Torbesh wedding traditions
Torbesh weddings are celebrated according to the old tradition and last for three days. Flutes and drums, saxophones and accordions accompany the dances going on tirelessly day and night, because in Macedonian weddings dancing is much more important than eating. While the celebrations, singing and dancing are going on at the groom’s house, a group of men (all of them the groom’s relatives) leave to meet the men of the bride’s family to “seal the deal of marriage” with them. The bride is then covered with a brocade, “kidnapped” and taken to the groom’s house.
In Macedonian Muslim communities, the groom and his mother do not take part in the wedding procession carrying the bride from her birthplace to the groom’s house, instead, they wait for her along with the other women of the family. They welcome the bride at the entrance of the village, as to show their approval since, through marriage, a new woman will become part of the family. The bride is welcomed with songs and dances and accompanied this way to the groom’s house. From his home, the groom tries to ‘secretly’ look at the bride through a ring, pronouncing a ritual formula that bodes well. Then the bride enters the groom’s home and receives money from the groomsmen that will “fill” her shoes until she will be “able to wear them”. For most of the time, the bride keeps her eyes downcast and does not smile, so as to show sorrow for abandoning her family and her own mother, while the mother-in-law celebrates the joy of acquiring a daughter in law. The celebration lasts three days, the women wear hand-embroidered traditional clothing, and the whole community gathers around the bride and groom recognizing and blessing their union.
Photos: Torbesh wedding in the village of Borovec in western Macedonia.