Diara – Wedding Feast
First-foot
The Mengrelians were very meticulous about the marriage, the most important ritual of which is the wedding ceremony. After the wedding, the wedding party would go to the bridegroom's house singing on the way. When approaching the bridegroom's house, the harbinger on a horse would first run into the courtyard. The harbinger had to be met by a woman with a platter in her hands. Among the other food, there was a boiled beef ankle on it.
The wedding ceremony was followed by the wedding feast, were guests – relatives and friends of the two families were dining altogether and sent blessings and prayers to the newlywed couple. The “Diara” (a wedding fest) was led by “Tolbash” (toastmaster or Tamada in Georgian), who was chosen by the head of the bridegroom’s family. The “Tolbash” was worn a week ahead about the responsibility he would have to take. The “Tolbash” would eat salty food for a week to feel very thirsty, which would allow him to drink a lot of wine at the wedding.
The “Diara” was typically held in the bridegroom’s house and the bride was brought there by the wedding party.
"In our Europe, when they get married, the main thing they think of is to get a dowry... They think that gold and silver will cover all the shortcomings... It is not like that in Colchis. The Mengrelians look for physical beauty, good offspring and the best manners in their wives."
Arcangelo Lamberti, Italian Missionary, XVII Century
"Women are very restrained in drinking wine. I have attended many feasts and I have never seen a woman drinking wine, while men, almost every of them, drink quite a lot… Georgian men are very strong, they never get drunk, no matter how much they drink, they always remain sober and speak well."
Don Teramo Cristoforo Castelli, Italian Theatine Missionary, XVII Century
It was very important how a new family met the bride. In Samegrelo, the mother of the bridegroom would meet the newlyweds, bless them and feed them sugar or honey to match the start their joint life together with sweetness and would put millet (a symbol of fertility) on their heads. The bridegroom would break the plate lying at the door with one kick of his foot, the bride would knock over the wine glass standing at the door, and the newlyweds would enter the house. This ritual performed at the threshold is related with the exorcism of evil spirits.
In the old days, the bride was given a jar full of foxtail millet seeds as a sign of happiness and wealth. With this, the bride would go around the hearth and sow the seeds around, the wedding party would follow her and sing "Kuchkha bednieri" (let your arrival bring happiness), and her mother-in-law would bless her with the words: "Jgiri nerchishi kotsofedava" (let your marriage flourish).
The Mengrelians paid great attention to drinking wine. The great everyone who would compete in improvised verses. It was also in common to arrange dances at the wedding feasts.