If you want to marry an Armenian – watch the film “Bride from the North”. (Arm: Harsnatsun Hyusisits). There you can roughly understand what an Armenian family, customs and an Armenian wife are. The most important thing for a woman is the ability to cook deliciously and variable, otherwise you will succeed as in the movie “A hostel is provided for the lonely”, where the Armenian husband tries to return his wife for the fact that she did not know how to cook.)) An Armenian man should always eat at home delicious, homemade food prepared by his wife or mother, whether he came from work or from a restaurant. Homemade food is a ritual.

Now let’s move on to our topic of traditional Armenian weddings.

Since the creation of a new, young family is a very important event, it is also necessary to prepare for the wedding very carefully and thoughtfully, observing all traditions.

After the groom’s parents have obtained the bride’s parental approval, the bride’s parental consent must first be obtained. For this, negotiators are sent to the bride’s house – the groom’s parents and relatives. At first, they are rejected, because it is considered indecent to agree immediately. The bride’s parents, even knowing about the consent of their daughter, still demonstrate the importance of their child, thereby forcing the opposite side to hold negotiations for a long time, praising the groom, making certain promises related to the further improvement of their daughter, and begging the young couple to agree to the marriage. After obtaining consent, the day of the betrothal of the bride and groom is appointed.

On the day of the betrothal, the groom and his parents, accompanied by future godparents at the wedding and especially close relatives, with expensive gifts and a wedding ring, go to the house of the bride’s parents. In the bride’s house, tables are set with an abundance of expensive and colorful dishes. After the betrothal, the young receive official status and already appear in society as future spouses.

And now the wedding day is approaching. The wedding is celebrated on a grand scale, with noisy fun and a large number of invited relatives and friends from both sides. If suddenly some relative was not invited, then it poured into a blood grievance. And the invitation used to appear in the form of sending an apple or wine to the invited family. As a rule, all costs of organizing the wedding were borne by the groom’s family. This was due to the fact that the family was replenished with additional working hands and the continuer of the family. In Armenia, the born child receives the husband’s surname and is considered the successor of the father’s family. The day before the wedding, cheerful, active chores had already begun. They began to bake bread, lavash, gata and other sweets. Moreover, only married women were engaged in baking. to symbolically convey good luck to the newlyweds and the whole process had to take place in a very cheerful atmosphere. Men, on the other hand, were engaged in a purely male business – this is the slaughter of a bull, and with the blood of an animal they marked the groom’s forehead with a cross in order to expel evil spirits, and procurement of meat for the wedding khorovats (barbecue).

On the wedding day, the groom with godparents, parents and friends come with music and expensive gifts for the bride to her parents’ house. A wedding dress is brought in, in which the bride is dressed. Previously, the bride’s dress was red, while that of the groom’s was green. The bride was dressed in a traditional costume, which consisted of a dress with a richly embroidered chest insert, an embroidered apron and a satin belt embroidered with gold or silver threads with wishes of happiness was tied over it. The head was adorned with a headdress adorned with a pearl thread with gold or silver coins and a veil. The bride was literally strewn with gold and silver jewelry so that when she walked they would ring and drive away evil spirits. Only a sweet table is served in the bride’s house. Before entering the house, the bride’s brother blocks the threshold of the house with a symbolic sword, demanding a ransom for the bride. After receiving the ransom, he lets dear guests to the table. And now everyone is ready to continue the further ceremony. The priest crowns the marriage, and everyone goes to continue the noisy, merry wedding. The wedding table is bursting with all kinds of salads, snacks, cheeses, all kinds of greens, drinks and booze, and, throughout the feast, several hot dishes with meat, fish and various side dishes are served. The most important thing should be a lot of fruits, each of which has its own symbolism: an apple is a woman, a pear is a man, and a pomegranate is fertility. During the wedding, the bride must break the pomegranate, and it is believed that the more seeds fall out of it, the more children the family will have.

And of course, the dance of the bride and groom. In addition to the fact that this is a very beautiful sight, during the dance, all the guests present the young people with money and gold.

Before entering the house, the bride smashes a clay plate in front of the threshold with her foot to drive out evil spirits. And the mother-in-law meets the newlyweds, decorating their shoulders with sheets of lavash and a spoonful of honey, so that their life is abundant and sweet as nectar.

The next day after the wedding, the groom’s parents, convinced of the bride’s innocence, sent the girl’s mother rich gifts and red apples as a sign of respect.