Australian couple flies 15,000 km to hold their big Bulgarian wedding

published on 10/10/24 2:05 PM

Australians Claudia and Robert flew 15,000 kilometers to get married in the Bulgarian village of Vishovgrad

Photo: Zdravka Maslyankova, BNR correspondent

Australians Claudia and Robert Buschaw flew 15,000 kilometres from Sydney to get married according to Bulgarian traditions in the Bulgarian village of Vishovgrad near the town of Pavlikeni, Veliko Tarnovo region. They brought 60 guests from Australia and the UK, as their nonconventional festive wedding was the first in years to take place in the village of 250 inhabitants only. The bride kicked the water bucket, the newlyweds were sprinkled with wheat to have children, and the old ladies from the Vishovgrad Nightingales folk ensemble sang to the wedding guests, who also joined the traditional Bulgarian "horo" (round dance).

For two days the small Bulgarian village of Vishovgrad celebrated, as young and old gathered for the wedding of Australians Claudia and Robert.

The idea to get married according to Bulgarian traditions occurred to 26-year-old Claudia, who is a mechanical engineer at home. The young woman fell in love with rural Vishovgrad and the pink house with a huge yard last year when she first came to see the property her mother bought in the small village near Pavlikeni, where a tenth of the population is foreign - British, Belgian and Dutch expats.

"Why not get married here? I wanted to feel different. Mum lives here. She likes the place. The people are loving and amazing. And I thought - oh, this is a wonderful idea, I'll get married in Vishovgrad. Everything is lovely, the atmosphere is friendly, we found a magical place and everyone welcomed us," says the bride talking to Zdravka Maslyankova, BNR's correspondent in the region of Veliko Tarnovo.

And so, as a joke, engineer Claudia and butcher Robert came to Vishovgrad from Sydney, where they live, to swear allegiance for better or worse. On the sunny and warm day of their crazy Bulgarian wedding, the young Australian family saw a prophecy of a happy and cloudless family life.

"The place is lovely, the people are wonderful, the mayor is a very understanding person. What more could a person want to get married? Only one thing - to have a wonderful wedding and to say to each other, "Yes!" We've been together for 12 years," says the groom Robert.

"For 12 years. A very long time. We survived and got married," Claudia adds.

The organization of the wedding was undertaken by local erudite Assoc. Prof. Petar Petrov, chairman of the Bulgarian Association for Rural and Ecological Tourism, from whom the bride's mother actually bought the pink house. Traditions aren't what they used to be, but Cloddie and Rob are marrying in the old Bulgarian tradition, says Associate Professor Petar Petrov, explaining more about the bride kicking a copper bucket and breaking the decorated plate and why the bride and groom are being sprinkled with grain:

"The fir tree is winding and whirling," with this song it starts. The small copper buckle is there on the curb. Then the bucket gets filled with grain so they can have lots of children. When I told her, oh, my gosh, they're only planning on having one child. I told them, "No, it's a ritual. Then she needs to throw a plate and say goodbye to her house. Her father has to take her out to the little gate."

In the center of Vishovgrad the mayor Ivan Marinov married the Australian couple according to the Bulgarian tradition as they signed the marriage certificate, proposed a toast and kissed. The mayor wished the newlyweds:

"I wish Robbie and Clodie to get along and to promote the intercultural ties between Bulgarians and foreigners. Let us respect each other."

The numerous guests of the Australian newlyweds joined the traditional Bulgarian round dances as locals were excited to greet them:

"We are glad, we have not heard the wedding hustle and bustle here in the village for a long time. Everyone is eager to come. May they be alive and well."

"God bless you, we wish you good health, safe journey back to Australia and next time come here to boast that you have a baby", locals wished the newly weds.