A Bulgarian Muslim bride from the Pomak ethnic group, attended to during her wedding ceremony in the village of Draginovo, 100 kms southeast of Sofia. October 30, 2009.
Wedding ceremonies around the world offer a colorful lens through which to view a country and its people.
In Bulgaria, despite its many years as a communist regime in which religion was not tolerated, Muslims hold festive winter marriage cermonies (#1).
In India, Jordan, Japan, and China (#10, #11, #16), to name a few, some marriage cermonies are held as mass events in order to reduce costs.
Some ceremonies aim for the extremes — even underwater (#4) — while others gracefully carry on a tradition despite years of violence (#2, #5).
And while some fight for their right to marry (#18), others have achieved it after years of stuggle (#17).
From PlanetPic, this is "How the World Gets Married In Photos."