When the newlyweds cross the threshold of the parental home, mothers traditionally come out to meet them with a magnificent and ruddy wedding loaf, skillfully decorated with flowers and figurines made of thin dough. In order for the newlyweds to live in love and prosperity, they must pinch off a piece of the wedding loaf, dip it in salt and feed each other.
The tradition of offering bread and salt to newlyweds is very symbolic, since ancient times it has been considered the best way to protect a newborn family, since bread is a powerful talisman, a symbol of prosperity and family hearth. Salt is considered a versatile remedy for evil spirits. The loaf is served on a towel - an embroidered towel. It is believed that the life of young people should be as smooth as the surface of a towel.
What did the wedding loaf symbolize in the old days?
The tradition of offering a loaf to newlyweds goes back to the hoary antiquity. In ancient Rome, the bride and groom became spouses only after they ate a piece of a round cake mixed with salted water and honey. The bride and groom passed the pieces of the cake to each other at the same time, with several witnesses. The Russian wedding loaf is a descendant of the ancient Roman honey cake.
The round shape of the loaf since ancient times symbolized the Sun or the pagan sun god, who was considered the main patron saint of the Slavs. According to legend, the sun god descended to earth to give the newlyweds, entering into a happy family life, his affection. Since those distant times, the loaf has become a symbol of fertility and a rich life.
In the old days, the loaf was assigned an important role in the ceremony of giving gifts to the young. The relative first accepted and tasted a piece of loaf, and in gratitude he gave something to the newlyweds. The godparents divided the loaf, and the children delivered the pieces to the guests. It was useless to leave the wedding home without a piece of loaf. It was believed that the one who tasted the wedding loaf would be lucky in all endeavors.
What does the wedding loaf symbolize today?
Nowadays, the hospitable tradition at the wedding has been preserved. As in the distant past, parents meet the bride and groom with a ruddy loaf on a hand-embroidered towel. It is believed that the more magnificent and beautiful the loaf, the richer and happier the newlyweds who have tasted it will become.
Modern loaves are decorated with beautiful patterns made of thin dough: flowers, spikelets, berries, wicker hearts, rings, birds. Flowers on a loaf symbolize the purity of the bride, spikelets - the welfare and prosperity of a young family, berries - strong and strong love, woven hearts, rings and birds - the loyalty and devotion of the newlyweds to each other.
Young people eat wedding bread from the middle, this tradition personifies the birth of a new life and the imminent appearance of children in a married couple. The division of the wedding loaf into parts symbolizes the loss of virginity. Decorations from a loaf are distributed to unmarried girls. It is believed that if a girl received and tasted such a piece of jewelry, she would soon marry too. There was a belief that if an unmarried girl put a piece of a wedding loaf under her pillow at night, she would see her betrothed in a dream.
Little known facts about the wedding loaf
Since ancient times, the loaf has identified the status of the future family, so they tried to make it as lush and tall as possible. At rich weddings one could see huge loaves the size of a table. Sometimes the loaf rose high and turned out to be so magnificent that it was impossible to pull it out of the oven and several bricks had to be removed from the oven masonry.
For baking a loaf, loafs were invited - married women who live with their husbands in goodness and harmony, love and happiness, who had sympathetic and hard-working children. It was believed that the loafers would give family well-being and a young family. Baking a loaf, women sang ritual songs, inviting happiness and good luck to the house of the young.
The tradition of baking ceremonial bread for a wedding is inherent in all Slavic peoples. Ukrainians and Belarusians also have loaf traditions, Tatars bake gubadia for a wedding - a pie made of puff pastry, the ritual meaning of which is completely identical to a loaf.
