Each country has unique traditions that take place at a wedding. Most of the time, these are diversified in terms of the customs and religion of the various ethnic groups. Slovenia has such a zest for life and love, and their marriages represent this very aptly.

The traditional Slovenian wedding consists of a lot of activity. It all starts in the morning at the Bride’s house. As the morning progresses, the wedding guests will begin to arrive and gather outside the house. The groom will also arrive here and the guests will ask him to participate in some games that will take place before the wedding.

One of the most favored pre-wedding games is bride kidnapping which is a very intriguing game. There is so much fun and festivity involved in this game. For starters, some of the men from the village will be inside the bride’s house. Here they will dress up in the bridal attire pretending to be the Bride. The goal is for them to leave the house and try to trick the boyfriend into thinking that they are her real girlfriend.

Then the groom must conduct some royal negotiations for his beloved. The groom should approach one of the Bride’s male relatives, such as her brother. He must bribe this family member with money or some sort of appliance in exchange for the Bride’s release from him. Later, the money or appliance is given to the bride and groom as a wedding gift. All the time these festive games are taking place, the rest of the guests thoroughly enjoy them and enjoy wine.

When the groom encounters his future bride’s kidnappers, the groom must prove that he is manly enough to take the woman from his village. Some of the feats he will have to perform or more ransom money will have to produce and he will have to prove that he can drink his wine with the best of them.

Then the groom must perform the sragna, which means that he must demonstrate his physical strength by sawing a log. At this point, the groom has proven to be a good match for his bride and they are ready to begin the ceremonies.

An interesting aspect of marriage in Slovenia is that they don’t just get married once but twice. Slovenian law stipulates that the couple must be married at the registry office by a government official. This is the only legalized marriage. A Church wedding in Slovenia is not considered a legal marriage. So, to have a church marriage, it means that the bride and groom must perform the ritual of exchanging their vows and rings twice.

As you can see, there are many activities that take place during a traditional wedding in Slovenia. For foreign weddings the only stipulation that must be followed is the legal wedding on record. From this moment on, the bride and groom can add any of the other traditions they decide to incorporate into their wedding.