The wedding bread and dance

Wedding bread goes back many years in our culture. Bread is the most revered food in Macedonian life. It is the staff of life. The bread is made in celebration of an engagement or wedding. It is round and semi-sweet. The bread symbolizes the continuity of family life.

The Koumbaro or best man, leads the dance with the bread held high on the right hand and dances around. The wedding party, then relatives and friends join in the dance. Eventually, everybody joins in the dance. In general, there will be more good luck for the bride and groom if more people join in and dance under the bread.

The bride and groom may try to divide the bread by pulling it apart. Whoever gets the bigger part will be in charge of family life. Then, the bread will be pulled apart into smaller pieces and passed around to the guests.

As far as the bread is concerned, it is semi-sweet to remind us of the sweetness of life, with a little bit of lemon rind to remind us of the bitterness of life. It has a pinch of salt to remind us of the trials and tribulations of life. It has eggs in it to remind us of fertility. It is usually braided to represent the entwinement of two lives. It is round for the oneness of life; thus, it has no beginning and no end

Here is some typical music that may be used for the bread dance. The length of the song has been increased to encourage participants to join the dance.