The Pre-Wedding Phase
The Wedding Day

Inquiries [dopyty]
In 1920, it was common practice for young men to gather on Sunday evenings at one of the prominent community houses in Swan Plain, which also served as a store and post office.

One Sunday, two young men from several miles away happened to drop in on such a gathering while a group of local boys played cards. They knew the local boys generally, but were not particularly close. The store owner's daughter, sixteen, was also present, and caught the eye of one of these distant visitors. He spoke to her briefly, then decided to ask his friend to make more formal inquiries as to a wedding. The friend didn't think this was a good idea, but the prospective groom insisted. Acting formally as a sort of matchmaker [starosta] the friend quietly wrote the girl a note to "go outside," where he uncomfortably explained what he had been asked to do. Partly out of surprise, the girl agreed that he could inform her parents that he requests her hand in marriage. This procedure took place discreetly and most of the company parted that evening without realizing what had transpired.

Engagement [zaruchyny ] and Agreement [uhovoryny]
When the local boys had gone, the two visitors asked the girl's father and mother for her hand in marriage. The parents were somewhat taken aback by this information, and even more amazed when they deferred the decision to their daughter and she accepted. By the next morning, the prospective groom's mother and the bride's parents and grandparents assembled for discussion. It was typical to celebrate a wedding some three weeks after the engagement. There was a concern that the Christmas Lenten season (Pylypivka) was less than two weeks away, and there was no time to arrange a wedding this year. In this case, it was decided that the wedding was to take place that very week. The wreath-weaving [vinkopletennia] was to take place on Thursday and the church marriage ceremony [vinchannia] on Friday, with the celebrations following for several days. Because the groom's father was deceased and his family was not wealthy, it was decided that the wedding celebrations would partially be combined together, and would take place at her parents' house.

Arrangements
A day after the agreements had been made, the bride, her mother, and groom travelled by horse and wagon eighteen miles to Norquay to buy things for the wedding. Wedding rings were ordered at $ 7.00 a pair. White materials and lace were bought for a wedding dress. The bride's mother bought cloth with which to sew bed sheets and pillowcases for the bride's dowry. That evening the groom's mother visited the bride's and made further arrangements.

Licence
In 1920 it was necessary to purchase a marriage licence before getting married. The couple had difficulty in obtaining a marriage licence because the bride was under 18, and she was not accompanied by her father, who should sign to document his permission.

Invitations [zaprosyny]
After the date was set, the bride wrote notes to her relatives who lived far away, inviting them to her wedding. These were delivered by the bride's distant cousin, and were likely the first written wedding invitations in that area. She was too nervous and excited to sew the wedding dress, or even simple pillowcases, so her aunt stepped in to help. Taking her cousin as bridesmaid [druzhka], the bride spent the remainder of Tuesday and Wednesday inviting friends and relatives to the wedding. The bride's brother drove the two girls by horse for several miles in each direction to relatives and friends. Arriving at a farmstead, she would bow deeply to the man and to the woman of the house and ritually recite to them, "My father invites you, my mother invites you, and I invite you."
The groom and his best man [druzhba] travelled to their own guests on Thursday, inviting them in the same manner. They rode in a cutter (light wagon) and hurried their horse so that they could invite as many people as possible. Turning at one of the farmyards, the wagon overturned and fell onto the groom's leg. Fortunately, he was not seriously injured, though it did cause him to come late for the blessing and caused extra anxiousness that evening.

The musicians
Only one informal group of musicians played at this wedding consisting of local men who played a violin [skrypka], hammered dulcimers [tsymbaly], and bass fiddle [bas]. They played on Thursday night at the wreath-weaving ceremony, as well as on Friday and Saturday.

Wedding tree [derevtse]
The bride's brother selected and cut down a two-foot spruce sapling to be used as the derevtse. After being ceremoniously decorated with paper and other things, it was inserted into the centre of a ceremonial loaf of bread [kolach].

Wreath-weaving [vinkopletennia]
On Thursday evening, the vinkopletennia took place in the bride's house. Many people gathered for the wreath-weaving. The bride bowed three times to each of the older people and once to those who were younger. Crossing the doorway, there were benches on three walls of the room filled with relatives and neighbours. With the help of the bridesmaid, the wedding mother started the weaving of the wreath. She took the first four or five branches of periwinkle and wove them together. The matchmaker spoke and invited the father of the bride and then the mother of the bride to bless their daughter with the periwinkle. Then the bride's relatives, brothers, sisters and everyone present were called upon in order to bless the bride and the making of the wedding wreath. Each person, as they blessed the bride, added a few branches of periwinkle to the wreath making a long string of woven branches. Then the wedding mother and other young women wove a round wreath to fit the bride's head. Especially sorrowful songs were sung at this time.

Buying of the bride's wreath and bouquets [vyhuliannia]
When the wreath weaving was finished, the starosta called upon the groom and his best man to buy the wreath [vinochok] and the bouquets [bukety] from the bride. The bridesmaid had made the bouquets earlier in the day. They consisted of a flower, periwinkle and a ribbon. When the groom and best man had them pinned on their lapels, the ribbons hung down to their waists. The groom bought the wreath and his bouquet from the bride. The best man in the same way, gave money to his bridesmaid for his bouquet. The girls at this time sang joyful and even comic songs, directed at the groom.