragraph, as if to say: Remember this item After singing the song, the young man uncovers the veil of the bride by the crabstick in his hand. the bride bows down to salute the parents-in-lawand pours oil into a stove in the yurt, so that the stove blazes out flames People present look at the fames, saying”Fire goddess and oil goddess, please bless us! to wish the couple a happy life and a flourishing population At this time, people are eager to see and play with the bride. the groom’s mother takes out a piece of colored cloth and tears it into cloth strips with different sizes in width to distribute to the congratulating people. The couple share a bowl of holy water subjected to chanting by a mullah or tea poured by the elder And the elder also needs to do “Bata”(Blessing) for the couple And then the bride is invited to take a seat on a piece of sheepskin of a newly slaughtered sheep(in the opinion of the Kazak, the bride sitting on this sheepskin will give birth to a child successfully), and a plate of mutton isprovided for the bride. the bride passes the mutton to the parents-in-law to ask them to eat first. The bride can eat the mutton only after getting permission of the parentsin-law. And then, the hosts and the guests enjoy the feast. After the banquet, the entertainment activities such as sheep scrambling, horse racing, girl-chasing and wrestling are held. In the evening the grooms family holds a party of singing and dancing to entertain the guests in order to celebrate the arrival of the bride. Akens play the tambura and sing happy songs to bless the couple and the paean is performed till the dawn of the next day.
The wedding ceremony of the hui group is very grand with rich characteristics On the morning of the lucky day, the bride is freshened up by her family, and fine hairs on the forehead, the temples and the cheeks are removed by using wires, namely “Polishing One’s Face”, so that the face of the bride looks more smooth and delicate. After being dressed up, the bride wearsa red silk head scarf to wait for the groom to come. the groom dressed in new clothes and accompanied by the groomsman and the relatives carry”Four Color Present”to go to the bride’s home to escort her back to the weddingAfter arriving at the bride’s home the groom accompanied by the groomsman neets the parents-in-law and relatives one by one, and this is commonly known as”Recognizing the Seniority”. The groom should say”Salam”(blessing)and salute everyone introduced to him. If the groom is abstracted or unhappyin the saluting process, the young people of the bride’s family will hit the groom with red dates and walnuts. A custom of”Molesting the Groom”is popular in the Hui group, and the patterns of tricks are various. For instance, many pieces of steamed buns are soaked into the bowl of the groom anor o chili water or vinegar is provided for the groom when starting to drink tea; and sudden The brothers or sisters of the bride, surrounded by all people, hold tea lates to the groom to ask for “Fengzi”when the procession starts to set off The groom throws money into the plates till the brothers or sisters are satisfied, so that the groom can escort the bride to set off. The procession always blocked by people along the way. Everyone can stop the car all the way, and the motorcade can continue to move on as long as the candies and cigarettes are given to people. Same as the han group, the hui group also has a saying that there is no seniority attention within three days after the wedding, and has a custom of playing tricks on the parents-in-law. When the procession is arriving, people let the groom’s parents reversely dress fur-lined jackets, wear chilies on ears, ride a donkey backwards and highly sing “Flower and so on. In short, people play tricks on the parents as much as they like After the bride enters the bridal chamber the “marriage witness”is held (usually held on the morning of the lucky day nowadays). An imam chants and asks whether the bride and the groom agree with the marriage. and then the banquet is supplied to entertain the guests, which usually adopts Nine bowls in Three rows”(Banquet) to entertain the guests. Usually, the bride and thegroom are teased on the wedding night, and most participants are young, and the programs are various. After the guests enjoy themselves and leave, sisters-in-law of the couple make the bed for the couple and scatter some big reddates and peanuts to pray for them to give birth to healthy baby girls and boys early. The next morning the bride’s family sends Buns at First Sight”te the couple, showing that the bride’s parents care for the daughter and hope the daughter to be industrious in the husband’s family Then, the bride’s family also brings the gifts to the groom’s home for Xiatang”. The bride should pay a formal visit to the parents-in-law and other family members; and the bride should say hello to them one by one and say “Salamu eleykum”once ntroduced to one person, which is commonly known as “Recognizing the Seniority”.”Returning to the Bride’s Home”is carried out on the third day of the wedding, and the groom’s parents as well as the newly married couple should visit the bride’s family. the groom is guided by the bride to meet therelatives of the bride one by one, which is known as “Claiming Kindred”. When the newly married couple returns, the bride’s parents give some gifts to the son-in-law. And up to this point, the whole wedding process is finished
The engagement in mongolian has unique fun and interest An elder of the nan’s family shall send hada covered by yellow glue to the woman’s eldership and parents to express that the two families will never separate and theirrelations will be solid as bonded by glue On the wedding day, both the man and the woman’s families are very busy and houses are full of people. In the morning the bridegroom, wearing a new robe, accompanied by the best man, goes to the bride’s home with food such as wine and meat to escort her back,team stops temporarily and appoint two articulate people to report and send regards to the bride’s family, when the bride’s relatives such as her sister-in-law and aunt have been waiting for them at the gateway. At this time, an eloquent person in the wedding team gives his best regards and says, “Your favorite girl has been betrothed to our boy, so we choose this auspicious occasion to marry the bride. please accept the holy and lofty wedding rite. An articulate sister-in-law of the bride answers. After a series of verbal exchanges the wedding team is invited into the room. After the bridegroom’s family has saluted, accompanied by the best man, the bridegroom kowtows to the bride family,’s kitchen god and other deities, and sends hada. He also should salute, present hada, and propose a toast to the bride’s parents and relatives. the bride’s mother will give a new robe and a new pair of boots to the bridegroom Before the bride leaves she should say goodbye and propose a toast to her parents and relatives one by one. When the bride leaves home, she will cry, expressing that she does not want to leave. At this time, the bridegroom will carry the bride out to express that the bride is snatched by them. the bride would not like to leave, hugging her relatives, and a dozen of girls accompanying the bride won’t let the bride go before some quibbling. The master of the wedding shall lead the bride and bridegroom to run around theMongolian yurt for 3 times before leaving the bride’s home On the way back, the wedding team gallops, sings, plays music, laughs and chases. The most interesting thing is the game of “grabbing caps”people in the bride’s family grab the cap of the bridegroom or the best man, hanging on the horsewhip or throwing on the ground, to delay the bridegroom’s time. The bridegroom or the best man has to pick up the cap and runs after the bride. Sometimes, they conduct a horse race When the wedding team reaches the groom’s home, the bridegroom helps the bride to dismount and the bride drinks some milk givenby the bridegroom’s mother for lucky. Then during the wedding ceremony, the newlyweds, holding one shoulder blade jointly, kneel on the white carpet, facing the sun, to salute the sky, the ground the sun and the moon firstly and salute the Lama then. At the appointed time, the Lama chant to make the Buddha bless them. Until now, the bride can step into the new house on the white carpet to send wine and hada to the bridegroom’s parents and other eldership one by one and make a kowtow to everyone, and those who receive the kowtow will give the bride some gifts in return. After the ceremony, the bridegroom’s parents will banquet the guests and people enjoy wine and songs. The young people will play till late night with many recreational activities such as wrestling, twisting the sheep’s head pulling the sheep’s skin and grabbing the sheep’s head. all the wedding ceremony is full of festive air.
Kirgiz wedding is usually held in autumn when all the people celebrating the good harvest and the sheep are fat and the horses are strong The wedding will be held in the bride’s home first. Early in the morning, the bride will bath accompanied by her mother and be dressed up by her sister, sister-in-law and other female relatives. At the same time, the bridegroom’s wedding team also set out. At the forefront of the team are two big red horses, one of which bears a whole sheep grilled lucid in the color of orange and onebears a whole sheep poached with the oil spilled. a dozen of sheep which will be the delicacies at the wedding banquet follows tightly. The wedding team includes a group of young people in completely new clothes with Kumuz and few experienced elders on whose horses are””(Bags) full of gifts. There a proverb in Kirgiz: If you do not have intoxicating Kumuz tweedle and Bags on the horses of the elders, you will not marry a bride. When the bridegroom’ swedding team arrives, the bride’s sister and sister-in-law, keeping off at the door, review the gifts brought by the bridegroom carefully. Although the bride-price has been contracted by the two sides, these women deliberately make troubles repeatedly. Only when these escorting men say some good words can these women accept the gifts and admit men to participate the banquet at the yurt. Certainly, the articulate and humorous good friends of the groom will haggle with the bride’s sister and sist aw which is not for bridegroom’s embarrassment but for people’s happi After the banquet the imam chants and asks whether the bride and bridegroom like to get married and lets them eat a piece of naan fully dipped in saline water. Then,the guests come to the grassland in front of the door. According to the custom a male elder in the wedding team pries the skylight of the yurt, out of which he throws candies and milk knots people scramble for the candies, which increases the festive air of the wedding. At this time, the bridegroom and the bride covered with a piece of red scarf overhead go out of the yurt accompanied by the bridesmaid and the best man and the bride’s mother sings”wedding songs”, taking her daughters hands. Then, hastened by the powerful Kumuz tweedle of young fellows, the bride bows deeply to her mother to express her unwilling feeling for departure. Surrounded by her relatives, and called and urged by the weeding team the bride says goodbye to her parents on the way to her new family. Every time passing a pasture village the wedding team will be obstructed by the young people and children At this time, the elders in the wedding team will take out wedding candies and fruits from the bag and throw them to people who are preventing the tea The wedding team takes the opportunity of looting to get through. The bridal chamber which is surrounded by a piece of figured cloth is in the left corner of the yurt of the groom’s family and several blankets with big flowers are paved into the new house on the blankets, without touching the ground by feet. A from the yurt to the outside. the bride helped by others dismounts and come the people in the pasture village will congratulate the family, so the scene is very lively. The bridegroom’s family entertains guests with sheep and holds many recreational activities such as goat grabbing, horse race, wrestling and wrestle on the horse. In the evening, people play the Kumuz, and the young fellows sing songs, urging to raise the hood of the bride. In the cheerful Kumuz music, the hood is raised and people see what the bride looks like finally. The bride stands up to bow to the bridegroom’s parents and greet them, expressing filial piety; the mother-in-law will kiss the bride’s forehead to express mercy. All the people send their congratulations. Then the elder guests leave gradually, and the young people dominate everything. Urged and encouraged by the friends, the bride and bridegroom perform the “Meeting Dance. The guests dance and sing as much as they like for a long time before they leave. It is so lively
The traditional wedding ceremony of the Xibe ethnic groupis bustling withnoise and excitement, which has rich national color. The wedding ceremony will last for 3 days and is mainly held in the bridegroom’s home the first day is called”send a wedding cart”. Before the wedding cart is sent, the rite of worshipping Heaven shall be conducted; parents pick up a fat male sheep which is considered as something God is willing to accept from the flock, tie a piece of red cloth on the sheep and pull it back home. The door-entering ceremony will be conducted to worship gnome at the front door of the house When the sheep is pulled into the house, the parents will, in accordance with the shaman’s dictation, set forth the reason why they worship Heaven and begtheir ancestors to bless the new couple before the portrait of the ancestors After wetting the clean sheep with water or watery wine and cleanse its body, people will cut the sheep from the chin to the belly, which dies after a while Only by so doing, will the worshippers believe that God has officially accepted the sheep. Then the animal will be skinned and put into boiling water and its heart, liver, head, etc. will be thrown onto the roof. The major implications of these ceremonies are that people beg God to bless the newly established and that the new couple owns a long life of love The next day the grooms all family and they hope that sons and grandsons of the two will pervade the h family shall drive the wedding van with presents in it to pick up the bride inthe bride’s home All presents are wrapped with red paper or cloth and there is red tassel on the horses At the arrival of the wedding van the bride’s elders and relatives flow out of the door and enthusiastically bring the groom’s family into the house, accepting presents and parking the van the dressed-up groom radiantly takes care of all guests from the bride’s home and kneels before her elders to propose a toast On the day the bride’s family shall send dowries to the groom’s home and yet the bride is hiding in one of her relatives home, with her aunts or elder female cousins doing make-up for her.
When night falls, the banquet is drawing to an end, and the Wedding Father and Wedding Mother will bring a dozen of young men who are good at inging as well as dancing to the bride’s home to conduct a bride-greeting soiree which is called”Dadingba. On the third day of the wedding there is a bride-greeting ceremony in the groom’s home. Dressed up in colorful silk clothes sent by the groom with a pair of embroidered shoes on her feet, the bride will be dressed by her mother and the Wedding Mother with her long pigtail worn in a bun and a variety of ornaments all over, awaiting the greeting group The bride will not get into the wedding van until the Wedding Mother presents politely the greeting time period calendar to the bride’ sparents which is also circulated among the bride’s relatives; someone may deliberately hide the calendar then ask the Wedding mother to hand it out so as to throw her into a panic and force her to sing and dance, which creates an extraordinary active atmosphere at the wonderful performance of the Wedding mother and the Wedding Father, the calendar is returned and the bride is able to get on the wedding van with bridal veil on her head. Before leaving, the bride will take out a packet of grains and scatter the grains at the four corners of her boudoir and take leave with tears then her brothers or male cousins lift the bride wrapped in the quilt onto the wedding van. Young hen who have participated in the soiree cluster round the van fire off shotguns and shout out loud all the way, noisily greeting the bride to the groom’s home. When the van arrives at the front door, the bridegreeting rite will be conducted before the shrine of gnome then the bride is armed by her bridesmaid and walks on the red carpet to the front of the center room to bow to Heaven and earth with the groom
After that, the couple bows to each other and the groom takes the horsewhip to unveil his bride. After going into the room, the couple kneels before the top of the kitchen range to worship Kitchen God and casts the sheep tail oil into the oven fire with hada(a piece of silk used as a greeting gift among the Zang and mongol ethnic groups). At night, the Wedding Mother shall preside over the”cross-cupped wine”ceremony which is called by the Xibe people the rite of exchanging cups at the wedding room. Finishing drinking the bride shall get out of the kang(a heatable brick bed in North China) and kneel before the ancestors’ memorial tablets and the groom’s parents Nowadays, though, these traditional wedding rites have undergone enormous changes and the originally trivial details are gradually simplified.
The wedding customs of the plateau ethnic groupof Tajik are quite nteresting. The wedding ceremony shall never be conducted unless the permission of families in the village which have undergone unfortunate things (mainly things to do with the funeral) is obtained and the beat of the handheld drum by these families is heard. The ceremony usually lasts for 3 day and is mainly held at the bride’s home On the first day, the new couple’s families shall conduct body-washing and wedding gown /suit dressing ceremony for the new couple at their respective homes the groom shall put on a hat bound with a piece of red and white cloth and the couple have red and white silk-bound ring both on their right and left little fingers On the second day of the wedding the groom shall go to the bride’s home to pick up his girl, riding a tall and strong horse and being surrounded by relatives and friends, with a variety of musical instruments playing and the happy wedding song singing all the way. The bride’s parents, relatives and friends shall all walk out of the door and welcome the groom with two bowls of milk tea with butter finishing which the groom shall get off the horse. At the time, one of the bride’s elders shall scatter flour on the groom’s shoulders to extend his congratulation. The tajik people believe that flour is the purist thing in the world so scattering flour to extend one’s congratulation is one of the oldest ites among them. the bride’s family will warmly treat their guests and hold various entertaining activities to celebrate the wedding. Then the bride shall put on the best clothes brought by the groom and the”Nikah”(Marriage Witness) ceremony begins. The ceremony is held by one of the religious people who shall chant, say his prayers and ask each of the couple to drink a mouth of salted water and exchange their rings with red and white cloth In the meantime, the wedding shall be made legitimate through the announcement of a witness”Pederhan”in wedding invited by both families after the discussion of the two families. One of the women from the bride’s family shall scatter candies onto the new couple and everyone rushes for it. When the groom follows the traditional customs to kiss the hands of the bride’s parents, women beat the hand-held drums and men play the eagle flute, singing and dancing to add joy to the celebration, and the wedding reaches a climax In the evening the greeting group sets off to return home as noisy as they can. At the arrival of the groom’s home, the groom’s family shall conduct a grand bride-greeting ceremony. The ground is carpeted with red color; the groom’s mother who has waited for quite a long time personally holds two bowls of milk tea with butter for the couple to drink, and then the two of them shall get off the horse and walk into the room with everyone scattering flour on their shoulders to extend their congratulation. There are celebrations such as singing and dancing and scrambling for the goat in the groom’s home and a number of guests are invited On the third day of the wedding, there will be an unveiling ceremony after which the wedding ceremony shall come to an end.
The wedding ceremony of uzbek ethnic groupis held at the bride ‘ s home where guests invited by both families will go. the groom’s father and some relatives shall come to the bride’s home early in the morning to treat guests with the bride’s father, appreciating their coming In the afternoon, the groom, accompanied by his relatives comes to the bride’s home to greet his bride. the bride’s family carpet a piece of white cloth “Payandaz”for the groom; once the groom has walked through the white cloth, the companions will rush to tear at it. When evening approaches, the religious”Nikah”ceremony for the wedding is conducted, after which, the groom takes his bride home When the bride arrives at the front door of the groom’s house, she shall walk 3 laps around the fire and stamp into the wedding room on the piece of white cloth to sit with the groom. At the time, two elder women who have a happy marriage and have both sons and daughters shall lie on the wedding bed for a while. After that the groom will throw a handful of coins taken out from his pocket into the crowd to make people rush for the coins, so that he can quickly hold the bride into the bed and then the people will leave. The next afternoon, the unveiling ceremony will be conducted at the groom’s home The wedding custom of Tatar ethnic groupis distinctive that people will firstly”marry”the groom to the bride and then “marry the bride back. On the wedding day, the groom, accompanied by his groomsman and friends and relatives and in his wedding suit, gets on the wedding cart to the brides home to celebrate the marriage During the wedding ceremony the couple shall oa dAccompanied with accordions and whistle, a group of young men joyfully singthe tatar song of Dzir”in a cheerful and warm atmosphere. the bride’s famil will enthusiastically welcome and entertain the guests and young men dane drink a cup of syrup which is a symbol of their married life being as sweet as syrup as well as a symbol of owning a long life of love. After the wedding ceremony the groom will stay at the bride’s home for a period of time instead of taking his bride home the groom will stay here for 1 or 2 months and some even will never take one’s bride home until the birth of his first baby. Anyway, the groom will be warmly treated when he stays at the bride’s home and feels as if he were returning home.
