Milena & Iliian :: 9-13-14 :: Wedding in Woodland Hills

October 08, 2014

After more than 10 years togther, Milena and Iliian finally tied the knot! In addition to photographing their engagement session last year, we also worked with them over long distance (they live in Seattle, WA!) to design their save the dates and invitations, featuring their engagement photos! Their wedding was deeply personal in several significant ways: their venue was Milena's parents' home in Woodland Hills, and as both families are originally from Bulgaria, the entire wedding was infused with Bulgarian wedding traditions. Red is a good luck color for Bulgarian weddings and for the bride to wear, so the color red was used throughout the wedding. We began our day amongst the hustle and bustle of family members preparing and decorating the house. We documented some important details and then the getting ready process for both bride and groom. We then traveled to a nearby park nestled in the canyons of Woodland Hills for Milena and Iliian to have a first look and then take some photos with their bridal party. Everyone was upbeat and gracious despite the fact that it was 106°F outside! After we took our bride and groom portraits (in the shade!), we went back to the house for some family portraits and more ceremony set-up details. The ceremony began with a processional of bridal party members down the aisle. When it was Milena's turn to walk down the aisle, the maid of honor returned to the back for the Veil Ceremony, where she and Milena's parents put on her veil and made last minute preparations so she would be ready for her walk down the aisle, accompanied by traditional Bulgarian music. After traditional and personalized vows and the exchange of rings, the new Mr. and Mrs. signed their marriage license, and Milena stepped on Iliian's foot once he signed the license. Traditionally, whoever steps on the other's foot first will be the dominant one in the marriage! Then the newlyweds shared their first kiss and toasted and drank their first toast as husband and wife. Iliian carried his new bride back up the aisle to the back patio, where both sets of parents were waiting to greet and feed the newlyweds with honey cake and wine, with more wishes for a long, sweet life. Milena's mother held a loaf of bread over her head and invited them to each pull one end of it. Whoever gets the bigger piece will dominate, similar to the "stepping" custom, and Milena pulled the bigger piece! Finally, Milena kicked over a copper bucket full of water with white and red flowers in it, which symbolize the children of their future family. After this, everyone began to dance together with the bride and groom while the musicians played. After dancing was done, Milena and Iliian greeted their guests, took a group photo with all their guests, and one more sunset photo with their parents. Next was a wonderful meal followed by first dances, toasts, and the Cake and Chicken Dance. Dancers dressed in traditional garb dance with the chicken and cake and the best man and maid of honor. While dancing, they try to steal the cake and chicken from the dancers and have to pay one of the dancers enough to finally earn them. Also, instead of tapping their glasses to get the newlyweds to kiss, guests shouted "Gorchivo!" - a direct translation is "bitter," and it means the newlyweds must kiss. The Chicken and Cake dance was followed by inviting everyone to dance, followed by American wedding traditions, cake cutting, bouquet and garter toss and even more dancing. We are so thrilled and privileged to have been a part of their amazing day!

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Enjoy!