On friday 17 november I will marry my girl.....

[Thor]

After spending several weeks together I asked my girlfriend Ren if she would marry me this summer, and lucky for me she answered DA!! So on friday 17 november we will marry in Mariage palace in Kharkov!! I am a lucky guy now, and also very busy because there is a lot to arrange before the wedding. Almost my whole cloose familly will be in the wedding and they have never been to Eastern Europe before....A challange for me to organise and help my guest so the visite to Kharkov will be a nice exsperience for them.

Have any of you guys had your marriage in Russia or Ukraine? I would be VERY happy for all advises I could get regarding to my wedding in Kharkov...

[jb]

Congratulation on your upcoming wedding.

She is a lovely girl and I think you both make a stunning couple. Best wishes to you for a nice future as a married couple.

[Thor]

Hi,

Is jb Jack Bragg?? Anyway thank you very mutch!!!

[Admin]

After spending several weeks together I asked my girlfriend Ren if she would marry me this summer, and lucky for me she answered DA!! So on friday 17 november we will marry in Mariage palace in Kharkov!! I am a lucky guy now, and also very busy because there is a lot to arrange before the wedding. Almost my whole cloose familly will be in the wedding and they have never been to Eastern Europe before....A challange for me to organise and help my guest so the visite to Kharkov will be a nice exsperience for them.

Have any of you guys had your marriage in Russia or Ukraine? I would be VERY happy for all advises I could get regarding to my wedding in Kharkov...

I *just* had a close friend get married in Kharkiv. In fact, he is still there in her apartment awaiting the DCF interview in Kyiv.

I'll see if he has time to post about his experiences.

Congrats on your engagement!

- Dan

[Thor]

Thank you very mutch Dan!!!

[jb]

Is jb Jack Bragg??

No, in this case it's the "other" jb.

[BillyB]

Another happy couple. Congrats stor_oksen and Ren.
 

[Sohkay]

Oh no...please God...why TWO jb's?

Congratulations Stor and Ren!

I wish you a deep and enduring love.

Sohkay

[Admin]

Oh no...please God...why TWO jb's?

Congratulations Stor and Ren!

I wish you a deep and enduring love.

Sohkay

Actually - there are two QUITE ORIGINAL individuals.

jb - is the moniker of our inimitable jb of "Clue Bat" infamy.

Jack - is another inimitable member, but for quite different reasons - equally infamous.

And there is even another 'jb' - IIRC the British use a different pseudonym for a generic or mythical person. In the US, it is "John Doe" - but in the UK, it is "Joe Bloggs" - or yet another with the initials "JB".

FWIW

Interesting that inimitability and infamy seem to follow our RWD jb's   

- Dan

[Vaughn]

Norwegian and Ukrainian! OMG ~ if you two
have children, they'll be beautiful!!

Here's wishing your family enjoys the visit
to Ukraine, and that you and Ren enjoy a
long lifetime of happiness!!

[wiz]

Thor

My congradulations for your upcoming wedding. I hope your life with Ren is a total bliss.

Just try to avoid having more arguments with..........the Akakia trees......LOL


All my best wishes
Yannis

[Thor]

Thank you dear members for your kind words regarding my future with Renata and the upcoming wedding!!! I realy look forward to the wedding, but I am also nervous because I dont like to be in the atention like I will be on my wedding day. I am a bit shy and this will be a challange for me.....

There are trees in Kharkov too Wiz:)))

[Jack]

Hello Thor, best wishes on your upcoming marriage. As Dan mentioned briefly, like you, another of the guys from one of our tours has also just got married in Kharkov.

Thor I have gotten married in Ukraine as well have served as best man for three weddings and attended several others. Please feel free to PM if you might have any questions, or better yet call me. You still have my numbers I assume.

 

[tim 360]

Hey Stor,  Congratulations on your engagement and upcoming wedding.  I think you and Ren make a great couple and I wish you both many years of continued happiness,  Cheers, Tim360 :angel:

[wendaaaal]

Congratulations and good luck Stor! I've enjoyed your unique posts along the way  Don't be nervous about any ceremonies! They won't be anything like those of  your parents in Norway or mine in USA, but the day will be special in its own way. Just relax and enjoy. The guests from home will have a blast, I'm sure. Besides, surely your beautiful bride will do all she can to make it easy for you and the guests.  Best wishes, Wendell in Austin.

[Thor]

Yes I hope that it will be ok. I have never been to a Ukrainian wedding before and I am not shure about the way they do it. Should I make a speech? In belive that Norway and the US have more or less the same traditions when it comes to a wedding (this because Norway along with UK) are most influenced by US culture and lifestyle in the europe. Yes my bride is super, she is vise, nice, caring and beautiful, just like many of the girls in former Sovjet union are. She will do all her best to make it a nice day for my guests. It is especialy my mother I am a bit conserned about, my other guests are young and will have the time of their life in Kharkov:)), by the way all of them are men.........Luckely for me so will my mums sister go along with mum, she has traveled a lot and will "take care" og mum...I domt want to bring mum to discos and nigthclubs..

[Bruno]

I have never been to a Ukrainian wedding before and I am not shure about the way they do it.

Don't know anymore the URL but i have save the text on my computer...

Ukrainian Wedding Traditions

Ukrainian wedding traditions have a long history. Unfortunately, at the present times, fewer and fewer of ancient wedding customs and traditions take place at a contemporary Ukrainian wedding. However, the most interesting traditions have remained.

We will describe a contemporary Ukrainian wedding. So, the wedding ceremony begins 30-40 days before the wedding itself. The bridegroom, his parents and friends must ask the bride's parents for her hand. The bridegroom's parents come with a Ukrainian round loaf (homemade, round, big bread beautifully decorated). The round loaf is delivered on an embroidered towel made by the bridegroom's mother, and on top of the bread there is some salt.

The bridegroom's father and friends ask for "bride's hand". Usually, her father gives an answer, after asking his daughter about her decision — whether she wants to marry the young man or not. If the bride wishes to take this guy as her future life partner, the bridegroom's and bride's parents discuss the time and place of the wedding party. But…if the girl does not wish to marry the guy, she gives him a pumpkin!

The wedding day… Dressing a bride is a special ritual. Bride's friends have been with her since early morning. They put a gown on her, make a hair-do and put on a bridal veil…

The bridegroom comes to his bride in a car decorated with flowers, ribbons and balloons. Sometimes, a doll dressed like a bride is placed on the car's hood. When the car (or cars) comes up to the house of the bride, they start to honk.

It means that the bridegroom and his relatives are ready to take the bride, her parents and friends to the church and city hall, to get married and register their marriage. When the bridegroom and bride walk out of the bride's house, the bride's mother throws seeds (symbol of wellbeing) onto their heads, as well as roseleaves (symbol of prosperity and health) and coins (symbol of financial stability in a family).

The official registration of marriage in the City Hall starts with the sound of fanfares. A Ukrainian embroidered towel is spread at the feet of the couple, they stand on it and the ceremony begins. In fact, at this place, the bridegroom and bride become husband and wife. Exactly, in the City Hall, the long awaited phrase "Zoya, do you agree to take Oleg as your husband, to be with him in sadness and grief, to be faithful until death separates you?" is pronounced.

After the ceremony, the spouses receive congratulations from friends and relatives. The "newly-made" husband takes his wife from the City Hall in his arms.

The next stage — getting married in church. The most touching and important moment to the couple, their parents, friends and relatives. The priest blesses the new family for happiness, health, luck, faithfulness, understanding, love and respect for one another.

God's blessing is the most serious blessing for the new family. There are many prejudices connected with the ceremony in church. They say that if the bride's dress catches the fire from a candle, it means that the marriage is doomed. So it is quite understandable that the bride's mother is always very careful in church, and does her best to prevent any of such things.

The third stage — celebration. The most joyful, surprising and unexpected things may happen this evening. The party takes place in a restaurant, cafй or at the home of the bridegroom or bride. All the guests come with gifts. In Ukraine, ordinary things can be presents at a wedding, which first of all, will be necessary in a young family: kitchen utensils, linen, home appliances, etc.

The party starts with congratulations from relatives and friends. After each toast, the guests shout "Gorka! Gorka! Gorka!" It means that the guests want to see the married couple kiss one another. One must note that the number of kisses at the wedding, as some bridegrooms have noticed, exceed the number of kisses received throughout the whole period of dating.

When the guests have paid enough attention to the married couple, their attention goes to the bride's and bridegrooms best friends. To be the best friends of the couple at the wedding is a very honorable and responsible task. The bride chooses her best friend (unmarried girl) who helps the bride with all pre-wedding preparations. It is she who puts down her signature in the document certifying the marriage.

So, what is the role of the bridegroom's and the bride's best friend? They are called "witnesses". When the guests shout "Gorko" to the witnesses, it means that the guests want to see them kiss, too! At one of international weddings which took place in our city, there was a funny thing. The guests were shouting "Gorko" to the witnesses. The bridegroom's best friend spoke no Russian, so he was not really paying attention the shouts and continued to enjoy the delicious meal from his plate. When the interpreter explained to him what was required, the guy blushed. Anyway, he did not refuse from a kiss from the bride's best friend. Later on, at the end of the evening, he asked the guests to shout "Gorko" to the witnesses again.

During the party, dancing is a must. Everybody dances — the guests, the parents, and the newly-married couple. But…a dance between the bridegroom and his mother-in-law and between the bride and her father-in-law is a must at each wedding party. Moreover, the bridegroom must prove that he will take good care not only of his wife, but also of his mother-in-law. In the presence of all the guests, the bridegroom declares that he will also be kind to his mother-in-law, and as a sign of his attention, he presents her with a pair of boots, which he puts on her!

However… a trial is expecting the bridegroom. It may happen that the bride may be stolen, and the guests will ask the bridegroom to pay 50-500 grivnas (10-100$) for her shoes, or even for the bride herself - even a bigger sum.

All guests are sure that the newly married couple will be the happiest family. But it stirs everyone's curiosity - who will be the head of the family - He or She? National tradition helps to clear up this issue. The newly married are given traditional bread and they try to break it apart. The head of the family will be the person who has got a larger part of it left in the hands! This ritual is more like a joke on the wedding party, but as time goes by it becomes obvious that traditional ceremonies are telling truth!

At the end of the party the custom of turning the bride into wife takes place. The bride is dancing waltz with all the young, unmarried girls present at the party. This is a sign that every young girl has the right for happiness, family and children. However, which of the present young girls will be the first one to get married depends on who catches the bouquet thrown by the bride backwards, over her left shoulder!

After the bride says "good bye" to her friends (young girls), a bride's mother's friend brings the round loaf to the bride and uncovers her bridal veil. Instead, a Ukrainian national kerchief is placed on her head. A young bride has turned into a married woman!

The wedding is over! Long live a new family! As our foreign witness once said, "We enjoyed the Ukrainian wedding very much! We'll come again".

[Thor]

I know that some of you guys dont want to post photos of yourself or your girls on this board, but I dont care and post photos anyway:)). This is a photo of my girl Ren taken when we was in Turkey this summer..

[Thor]

I will marry at the mariage palace in Sumskaya street. Here is a photo of Mariage palace and one photo of Rena when we where there in august to make "some" paper works....We belived that there was some troubbels because we did not have 1 of the forms we needed, but as you know, money talks in Ukraine:))).

[Thor]

This is photo taken when I asked Renas mum for Renas hand (it is normal to ask the girls dad for this, but since Renas dad is not among us any more, I had to ask her mum). Her mum approved and then we had some champagne. Her mum lives in a village in Donetsk oblast. Renas sisters boy Mark was the translater for me..

[Thor]

2 more photos of my Kharkov "pupsik"...

[Vaughn]

Stor,

  You are a very lucky man - she is beautiful, and
so is your story. I am curious, if you don't mind
answering this: in what language(s) do you and
Ren communicate? Will she attempt to learn your
native Norwegian? In what area of Norway will you
reside?

  Oksen, Olson...maybe we are cousins. My grandfather
was born in Perstorp, Sweden. His wife, Anna, was
raised on the Baltic Sea island of Oland.

  I'll enjoy seeing more photos of your wedding day!

Vaughn

[Thor]

Hi Vaugn

Some parts of my familly is from Sweden, I am 1/8 Swede:)). Thanks for your kind words regarding my girl. So fare we communicate on English. She speaks good English and in Norway we start to learn English from we are 8 years old so I speak English too of course. Yes she has already startet to learn Norwegian in Kharkov:)). We will resorte not far from city Trondheim in the middel of Norway.

Yes I will post photos from our wedding day later this year..

[tim 360]

PS:  I should add that I think your practical and solid strategy of finding your fiance was excellent and very simple.  As I recall you had a friend who lived in Kharkov and you just went there and met many girls without using any Kharkov agencies at all.  Pretty simple.  I always enjoyed your posts and information from Kharkov,  Congrats, tim360

[Thor]

Yes I went to Kharkov last fall. There I meet a man named Slava. My friends had recommend his service. We runed a newspapers ad and I meet a LOT of girls during my stay in Kharkov. I did not use any agencys at all. Only newspapers ads. Of course there are some very beautiful girls at agencys, but they are seldom sincere. The sincere girls at agencys are mostly just normal looking girls, or girls with a child. The beautiful girls takes adventage of their beauti and meet MANY men. This men take them to restaurangs, buy gifts and so on. They are also very importandt for the agencys because they atracks men to the ageny=money, money, good for business..