(27 Feb 2017) LEADIN:
It's traditional wedding season in one of Bulgaria's most remote towns, with whole communities joining in the celebrations.
The mountain village of Ribnovo dates back to 1478 and marriage traditions there are a unique and colourful event.
STORYLINE:
In the misty mountain air, the women of Ribnovo stop and chat about the upcoming wedding party.
They are dressed in traditional clothes and are waiting for the bride and groom to arrive.
The vast majority of Ribnovo's 3,500 inhabitants are Pomaks - Slavs who converted to Islam under Ottoman rule.
The village dates back to 1478 and records show that the weddings in Ribnovo have been this way for centuries.
The bride's dowry - mostly handmade knit-work, sheets, tablecloths, carpets and rugs - is displayed for the whole village to see.
"The bride's dowry takes years and years to be prepared. Ten years and even more, bit by bit, it's gathered by handmade by the mother to finally be displayed here," says Fatme, a local Pomak woman.
Displaying the dowry is just one of a string of features that make up the two day wedding celebrations, a weekend most memorable for 20 year-old Pembe Hadzhieva who married her fiance, 20 year-old Feyzi Sirakov.
While the mandatory civil ceremony takes place days or weeks before, the traditional part of the wedding is shared with friends, family and villagers where the bride and groom receive presents, often in the form of cash.
The whole village celebrates with music and the traditional "horo" dance on the streets.
Local villager, Kadrie Cholakova explains the wedding process: "We celebrate our weddings over two days, usually on weekends. The first day, guest are accepted by the groom's family and the bride's family is open for guests on the second day. The bride's dowry is arranged in front of her father's house, sometimes with furniture - all the gifts made and collected over twenty years are displayed so that everyone in the village is invited to come and see. On the evening of the second day the bride's face is decorated by making "gelina" with white paint and sequins and she is taken with eyes closed to the groom's house."
While the tradition dates back centuries, the ceremony has evolved over time.
"We see that even our traditional weddings changes over the years. Two years ago, some of the dowry, usually clothes, hung on a wooden stand were carried by young boys accompanied with musicians - zouria and drummer players along the streets, but we don't do it anymore. The important and main part of the ritual is still observed as always," says Cholakova.
On the second day, the bride's family invites friends and relatives and shares the best pieces of the dowry.
This habit is considered important, as the neighbours will later evaluate and comment on their generosity.
The evening of the second day is the most spectacular part of the celebration.
The bride's face is painted white to symbolize her purity and then decorated with bright sequins. She wears flowers in her hair and her eyes are painted shut before being presented to her husband-to-be.
The bride is only allowed to look at a small hand mirror. It is still believed that painting the bride's eyes shut will protect the couple from the "evil eye."
Finally, the groom leads the bride to his home for their new life together.
Winter is the preferred time to get married in Ribnovo, because in the warmer months many of the village men work all over Bulgaria and Europe, returning home only for a few months to spend with their families.
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