One of the brightest traditions of American wedding is having a "court" - wedding party. Usually all bridesmaids and groomsmen in the wedding party are wearing the same outfits. Every girl in the party is wearing the same dress, and of course, not everybody is happy. Hence, the movie "27 Dresses".
I thought having my girlfriends wearing the same dresses would be very cute. But after thinking about fitting all the girls in the same shape and form, I felt this would be a little unfair. It is my special day, but I do want all of my friends feel beautiful and special too. Besides all traditional bridesmaids dresses are kind of plain to mine and my girls tastes.
So my bridesmaids will wear similar dresses - similar color and fabric, but not the same. See, I am not brideszilla!
This wedding party is very close to what I picture so far:
Showing posts with label Cultural Peculiarities. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cultural Peculiarities. Show all posts
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Good Morning in 2009!
If somewhere at a trivia game show there was a question about what most of the Russian speaking population does at the late morning hours on January 1st, the right answer would be - nothing, you would find everybody asleep. New Year's is a big party in modern Eastern European culture, so I am writing out of my bed, barely woken up, and it is 12:20 pm already!
We have been up all night (till 5 in the morning!) - celebrating, eating, drinking, calling friends and wishing them Happy New Year! I also got to be known as "paparazzi" now that I had been holding my Canon 20D - fully professional camera in my hands all night - the best photos are coming soon!
Happy New Year 2009!
Let this year be of successful new beginnings, let it be full of love and filled with memorable moments!
(Andrey and I have the latest wish already covered, and with a set date - September 6!)
We have been up all night (till 5 in the morning!) - celebrating, eating, drinking, calling friends and wishing them Happy New Year! I also got to be known as "paparazzi" now that I had been holding my Canon 20D - fully professional camera in my hands all night - the best photos are coming soon!
Happy New Year 2009!
(Andrey and I have the latest wish already covered, and with a set date - September 6!)
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Holiday Bliss
For me winter holidays start with snowy-themed coffee cups :)
They are also watching a snowstorm outside...
....with a bowl of cranberry-walnut-brown sugar oatmeal in front of me.
It is in decorating our place early this year by Belorussian standards
Getting a real tree, because the smell of pine is a part of the holidays
Our balcony table and chairs are attributes of summer, and it is very unusual to see them covered with snow
The holidays are filled with cozy evenings by Christmas-New Year tree.
All all this glitter, lights, cups of warm tee the longest night of winter become the coziest.
What are winter holidays for you?
They are also watching a snowstorm outside...
....with a bowl of cranberry-walnut-brown sugar oatmeal in front of me.
It is in decorating our place early this year by Belorussian standards
Getting a real tree, because the smell of pine is a part of the holidays
Our balcony table and chairs are attributes of summer, and it is very unusual to see them covered with snow
The holidays are filled with cozy evenings by Christmas-New Year tree.
All all this glitter, lights, cups of warm tee the longest night of winter become the coziest.What are winter holidays for you?
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Thanksgiving
I like Thanksgiving better than Christmas.
A note for my Belorussian and Russian readers
I bet you already knew everything I mentioned about Thanksgiving. But, I am pretty sure you didn't know one more American tradition of modern days. It comes the Friday after Thanksgiving, called Black Friday.
On Black Friday many consumer products stores open really early - 4 or 5 o'clock in the morning, and determined shoppers pour into the stores in hopes to catch that plasma TV set for 80% off. The line to enter the store forms the night before, I guess the first people in line eat their turkey dinner and leave to get in front.
The catch is - there are only 10 or 20 TVs available for that whole crowd. If you are lucky enough to grab one of those you'd need to rush back immediately to the check out line, or you can be stuck there forever. Elbows and bodyweight are used widely during the store maneuvering, and the politeness is not present during Black Friday.
When I first learned about this tradition, I tried to participate: studied the promotions printed in the local newspaper the night before, planned out my stores visits, and headed out as early as I could - 7 am!!! :) ... It was already too late, the only sign of the great deals was the tail of the check out line. :( ...:) Never again!
When I saw Black Friday in action, one thing came to mind: if our older Russian speaking population here is nostalgic about Soviet times, I'd encourage them to participate in Black Friday - never ending lines are completely real, and it should bring back the memories. Besides, there are years of line standing experience they could've put to use - a clear advantage increasing the chances to actually be the lucky owner of that 80% off TV set.
***************************************************
This Thanksgiving my fiance, my family, my host family, my friends (near and far) made me feel whole. Thank you so much for being ingredients of my happiness. I've recharged. I am now again ready to create, share, inspire, get inspired, learn and teach, care and be cared for.
Happy Thanksgiving!
- It kicks the holidays off rather than ends it.
- It is a distinctly American holiday, and it comes from an old Indian tradition passed on to the new settlers.
- It is even more symbolic for our family as we celebrate it together with our American host family: we are the new settlers, and they are the "Indians" that taught us to cook turkey.
- Main colors of Thanksgiving are fall harvest colors - yellow, orange, red. Orange is one of my favorite colors. (Guess what I am considering to be one of the wedding colors?)
A note for my Belorussian and Russian readers
I bet you already knew everything I mentioned about Thanksgiving. But, I am pretty sure you didn't know one more American tradition of modern days. It comes the Friday after Thanksgiving, called Black Friday.
On Black Friday many consumer products stores open really early - 4 or 5 o'clock in the morning, and determined shoppers pour into the stores in hopes to catch that plasma TV set for 80% off. The line to enter the store forms the night before, I guess the first people in line eat their turkey dinner and leave to get in front.
The catch is - there are only 10 or 20 TVs available for that whole crowd. If you are lucky enough to grab one of those you'd need to rush back immediately to the check out line, or you can be stuck there forever. Elbows and bodyweight are used widely during the store maneuvering, and the politeness is not present during Black Friday.
When I first learned about this tradition, I tried to participate: studied the promotions printed in the local newspaper the night before, planned out my stores visits, and headed out as early as I could - 7 am!!! :) ... It was already too late, the only sign of the great deals was the tail of the check out line. :( ...:) Never again!
When I saw Black Friday in action, one thing came to mind: if our older Russian speaking population here is nostalgic about Soviet times, I'd encourage them to participate in Black Friday - never ending lines are completely real, and it should bring back the memories. Besides, there are years of line standing experience they could've put to use - a clear advantage increasing the chances to actually be the lucky owner of that 80% off TV set.
***************************************************
This Thanksgiving my fiance, my family, my host family, my friends (near and far) made me feel whole. Thank you so much for being ingredients of my happiness. I've recharged. I am now again ready to create, share, inspire, get inspired, learn and teach, care and be cared for.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Saturday, November 8, 2008
The Orange Season
While my fiance sees his second dream, fighting the cold he brought from his trip to Belarus, I decided to vier off to the blog word.
This whole week I wanted to share my feelings towards the "orange season", as I call it, that happens right now in America. I guess this whole week will be devoted to my American life, rather than the progress on our wedding planing. But that topic is coming up and will be on the agenda again and again very shortly - promise!
I call it the "orange season", as this is the color dominating decorations in people homes and stores all over. It starts in the beginning of October, peaks on Halloween and stays through November up to Thanksgiving. Orange is one of my favorite colors to decorate and wear in the fall and winter, as it reminds me of sun and energy and compensates for the grayness and darkness of winter. It is sort of a "sun concentrate".
When I first came to the USA, it was right at Halloween time, and I could not believe how orange are the pumpkins here - we never ever had them so orange in Belarus!
This is why it was so much fun to take my grandmas to a pumpkin patch couple of weeks ago. One of my grandmas is an experienced gardener, and she was very impressed. Here is a small slide show from that sunny, orangy day.
This whole week I wanted to share my feelings towards the "orange season", as I call it, that happens right now in America. I guess this whole week will be devoted to my American life, rather than the progress on our wedding planing. But that topic is coming up and will be on the agenda again and again very shortly - promise!
I call it the "orange season", as this is the color dominating decorations in people homes and stores all over. It starts in the beginning of October, peaks on Halloween and stays through November up to Thanksgiving. Orange is one of my favorite colors to decorate and wear in the fall and winter, as it reminds me of sun and energy and compensates for the grayness and darkness of winter. It is sort of a "sun concentrate".
When I first came to the USA, it was right at Halloween time, and I could not believe how orange are the pumpkins here - we never ever had them so orange in Belarus!
This is why it was so much fun to take my grandmas to a pumpkin patch couple of weeks ago. One of my grandmas is an experienced gardener, and she was very impressed. Here is a small slide show from that sunny, orangy day.
Monday, October 20, 2008
Russian Rules of Courtship
Here is a lesson on how to get attention from a Russian girl. Not very logical, but this is how it works out in our culture... and, I actually like it this way. Poor guy! :)
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