Russian Brides Series Part II

Our featured photographer is Abbey. She has done some amazing work with her ongoing search for the perfect Russian bride-thank you for sharing-these shots are priceless!



Wherever this heart is in Moscow David and I are going to find it and take our own pictures!



 



Ruffles





Festive





This photo location is curious. People were publicly executed there for a few centuries.





This one was taken in a mall but a very pretty mall.



 



Bride or bridesmaid?





This ring around the newlyweds might be a local custom?





I love back to back shots




Everyone's favorite pose-the lean against the wall.



 



Why not ride a zebra on your wedding day?




Or spend some time at the Hard Rock Cafe?




At first I thought he was proposing again but then I realized he is mimicking the statue....





It just looks dangerous.




I am familar with the "everybody jump" photo but the bride and groom aren't even trying.



 



A winter bride




Ahhhhh....





Don't focus so much on the bride check out the lady in the foreground with the "arm warmers" that match her dress.

  



This couple wants to skip the wedding and get right to the making a baby part.





There is a lovely tradition here that has to do with locks and bridges-I don't understand it exactly but lots of people do it.





Everybody wants a picture with those damn wings!




These wings just keep appearing.





Again, please pay more attention to the foreground...





Classy




The upcoming ad campaign for Carl's Jr....have your reception there?




So much skirt




The middle woman seems to have lost her shoes and
they haven't even gotten to the dancing yet.




Everybody wants to buy a Russian souvenier on their big day-
maybe it was a destination wedding.





Pretty.





Do you think they posed with the phone or that was just an accident?





Yes!





Russian Brides Series

Wedding season is here, the perfect time to honor Russian brides. I know what you’re thinking. The internet. Russia’s infamous buy-a-bride services. But I’m talking about real ones. The lovely ladies of Russia who get married right here. In Moscow and across Russia, it is very popular for brides, grooms and their friends to drive around town in limos or stretch Humvees to take photos. Lots of photos. This goes on in America too, of course. But Russian bridal parties have an obsession with wedding photography. They approach this ritual with a level of passion and determination unseen anywhere else in the world. Perhaps it’s that most Russian women like having themselves photographed anytime – posing like models in parks or in front of major landmarks – so they must take it up a notch at wedding time. Especially on weekends this time of year, bridal parties are running around the city, and running into each other. You can find them fighting it out for time in front of St. Basils Cathedral, or The Church of Spilled Blood in St. Petersburg. A trip down to Red Square in the summer can be like watching a wedding reality show on television. Sometimes wedding couples are fighting. Sometimes everyone is happy. Sometimes everyone is just drunk. It’s very entertaining. In addition to the zeal with which Russian girls approach this event, I think what truly puts these brides in a league of their own are the dresses. I have never seen so many layers of shiny fabric. Lace, beads, short skirts, long skirts, occasionally experimenting with colors that are not white. I think you have to see it to believe it so I am posting my collection of the Russian brides I’ve caught on camera so far. I hope many of my friends in Russia will see these pics and send me their photos too. I will post them as I receive them. The photos range from the lovely to the unbelievable.
 You decide your favorite.

This is just an everyday example of photo posing that we encounter at malls, historic landmarks, the supermarket....no wedding need be involved. Photo credit: Kristen

The boots are my favorite detail.

The man sash is my favorite detail

The champagne bottle is my favorite detail. This bride was the gift that kept giving. Please note the bride lined up for her turn on the bridge.

Pretty

Very pretty

Very shiny

I zoomed here so you could get a better look at the shine.

Layers and lace

She has inspired many of those pretty cake toppers

Wondering why I am the only one taking her picture...

The splash of blue was nice on a cloudy day and complimented this mermaid look.

You don't need a limo when you can do this to your car

Car topper

But these folks got a serious limo

These two are my favorite-wait for the close up.....

Unbelievable. This photo and the two before are credited to my friend Kristen-well done!

The Fourth of July Expat Style

Many of our friends and family have asked what we could possibly do to celebrate America’s Independence Day – in Russia. You would be surprised…Of course everyone had to work like any normal day. All the petitioning of the Kremlin could not get expats a little July 4th leniency. And yet, the holiday did fall on a Monday this year. If being foreigners celebrating a foreign holiday in a foreign land is traditionally frustrating – we had a three-day weekend this year to compensate. In retrospect, we may have over-compensated.

Saturday was the American Women’s Club picnic. Think softball games, barbecue, potato salad, watermelon and (bad Russian) beer. It honestly felt like, somehow, we recreated a little of home in a Russian park.

 On the actual 4th, the day started with a reception at the American Ambassador’s house. It was not a small, intimate event but a party of at least a few hundred people. I have never been to a July 4th event in the States that was quite so elaborate. There was a band, flown in from North Carolina just for 24 hours -- your US tax dollars at work. The entertainers sang country music and if I closed my eyes long enough I might have thought I was home in Ohio. But all I needed to do after that was open up and get a look of the Russian appetizers: little shrimps perched on a dollop of sour cream and a dash of mint balanced on a mini toast. Way more like wedding reception cocktail hour than backyard barbeque. Not a cob of corn to be found. Then again, give some credit where credit is due. Lynchburg lemonades were available at the Jack Daniels sponsored bar. And I did nibble on red, white and blue sugar cookies that were scattered on the snack tables. The explanation for the non-American food might have been the fact that there weren’t very many Americans at the event. The guests represented every corner of the globe. There were military uniforms from around the world. The brass and medals were on display and quite impressive. My favorite outfit had to be the guy who looked Russian, and was with a Russian girl, but happened to be dressed like the Dalai Lama. We pondered his clothing choice for a while but came up empty-handed. There were African diplomats in colorful formal wear, an array of Russians with bad dye jobs and uncomfortable shoes and a bunch of American Embassy staff who looked miserable. I assume this was because their bosses were hovering, likely making the Jack Daniels bar off limits to them. After speeches and a little mingling we decided it was time to go….to Chilis. Yes, they just opened a brand new one in the center of the city and we felt it appropriate to go -- only because it was the 4th. After imbibing on the best margaritas in town (really they are the best I've had) we headed for a final stop at an American diner called Frendy’s. They serve American beer and Corona. The wings have real buffalo sauce on them and are actually spicy (Russians don’t like spice normally). After nachos, fried cheese, wings and burgers we rolled home around midnight. This is the overcompensation I was talking about. We paid for it with stomach aches but it was worth it…for one day of the year. We missed you America but tried to make you proud from here.