I will tell you about the happiest event of human life, the wedding, in my village called Talpa, where the traditions are very well kept till recent times. I know many things about this village and I will share all of its secrets. But first, I will tell you more about the wedding. In Talpa Village, wedding is celebrated by all people for three days, from Saturday morning till Monday evening. In the first day, the relatives and the people from the village come with the musicians at the godparents to invite them to arrange the bride’s veil. The veil is given by the godmother to a maiden and she has to wear it to the bride’s house and give it to her. After the veil ritual is finished, the godmother returns to her house in order to prepare herself for the wedding. The bride nicely dressed is ready to go wetting. Then all children from the village join the bride to the wetting place, usually, the grandparents’ house or the close relatives’ house. But the young bride is accompanied by a young man to perform the wetting. This tradition consist of wetting the wedding guests with a bunch of basil made by the bride’s grandmother, which is soaked in water and then following the cross shape, the bride and the young man wet every single person present at the wedding. The ritual is performed three times, every time using different water.
After the wetting ritual, people have to find another road to return at their homes. Once the people arrive home, the children and the bride decorate the tree with apples, pretzels, red and white thread from a spindle made by the grandmother of the bride and other ornaments. The tree is given to a young man. After that, they all gather for the dance of the tree and in the middle, two musicians break the tree cake, one holds a glass of wine and the other soften the cake in wine and share it with the dancers. When the music stops, the children are invited to eat. After the meal, the bride breaks the spindle on her knees, throws it on the house and runs into her room. It is said that, if the spindle stay longer on the house, their marriage will be long and beautiful. Few wedding guests leave the bride’s house and go to the godparents place to take them to the church. It is common to give them gifts from the bride and groom, such as wine, plum brandy, poultry and sponge cake. Meanwhile, the son-in-law is prepared to be shaved. Sitting on a chair in the yard, where everyone can admire him, the groom is being shaved by a young man. The beard is splashed with wine and then with a knife, the young man fulfills the task. Actually, the groom is already shaved but the tradition requires a new demonstration. The wedding guests who arrived at the godparents’ house are invited to eat and to drink, in the honor of the young couple. The candles are carried by two young people, a girl and a boy, to the bride and groom’s house and then to the church.
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