In Moldova, people speak of "wedding parties" instead of just "weddings,”

The wedding ceremony itself isn’t the focus of the festivities; it can be a small, understated event leading up to the wedding party proper, usually an all-night celebration.

Wedding ceremonies today are held at "casa mare" or House of happiness. The modern ceremony includes the old wedding custom of bowing to the parents as a token of gratitude and respect.

The traditional wedding party is magnificent in its arrangement, and intense from the moral ethical point of view.

The singing and dancing continues until the daybreak. At dawn everyone sits down for a minute and the bride is given a child to hold in her arms.

According to tradition, the bride will then be sure to have a home full of children. The young husband then leads her to the threshold of their house. But before they step over the threshold the couple is showered with grain - a sign of prosperity.

A Moldovian maxim says: "The person who has failed to build a home, to raise a son, to dig a well and to plant a tree has wasted his life".

That's why the Moldovian villages are so green, the houses are so beautiful and you can see wells along the streets.