Apartment 45 m² - street Lech and Maria Kaczynski, Batumi

Georgian soul through the prism of a wedding

If you want to more deeply feel the real Georgian soul with all the diversity of its traditions, customs and habits, then the wedding is perfect for this. The qualities that have been so valued for centuries in Georgian men and Georgian women and today do not lose their true meaning. We are talking about real nobility, the true respectful and respectful attitude of men to women and vice versa, the greatness and unshakable stamina of this people.

Even now, in the twenty-first century, many Georgians, when they decide to marry, preserve and observe the traditions and customs that were inherent in their ancestors. After all, a wedding it is not just a celebration of a happy bride and groom, it is also the unification of two families into one, their merger and the emergence of new family ties.

In Georgia, there is a rite that is very similar to matchmaking, but it is called machankloba. Now it’s rather a tribute to tradition, because modern youth themselves decide their fate and decide on the choice of life partner. And there were times when the fate of their children arranged for parents. It is from those times that the machankloba originates. But even in modern civilized Georgian society, the opinion of parents means a lot to young people, and they try to listen to him.

Both the groom’s family and his bride’s family are struggling to get to know each other before their children make the final decision to marry, in order to better know which family they will be related to. And if the members of both families are satisfied with their possible relatives, the ceremony of matchmaking takes place, followed by the betrothal a niche. Importantly, a niche implies a wedding in the church.

For family life among Georgians, state registration of marriage is completely optional. For them, the wedding ceremony is more important. After that, young people in the eyes of their relatives and the whole society are considered full-fledged husband and wife. And state registration of marriage is needed to be considered as such in the eyes of the state and its bodies.

Ancient rites in the modern world

After the wedding at the entrance to the joint house, the groom must take a sip of wine. An engagement ring is dropped into the glass with which he drank. And after that, a glass of wine and a wedding ring is given to the bride. She is also supposed to take a small sip of wine from this glass, after which the wedding ring is solemnly caught from the remnants of the wine and presented to the bride. This tradition marks the beginning of a happy married life.

It is customary to smear the lips of a happy bride with sweet honey, so that she always only speaks sweet words to her fiancée. And in all corners in a cozy family nest it is customary to scatter cereals so that wealth is always found in their house, and there are many children.

According to tradition, the bride slowly walks around the house, touching all the significant objects in it. Particular attention should be paid to the boiler, as an object that personifies the hearth and female happiness. After that, the young ones rise to the roof of the house or go out into the yard. This is done to perform a beautiful ceremony letting go of two white birds as a symbol of two souls released on a free flight to become one.

The weddings in Georgia are very bright, a large number of guests are invited and a generous table is set. Relatives and friends who received an invitation to a wedding will definitely come to it, because here it is not customary to refuse such an invitation. They give money and things traditional for each locality. All the gift is recorded in a special account book, which is then taken away by the newlyweds. Dances, songs and a chic table, coupled with traditions and customs - this is a wedding that shows even a newcomer, the whole soul and power of the Georgian people.