General Information about Item:
- Customary Lore (shaving), Material Lore (machete)
- Language: Romanian
- Region of Origin: Romania
- Informant: Morgan Fourdrigniez
- Date Collected: 5-14-2019
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. Here he is pictured with the groom.
Morgan (the informant, on the right) and Tudor (the groom, on the left)
Contextual Data:
- Prior to the Orthodox wedding ceremony, the male members of the groom’s family alongside the groomsmen use a machete to take turns and shave a part of his facial hair. This is meant to facilitate his transition from boyhood to adulthood and allows for the family to celebrate and dispense wisdom prior to the church proceedings. The tradition is practiced throughout Romania and has been a part of the family’s heritage and lore. It is customary for priests and deacons to have beards in the Eastern Orthodox church, and this custom has carried through into the parish as well. With modern times, the clean-shaven look began to dominate the aesthetics, thus this is more of a symbolic ritual nowadays, however this tradition represents another form of transition into manhood. The rite of passage nowadays is definitively more symbolic than functional, as Tudor did not have much facial hair prior to the shaving (as seen in the first photo), and the family members did not shave much using the machete (to minimize the danger presented to the groom prior to the ceremony).
- The ceremony itself blended Eastern Orthodox and traditional Romanian elements. To see more images from the ceremony or the reception following, refer to the folklore page regarding ‘Bridenapping‘ or The Garter Toss
Item:
Collector: Michelle Wang