Wedding in the USSR: ritual transformations. Weddings in the USSR: what they were

In different years of the USSR, there were quite a few wedding traditions that differed from each other. In this article you will read Interesting Facts about wedding rituals and traditions of the peoples of the USSR and you will see some rather interesting archival photographs. Of course, a wedding half a century ago and a modern wedding celebration

On November 1, 1959, in Leningrad, in a magnificent mansion at 28 Angliskaya Embankment (then the Red Fleet Embankment), the first Wedding Palace in the USSR was opened.

The news of this event instantly spread throughout the country, which, apart from strict registry offices, knew nothing. It was a very unusual and really important event for Soviet citizens ...

On November 1, 1959, at exactly 12 noon, in front of the Kalashnikovs Vadim Iosifovich and Lyudmila Vasilievna, to the sounds of Mendelssohn's march, the doors of the solemn hall of the Wedding Palace opened wide.

Everything was modest - a dress without a crinoline, a single ring for two, and a Komsomol-style restrained kiss. But you can imagine how happy the newlyweds felt! Until 1917, the Leningrad Wedding Palace or the “Palace of the Happy” was the mansion of Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich Romanov. Of course, a wedding half a century ago and a modern wedding celebration are completely different things.

After the Great Patriotic War The building housed the design bureau. And for the opening of the Palace, the building was decorated in a proper, “Soviet” style: a bust of Lenin stood on a table covered with a red tablecloth, and portraits of members of the Politburo hung on the walls. Above all this was a pulpit, also painted red with the coat of arms of the Soviet Union.
Of course, many grooms and brides dreamed of getting into the first in the country “Wedding Palace”.

1963 According to some wedding witnesses of that time, a visit to the Leningrad Palace with direct "participation" in the ceremony was even included in the program of stay of Finnish tourists in the northern capital.

60s, an ordinary Soviet bride was brought to the place of marriage registration.

Of course, on the most “ceremonial” car - “The Seagull”.

Cars were usually decorated with multi-colored ribbons, balls, sometimes a doll. In the photo: Wedding in 1974.

And this is the signature of the certificate in the average registry office.

By the way, since the 50s, in order to increase the birth rate in the country, the Soviet state in every possible way supported the desire of citizens to formalize relations. It imposed a tax on bachelors who wished to live in a “civil marriage” and feel single.

And families, on the contrary, helped: the state welcomed everyone new marriage and even paid money for the purchase wedding rings. Young families had benefits and free housing.

Khrushchev at the wedding of Valentina Tereshkova.

Wedding in the Ryazan region in 1965.

From time immemorial, a girl did not marry alone, but with a dowry - property that the bride's parents began to prepare almost from the day of her birth. If the dowry was measured by carts, like this Kyrgyz bride, the chances of finding good husband were high.

A wedding as one of the main events in the life of newlyweds and their parents is a mass event. So, the bride depicted in the photo was envied by the entire collective farm. After all, in the 30s of the last century "to enter" family life not everyone has ever been on a tractor.

Speaking about the tradition of the wedding ceremony itself, it is worth noting that despite the wholesale “standardization”, the republics of the former Soviet Union retained their folk and religious customs: in Tajikistan, even 40 years after the victory of Soviet power, no one could see the bride’s face during the ceremony.

By the end of the last century, the scenarios for holding urban Tajik weddings approached European ones, girls began to marry with open faces.

In some regions of the multinational Union, the wedding ritual looked very bright and colorful. For example, a Georgian bride had to be able not only to stop a galloping horse, but also to saddle it if necessary.

And in the Baltics, on the contrary, the groom had to impress the bride by washing her feet.

In many nations, on the eve of the wedding, the bride must braid not one braid, as in girlhood, but two. According to the Kyrgyz tradition, braids are decorated with beads, shells and copper buttons. The ends of the braid should hang below the waist. If the length of their hair is not enough, a horse hair is tied to it, on which keys are hung.

In Ukraine, according to ancient tradition, it is customary to knock on the door with a special carved cane before the newlyweds enter the house.

At a Nenets wedding, the bride is supposed to jump over a rope. In a heavy coat, this is not easy to do. But grazing reindeer in the tundra is no easier. The groom must be sure that his future wife will cope with this task.

The youth, in turn, also tried in every possible way to diversify the wedding: it was believed that in order to protect the future wife from evil spirits, the husband should bring her into the house in his arms. The BAM builders did just that, but for somewhat different reasons - to protect the wife's white shoes from dirt.

Photograph of a Soviet wedding taken in 1977 for National Geographic magazine.

IN Slavic tradition newlyweds are greeted with a loaf. Whoever - the bride or groom - bites off a larger piece, he will be the head of the family

After solemn marriage usually went with flowers to the monument to Lenin, to Eternal fire, on the Kremlin square.

Mandatory photo shoot on Red Square in Moscow.
An interesting detail about "marriage" terminology: they began to designate cohabitation as "civil marriage" relatively recently. IN Soviet time a civil marriage was a marriage recorded in the acts of civil status of the registry office (hence the name came from ...). In essence, there were only two types of marriage in the USSR: civil and church ...

In order not to completely get confused during the last census, two types of marriages were introduced in Russia: “civil” and “official”.

I suggest you go back a few decades and find yourself at an ordinary Soviet wedding, drink a couple of glasses of Stolichnaya and shout “Bitter!” newlyweds. Let's remember how weddings were celebrated in the USSR ...

Civil marriage
The period of the USSR is enough for a long time. And in different years there were different wedding traditions.
Immediately after the revolution of 1917, religious marriage lost its legal force and a new concept for that time came into use. civil marriage". Now it was no longer the church, but the state that registered the family.


Although the Soviet family was not a value in itself (some of the Bolsheviks generally advocated the elimination of the institution of the family as such), but was perceived as part of a team of like-minded people - the builders of a new society, and the main responsibility for raising children was assigned by the state to preschool and school institutions, designed to correct the "negative" impact families on the formation of the personality of the child.
But if everything was simple on paper, then in the minds of the people the changes did not happen as quickly as the reformers expected. For a long time civil marriage was considered illegal cohabitation. This opinion has been inherited by us. Many even now understand the phrase “civil marriage” as cohabitation without a stamp in the passport and a ring on the hand.
"Red Weddings"
In the 1920s, in contrast to church wedding so-called “red weddings” began to be practiced (the registration table was necessarily covered with a red tablecloth). Painting, and then small gatherings at home. That's the whole ceremony.
The "Red Weddings" were viewed primarily not as a family event, but as a socio-political event, as an occasion for anti-religious agitation. The first "red wedding" was the wedding of people's commissars Alexandra Kollontai and Pavel Dybenko (their marriage lasted from 1918 to 1923).

People's Commissar of State Contempt in the first Soviet government Alexander Kollontai and the 1st People's Commissar for Maritime Affairs of the RSFSR Pavel Dybenko.
Gone is the tradition of ransoming the bride. Ideology took over. First, the communists thought this was a pagan affair. Secondly, the ransom was considered the prerogative of the village commoners, and the townspeople considered themselves intelligentsia ...
Nevertheless, by the 1930s, the Bolsheviks were forced to abandon their radicalism in the topics of family and gender relations. So in the late 30s - early 40s, the boom of "red weddings" began, the registration days were chosen so that they coincided with Soviet holidays…
bachelor tax
After the war, the number of men decreased significantly. One of the main post-war government tasks was to increase the birth rate. For men who did not want to marry, a special "bachelor" tax was introduced. If you don't want to get married, pay a fine to the state treasury.
As for weddings, after the war they were held very modestly. People lived extremely poorly, there was not enough money even for food, let alone the organization beautiful celebration. No one celebrated weddings as such, usually all "ceremonies" ended with a short registration. Brides of the second half of the 1940s sometimes did not even have a dress. But this did not stop anyone, they got married in any attire, just to tie the knot with their loved one.

Bouquet of roses
In the late 1950s, “civil rites” began to be introduced, that is, people began to voice the exact rules - how to prepare for a wedding and how to get married.
Relatives and friends were encouraged to give small gifts. The bride was congratulated with roses, the groom with carnations. If children were walking at the wedding, then they had to be dressed in school uniforms.
Particularly honorable was the participation in the exit ceremony, when several dozen pairs were registered at the same time (the record of 80 pairs was broken in Moscow in 1959). So the wedding in the USSR turned into an industry.
honorary mission
In 1964, the USSR established certain period waiting for marriage registration (one month from the date of filing the application), the institution of a certificate has been introduced (the presence of witnesses from the side of the newlyweds has become mandatory).
This mission was considered especially honorable, because with their signatures, these people, as it were, assured the right of the bride and groom to mutual love. On this occasion, several signs have been invented. For example, the witnesses were not supposed to be related to each other and neither of them had to be married. Witnesses were required to wear identifying holiday ribbons red or white color with gold inscriptions, which disfigured a lot formal attire, but added status to people.


marriage industry
To help organize wedding celebrations, bridal salons were created. At the place of work, the newlyweds began to provide 2-3 days off - "for the wedding."
Gone are the years when those entering into marriage celebrated their wedding only in a modest family setting - now the firms "Spring", "Yuvelirtorg", "Tsvettorg", management road transport, photography factories, etc. The wedding ceremony was put on stream.
The bride and groom at the time of filing an application at the registry office were given a book called "Invitation". According to this "Invitation" in special stores it was possible to buy some scarce goods. For example, after the wedding, the newlyweds could purchase two sheets, two pillowcases, two double duvet covers, one tablecloth and four towels.


Redemption and bread and salt
In the early 1970s, many wedding traditions began to be revived in the USSR, which also take place in modern ceremonies: bread and salt, laudatory songs, contests for the newlyweds, ransom, etc.
When the bride price regained its right to exist, another problem arose. The groom, already heavily spent on organizing the celebration, had to pay for his future wife. The pool of bridesmaids usually included residents of neighboring apartments, or even the entire entrance. So the bridegroom, occupied by the crowd, was covered with cold sweat already on the outskirts of the house. Friends helped to get out, who began to make blanks in the form of cheap champagne and boxes of chocolates.

Komsomol weddings
If two Komsomol members entered into marriage, then the newlyweds could count on subsidies from the Komsomol (All-Union Leninist Communist Youth Union).
Such weddings were called "Komsomol". Well, since almost all of them were Komsomol members at that time, practically everyone could receive subsidies from the Komsomol committee for the wedding. Naturally, even here it was not without "favorites": if you were in good standing at the enterprise, were an advanced worker, and even better worked in the committee itself, then it was much easier to get help.
Sometimes the bride and groom were given a car: ordinary people they were taken for registration in Moskvich, thieves - in black Volga.


Loan rings
When there was no money for wedding dresses at all, clothes were borrowed from friends. Often, not only dresses, suits and shoes were taken from friends, but also rings. Leaving the registry office, the newlyweds removed other people's rings and returned them to their friends. Sometimes they managed to buy their own only after a few years.
The banquet hall and entertainment for the guests were prepared by the guests themselves. Usually one of the friends acted as the ringleader. It turned out a lot of fun, because such a toastmaster did not have to find an approach to each guest. He knew what people liked and disliked. Often the guests arranged funny skits: they themselves played entertaining skits, sang songs and staged dances.
As for the design, brushes and paints were used here. Often on the walls of the apartments one could see perky posters with inscriptions emblazoned on them: “With a dear paradise and in a hut, if dear - an attache.”

Following the series
After the collapse of the USSR strong influence on wedding ceremony rendered foreign traditions. When post-Soviet television launched Brazilian and Argentine serials en masse, ceremonies on outdoors, they began to throw rice at the newlyweds, the guests were fed at buffet, a piece began to be stored in the freezer for a long time wedding cake with chocolate figurines of the bride and groom, and Honeymoon across the seas and countries has become commonplace ...

Fragments of the book "Soviet traditions, holidays and rituals" 1986 edition. The 300-page illustrated work is an instruction for all occasions - from a wedding to a ceremony of initiation into a grain grower. The book was printed in Moscow with a circulation of 70 thousand copies and cost 2.5 rubles at that time ...

Before the war, no one made a cult out of a wedding - it wasn’t before that. People just went to the registry office and put their signatures without thinking about the outfits. In the post-war 50s, almost no one had money, so they did not spend money on celebrations. Men often married military uniform or the most decent suit, women took out their, often the only, evening dress.

If they celebrated, then at home. No frills - a small party. In the 70s, when the well-being of the Soviet people began to grow, the first problems appeared.

In the 80s, a wedding in the USSR became a really troublesome business. In conditions of shortage, the newlyweds had a lot of problems. It was difficult to get both a dress and a decent suit. During the anti-alcohol campaign, another problem arose - where to get vodka? It was during these years that the book was written on Soviet traditions and rites.

The chapter on wedding celebrations begins with an explanation of the seriousness of everything that happens.

A separate place is reserved for the description of the head of the regional department of the registry office and his subordinates. So the head of the registry office should ensure “exemplary work of all services involved in ritual services to the population, provide methodological assistance to performers of rituals ...

He must have sufficient knowledge and experience to conduct ceremonies himself at a high ideological and artistic level.” To the question of what specialty the registrars have: “the performers of the rite have a special education, which is established by the regional and district commissions.

To perform these functions, especially in rural areas, along with full-time employees of the registry office and deputies of local councils, cultural workers, teachers and other persons who have the necessary abilities are also involved. Unfortunately, there is no explanation of exactly what abilities they should have.

Since the registrar at the wedding symbolizes state power, his outfit was also regulated.

Apparently, the form of registry office workers has not changed. Women still dress in shapeless, but very solemn robes. light colors.

It is desirable that a torch bowl be installed in the living room of the House or the Wedding Palace.

Today, torches are not burned in registry offices for safety reasons, and at youth holidays too, with the exception of football, and then on the sly.

The performer of the ceremony addresses the bride and groom:

The bride and groom repeat the words of the oath after the registrar:

After pronouncing these words, representatives of labor collectives and the public congratulate the newlyweds and give them gifts. After the newlyweds leave the ritual hall, they are congratulated by relatives and friends. Relatives and friends are encouraged to give not only small bouquets of former roses to the bride and carnations to the groom, but also viburnum and mountain ash berries.

Collective farm chairman CM. Kirov Voznesensky district of the Nikolaev region Hero of Socialist Labor N.N. Ryaboshapka gives the young people bread and salt.

On the day of the wedding, the newlyweds must visit the monument to V.I. Lenin, a monument or a mass grave of fallen soldiers and lay flowers there "as a sign of deep respect for people whose life was a great feat and an example of serving the sacred cause of the October Revolution and defending the socialist Motherland."

This tradition has not disappeared, but has been transformed. Until now, each city has its own wedding route. Delegations of newlyweds practically line up to take a souvenir photo at various cultural heritage sites.

There are really sensible, eternal remarks in the book:

Soviet paintings often depict wedding celebrations. Children must be present at them - preferably in school uniform, as well as people in national costumes. Often this is a woman in an embroidered Ukrainian shirt and a scarf or ribbons on her head. If the wedding takes place in a village, then they walk with the whole village, with an accordion, neighbors and moonshine.

After the wedding, a young family is recommended to go on a "wedding tourist trip to the capital, to hero cities, home country". This tradition is still alive today, only the directions have changed. Today, few people go to see the hero city, the newlyweds choose the sea and tan ...

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For a man in love, a wedding is one of the most wonderful events in life. In every country this traditional rite proceeds differently. Do you remember how Soviet weddings were held?

The celebration of marriage in the USSR as a whole was rather modest: the average Soviet person simply did not have financial opportunity spend money on expensive restaurants and foreign wedding tours - and they didn’t really let them go abroad in those days. However, the tables during the wedding feast were literally bursting with an abundance of great treats, and no one left the wedding sober or hungry: there was always enough food and alcohol. By the way, alcohol was often homemade, and this was not considered bad manners. Homemade wine, moonshine, berry tinctures and liqueurs easily replaced expensive imported drinks.

If today weddings are celebrated in restaurants, cafes and in last resort- canteens, then for Soviet weddings such luxury was not available to everyone, therefore wedding feasts in the USSR, mostly held at home. Usually chose the largest apartment among the nearestrelatives, put tables in the most spacious room (usually in the shape of the letter “p”), richly and beautifully covered them and decorated the apartment with wedding paraphernalia.

Can you imagine a wedding procession with checkered taxis? This seems unthinkable these days. And in the Soviet Union, cars were a luxury, so ordering a taxi for wedding corteges was in the order of things. Moreover, the cars were richly decorated with ribbons and balloons, and a doll in a wedding dress was always sitting on the hood of the newlyweds' car.

Any strict rules and there were no restrictions on holding a wedding in the USSR, however, most newlyweds preferred one of the two most common styles of wedding celebrations: folk or Komsomol.

Heartfelt folk weddings in each republic, region or region were distinguished by a bright national color and were held in accordance with the ethnic canons of marriage. Such celebrations were by no means held without live music: the presence of musicians with folk instruments was mandatory. Harmonies and button accordions, violins and dutars - each folk wedding had its own music, its own instruments and musicians. For such weddings, it was customary to dress in National costumes, and this applied not only to the newlyweds, but also to the guests.

Komsomol weddings were popular among urban youth. They were held on a grand scale and with a large number of guests, who wedding celebration there could be up to a hundred people. In addition to relatives and friends, numerous classmates or colleagues of the young at work were invited to Komsomol weddings. good tone was considered to be invited to the wedding of someone from respected people: the hero of labor, the leader of production, the founder of the labor dynasty, etc. wedding dresses at these celebrations they corresponded to certain canons: the bride - always in a long white dress and a veil attached to a wreath of white flowers; groom - in a strict dark suit with a boutonniere in breast pocket. Of course, there was also music at the Komsomol wedding, but along with the accordion, gramophone and later tape recordings with popular melodies sounded.

Several Soviet wedding traditions have successfully survived to this day:

It is from the Belarusian folk weddings under "Lyavonikha" traditions began to sprinkle the young with grain and meet the wedding cortege with a loaf.

Until now, at weddings, it is customary for the groom to go through difficult tests on the way to the heart of the bride. This ancient rite many peoples has retained its name - the ransom of the bride. True, already in the USSR, the ransom was a purely symbolic act, which was accompanied by intricate tasks for the groom and general fun.

The cult of rare domestic cars came to us from the Soviet Union. Today, many are trying to rent a beautiful Volga or Chaika for a wedding so that their motorcade is the most stylish.

The dance of the young is another wonderful wedding tradition that came to us from the USSR. True, today few people dance the usual waltz, but the romantic dance of the newlyweds itself is on modern wedding required.

*****

As you can see, Soviet weddings were not particularly luxurious and chic, but they were sincere and sincere. And the phrase “marriage of convenience” among the youth of that time caused only bewilderment: “But what about love?”