I often say “I’ve a wedding” and I need to explain every time, that I am not the one who is getting married. I am all good! Gorgeous wife and 4 kids. Life couldn’t be better. Then again, me and my wife loved our wedding so much and we agreed to get married again in 10 years. I chose to take part of all the following weddings not ours, collect good ideas and save some money to make ours happen in 10 years.

For foreigners it’s difficult to explain what am I doing at strangers weddings. I am not a priest, not a musician, not a photographer, not a guest, not the groom, not the wedding crasher either. Wedding in other part of the world usually don’t have this kind of person like me.

You see, if you lock Estonians up into one room, nothing happens. They might leave the room in 24 hours without saying a word for each other. Wedding is no different. Therefore bride and groom need to hire a person for the wedding, who make things happen.It is something between MC (master of ceremony) and wedding organiser. It’s called pulmaisa or pulmavana or isamees. I am the one.

I have done many international weddings. There are things I have seen which make foreigners to rise their eyebrows, but are all known for Estonians. I have listed some of these things below.

What non-Estonian bride and groom should know about Estonian wedding?

1. Female guests dress up very nice,
   to overdress the bride.
2. Estonians eat fast.
   Like 15 minutes fast.
3. They do not do long speeches.
   The longest is “Noh, võtame!”
4. They don’t let you to miss a shot.
   Replace vodka with water.
5. They make you to kiss in front of everyone
   thousand times.
6. Brides give up their names
   to make a point: there’s no way back.
7. They visit a stork.
   They don’t know any other way to get babies.
8. They stop your car
   and there is no easy way out.
9. They love to dance,
   but nobody dares to start.
10. They drink you under the table. 
    You should dance instead.
11. They pay for the guy,
    who make you do silly things
12. They party all night long 
    and following nights as well.
13. They try to steal your bride.
    You should let them.
14. They do not pay for their drinks. 
    It’s all on you.

Many stories goes around about Estonian wedding. Most of them are true. One thing for sure. Estonian weddings are fun and memorable.