Friday, November 30, 2012

Saint Petersburg: the Las Vegas of Russia

St. Petersburg is not in the desert  and the gambling casinos are not as gaudy, but the wedding chapels are definitely as full here as in Vegas.  

In our two days in St. Petersburg we couldn't help but notice a constant parade of young Russian brides and grooms traveling around the city in chauffered limousines celebrating the tieing of the knot by having their pictures taken at major tourist spots.   You could often tell the wedding limos as they had flowers on the hood.  This one was parked on the river near The Senate Square.




In some cases it was the bride and groom and the attending couple snapping photos.  In other cases there was a contingent of still and video camera operators and even flunkies with light reflectors.  This bride was posing outside of the Cathedral of "Our Savior on the Spilt Blood."  I don't think I am going to go near analyzing that.




This couple was in the Palace Square and they were the most informal of the lot. The groom was just in a sport shirt and she wore a short dress.  The maid of honor's dress was even shorter and the best man was in camo. The red sash and golden slippers were pretty neat too.

 

Legs always appear to be in style. 

 


And some of the groupies seem ready to join in. 


 
 
This was the most stylish couple.  They had just finished posing in front of the Peter the Great statue in the Senate Square. We loved her parasol and his blue suit and matching fedora.  


This one is in the garden just off the Senate square.  No parasol and a nice conservative black suit. The color was left to the mother-in-law who was trying to keep stray tourists out of the shots.


In our visit to Saint Nicolas Cathedral we literally had to wait outside for the wedding to finish.  When they emerged they did not look too pleased with what had apparently gone on inside.



Even after they re-assembled for their formal family portrait the mood did not seem to have taken an upswing.   Very Russian I guess.  

 
   At the end they all piled into this little jalopy.    C'est la Vie!  
 
 
So much for the sociology of weddings in St. Petersburg.  We're heading back to Helsinki in the next entry.  

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