Engagement is the first step towards a strong family bond

One of the most vibrant and exciting days for every person is the wedding day. However, very few people know that before the ceremony of marriage before in Russia, the engagement was mandatory, and this day was considered as important as the direct tying of marriage ties. After all, the engagement is the solemn proclamation of the mutual consent of two loving hearts, after which he and she were entitled to be called a bride and groom.

In olden times on that day a solemn meeting of the parents of the bride and groom was held in Russia, where they gave their parents' blessing for a happy and long life. Traditionally, at the festival there was an exchange of bread and salt between the parents, after which for a few minutes everyone fell silent. Before dinner, a man gave his beloved a beautiful engagement ring with a precious stone, after which they were called the bride and groom. Engagement - this is the most significant day before the wedding, so the young were preparing for him especially carefully. In rich and noble families in this occasion was given, as a rule, a dinner or a ball, to which influential persons from all districts were invited. Guests gave the bride gifts and congratulated the young with the first step towards joining the sacred marriage union.

Today, the engagement is not celebrated by everyone, and most often on this day there is an official meeting of parents, after which a party is arranged. The future spouse gives her bride an engagement ring, which indicates serious intentions to marry her beloved girl. A future wife can also give his beloved some important thing for him, which he will keep for a long time as a memory of this important day for him. In fact, the engagement is a kind of discussion of intentions to carry out the marriage of young people, since the word itself is based on the concept of "saying", that is, conspiring. Parents "married" to marry their children, after which they finally planned the wedding day.

However, if you study this Slavic tradition more closely, you should know that the engagement is not the first stage of betrothal. Before him there was a so-called matchmaking, when the groom sends to the future bride matchmakers with a proposal to get engaged.

It should also be remembered that in olden days, in addition to marriage, the marriage of young people in the church was also mandatory. Our people since ancient times have been devout, therefore the belief in God is traditionally inherent in most people. It is noteworthy that the Bible does not say anything about the engagement ceremony, which gives grounds to many churchmen to assert that this rite appeared at a later time. At the same time, there is information that even ancient Slavs before the era of Christianity in Russia already had established traditions that included this custom.

Engagement in the church is understood as an ad to God about his voluntary and firm intention to marry and provide a marriage vow. It is noteworthy that here parents may not be present, since the main thing in this process is informing God about the firmness of their intentions. On the day of marriage, many believing young people perform the ceremony of betrothal in the church, after which it is believed that the bride and groom are married for the rest of their lives, and God is the witness.

In different regions of our country there were their own peculiarities and traditions of engagement, however, in general, this did not change the essence of the event. Today, not all newlyweds celebrate this day, as many do not even know what an engagement is. Despite the gradual loss of traditions, all people should remember and know about such holidays, as they are our cultural heritage, which we are obliged to preserve and transmit to future generations.