Sober weddings are becoming the norm

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

How do we usually begin our family life together? With shouts of "Bitter!", Bouquet, toastmaster, alcohol, drunken songs, formulaic contests, screams and even fights … This is an ordinary wedding. Andrei and Natalya Popenovs from Yoshkarolintsy decided to abandon these "rituals" imposed on us from outside and followed the call of their hearts. They arranged a completely sober wedding in the folk tradition!

An amazing atmosphere reigned at the wedding of the Popenov couple: pure joy, sincerity, singularity, dances, games, round dances, wonderful treats, wildlife, and most importantly - beauty until late at night! No "floated" faces and sloppy drinking cries for you. But first things first.

“I grew up at a time when Russia was very sick: the 90s, the disintegration of the country, confusion and confusion among people, young people began to drink right in the yard and take drugs,” recalls the groom Andrei Popenov. - I also tried alcohol, but when I grew up, I realized that this was a road to nowhere, and decided to completely abandon alcohol. Remember such concepts from Russian fairy tales as truth and falsehood? When we drink alcohol even "culturally" and "on holidays", then we give our subconscious mind the installation: I agree to lie in my life, I myself allow destruction, weakness, pain, dirt, ignorance in my life - everything connected with alcohol! I realized that people are looking for a feeling of joy, some kind of consolation in strong drinks, they fill them with problems, but this only aggravates them. Alcohol is a great solvent: it dissolves families, love, and friendships. Sobriety gives health, good mood, regardless of the situation. Sobriety is when everything in your life is real, without crutches.

“The Slavs were the most sober people,” adds Natalya. - There have never been so many drinking establishments in Russia as it appeared in the twentieth century. Drinking is not Russian "fun". We love our country very much, but if no one starts doing anything to revive it, how will our mother Russia survive? We started with ourselves.

Young people met on the Internet on the basis of common interests: love for the heritage of their ancestors, a healthy lifestyle. And the birth of true relations for the couple began with a joint trip to the festival of caring and creative people "Sober Russia".

Andrei and Natalya recall that at first their parents were against holding a wedding in the Slavic style, and even without alcohol. “Let's go like everyone else, let's go to the cafe!”, - they persuaded their children.

“We very much respect the opinion of our parents, and we have almost given up on our dream - a sober wedding,” says the young wife. - But as soon as preparations began for an ordinary wedding, Andrei and I began to quarrel about and without. And then he said: "Okay, that's enough, we are doing as we dreamed." And everything went like clockwork! And we managed to persuade our parents, because we deeply respect them internally, do not condemn them, we accept their way of life. We just calmly insisted on our own.

As a result, the parents of the young people were so impressed by the beauty and joy of the Slavic wedding that they vied with each other to tell their friends and relatives about it!

- I think that the family is the ship, and the husband is the captain of the ship. The husband is the will, the wife is the harmony in the family. The man is the creator, and the wife is the support and the bearer, - Andrey Popenov is sure. - Parents brought up Natasha in the traditional style, taught her to respect men and be gentle, wise, not crush the feminine in herself. From the bottom of my heart I am grateful to Natasha's parents!

In the morning, the Popenovs had a classic wedding: a white dress with a veil and a suit, the ransom of a vesta (no alcohol!), A painting in the registry office and even a boat ride on the river. Then the newlyweds changed their clothes and went to the meadow, where the buffoon and fabulous guests were already waiting for them! The weather itself was for the sober groom and the message: the sun, a clear sky, and in the evening - round dances around the fire under the bright stars.

Andrey and Natalia's wedding can be described in one word - a fairy tale! The young people decided to abandon the rituals imposed on us aimed at destroying the family. These are shouts of "Bitter!" Or another strange ritual when the groom drinks alcohol from his wife's shoe. Whom do we form by these actions? A weak man and henpecked man who is not able to take responsibility for the family? And a woman - a draft horse who crushes her man in every possible way? Our ancestors very wisely approached the rituals and did not allow such things at weddings.

The groom and the Vesta acted out a scene in which Natalya appeared as a red maiden, and Andrei as a good fellow walking through the forest. Andrey "met" Natalia with a yoke and asked her to drink some water and realized that she was his destiny. Then the young people went to their father's house for the blessing of their parents.

- These are very powerful ceremonies! And when they tied us with a towel, I even felt behind my back all the strength of my kind, the approval and support of my ancestors! - says Andrey Popenov. - We were led through the labyrinth, symbolizing life, and together we were looking for a way out of dead ends, sharp corners, etc. Then we had a meal: we tried to please both meat lovers and vegetarians. Russian pies, pancakes, salads, sweets - so many things! And we drank fruit drink, compote and juice, we did not take harmful soda.

By the way, instead of the toastmaster at the wedding, the Popenovs had a real buffoon, whom they met at Sober Russia. He deeply studies his native culture, rituals, games, he is very natural and sincere!

- It was unusual and exciting! At ordinary weddings, even the contests are repeated. And everything looks somehow artificial, stereotyped, as if sucked from a finger. And here - novelty, beauty, pure joy, fun! - shared the guests of the sober Yoshkarolin wedding. - And we also realized that if there are disagreements among the relatives, we need to combine them in a round dance! A round dance is a powerful instrument of unity, in which people immediately rally at the level of the heart and begin to feel each other.

At the Popenovs' wedding, everything was alive: nature, air, emotions, food, drinks, games, round dances and even live music performed by a Mari accordion player.

- I am so happy that we did not sit within the four walls of the cafe, but jumped over the fire, I even walked over the coals! - Andrey is inspired. - By the evening there were no all these smeared faces, fights, quarrels, vulgar jokes. The guests were sober, open, cheerful, surprised. And we did not sponsor any alcoholic corporations, because it is no secret that 90% of the Russian alcoholic market belongs to the West. We do not want to brag or show ourselves, we in no way condemn those who prefer alcohol: everyone makes their own choice and everyone is worthy of respect and love. Natasha and I just did as we dreamed!

The most important thing at the last wedding is the children. Children think figuratively, absorb everything like a sponge, and at the Popenovs' celebration an image of pure, primordially Russian fun was imprinted in their hearts - joy without alcohol and a holiday in nature. What image do we broadcast to our children, when every celebration in the family is accompanied by the clinking of glasses? We invest in our descendants that happiness and joy are contained in … alcohol! And then we grieve: "Russia is drinking too much, where are we going."

But in spite of everything, we are heading for a bright future. After all, if we have such young people - smart, sober, strong-willed, creative, then we have a lot of good ahead.