Wedding Song

The wedding song is a ritual song of the family cycle that accompanies every stage of the traditional Ukrainian wedding — matchmaking, betrothal, the korovai (ceremonial bread), the unbraiding of the maiden's plait, the departure to the crowning, and the posad. The Ukrainian wedding is a kind of folk drama with a distribution of 'roles' (the bride, groom, bridesmaids, boyars), and the wedding songs perform a dramaturgical function, commenting on the action and revealing the bride's feelings. Motifs of the girl's farewell to her home and maidenhood dominate, along with the symbolism of the kalyna (guelder rose), periwinkle, and korovai. A classic description of the Ukrainian wedding with its songs was given by Khvedir Vovk, and the texts were collected by Pavlo Chubynsky in his ethnographic 'Works' (1872–1878).