Translation of the content:
They don’t use a tree (derevtse) any more [for the wedding], as they did at the beginning. They would cut a piece from a pine tree, the one that has five branches, and it is in the middle, and there are two on the sides. Then either at the bride’s or groom’s house, they start decorating it with greenery. When the groom is heading to the bride’s house, they are bringing the tree with them, and a korovai (wedding braded bread) which was baked and wrapped into something red. So, the best man is carrying the korovai. When they come and sit at the table, they cut the korovai into pieces, and it’s very magnificent. (Here they throw away so much bread…) And they present those pieces of korovai with the tree and the flowers from the tree to the relatives. It’s different here. It’s more delicate here. And there, it’s all relatives, it's poor…
[song]
The tree is standing on the table, and then when the groom is going to the bride’s house, he is bringing his tree, so hers would be moved aside. And then later during propii, when the bride’s mother is going to take off her wreath, then they take the bride’s tree to the groom’s place. So, the bride is still wearing the wreath, and she is waiting for her mother and father and other relatives, and she has curls, as we used to do them above the forehead – one is curling one way, and the other – the other way, … so we would put on gerdans and a wreath, and … And when the mother comes, she takes off all those decorations and gives them to the relatives
On December 5, 2013, Oleksandr Pankieiev interviewed Dr. Bohdan Medwidsky at the Kule Folklore Centre, University of Alberta. The interview covered Dr. Medwidsky's childhood in Europe, his reunion with the family at the age of 12, his "becoming" a Ukrainian, their immigration to Canada, and life and activities in various religious and community organizations, as well as the establishment of the Ukrainian Folklore program at the University of Alberta. Later, the article based on this interview was published on historians.in.ua http://www.historians.in.ua/index.php/intervyu/986-bohdan-medvidskyi-meni-i-dali-tsikavo-shcho-take-buty-ukraintsem and on Prostir http://prostir.pl/journalism/богдан-медвідський-мені-й-далі-цікав/
Medwidsky, Bohdan
The collection consists of an interview conducted by Jeanne Ferguson with Dr. Bohdan Medwidsky. The Interview was recorded at the Ukrainian Folklore Centre at the University of Alberta.
Medwidsky, Bohdan
