Bridenapping | Dartmouth Folklore Archive

General Information about Item:

Informant:

Morgan Fourdrigniez is 26 years old and originally from Nice, France. He was a part of a traditional Romanian wedding that took place in the countryside near Giurgiu, Romania. Morgan had minimal exposure to Romania or its culture and customs prior to the wedding, which also presented him with his first opportunity to travel to the country. The groom and him are close friends and business partners, jointly running an investment fund together. Morgan was gracious enough to provide the digital records and media documenting the folklore.

Contextual Data:

This was a tradition that became prevalent in Romania during the early 20th century and onwards, with the interchange of ideas and customs within Soviet territory. This tradition is predominant in its original form with actions more in line with non-consensual bride kidnapping (normally in the sense that the girlfriend does not know it is happening and not a non-consensual forced marriage), throughout Central Asia (also known as the ‘-stans’). Romanian culture today maintains a symbolic form of ‘bridenapping’ in accordance with heritage rituals that may have been performed by or in front of living family elders.

Item:

Following the Orthodox wedding ceremony, the guests and wedding party transitioned to the reception, which was centered around joyous festivities. One portion of the reception involved the bride Theodora’s parents ‘mock kidnapping’ her which involved leading her to a room off to the side. They then negotiated with Tudor, the groom, with extravagant terms for release of the bride. The wedding dowry was jokingly estimated to be hundreds of thousands of Leus, multiple tens of livestock (goats, horses, cows, calves), and rare and precious stones and gems. Her parents relented by asking Tudor embarrassing questions, along the lines of ‘What is your least favorite characteristic of Theodora? What rials and tribulations are you willing to undergo for her?”. They then released her for the first dance (which featured American elements in the terms of the song).

Other images from the wedding itself:

Eastern Orthodox ceremony of Tudor and Theodora

Exiting the steps of the Orthodox church directly following the ceremony, with guests tossing confetti at the newly wedded pair

Collector: Michelle Wang