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Every country has unique traditions that take place at a wedding. Most often these are diversified as to the customs and religion of the various ethnic groups. Slovenia has such a zest for life and love and their marriages most aptly depict this.

The traditional Slovenian wedding consists of much activity. It all begins in the morning at the Bride’s house. As the morning progresses the wedding guests will begin arriving and gathering outside the house. The groom will also arrive here and will be asked by the guests to participate is some games that will take place prior to the wedding.

One of the most favored of all the pre wedding games is the Kidnapping of the Bride being a most intriguing game. There is such fun and festivity involved in this game. To begin with some of the male villagers will be within the bride’s house. Here they will dress up in the bridal attire pretending to be the Bride. The objective is for them to exit the house and attempt to trick the groom into thinking that they are his real bride to be.

Then the groom must perform some real negotiations for his loved one. The groom must approach one of the Brides male relatives, such as her brother for example. He must bribe this family member with money or some type of household appliance in return for the release of his Bride. Later on the money or appliance is given to the Bride and Groom as a wedding gift. All the time these festive games are going on the rest of the guests are thoroughly enjoying them and enjoying the wine.

When the groom meets the kidnappers of his bride to be, the groom must then prove he is manly enough to take the woman from her village. Some of the feats he will have to perform or more ransom money will have to be produced and he will have to show that he can drink his wine with the best of them.

Then the groom must perform the sragna, meaning he must demonstrate his physical strength by sawing a log. By this time the groom has aptly proven himself as to be a fit catch for his Bride and they are ready to start off to the ceremonies.

An interesting aspect of marriage in Slovenia means not only are they married once but twice. The law of Slovenia stipules the couple must be married in the registry office by a government official. This is the only legalized marriage. A Church wedding in Slovenia is not considered a legal marriage. So to have a church marriage it means the Bride and Groom must go though the ritual of exchanging their vows and rings twice.

So as you can see there are many activities that take place during a traditional wedding in Slovenia. For foreign weddings the only stipulation that must be followed is the legal wedding in the registry. From this point on the couple to be wed can add in any of the other traditions that they choose to incorporate into their wedding.

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Source by Saima Sultana