Maria Ganovicheff and Maxim Reutov
February 27, 2010
Maria met Max when she was 13 years old while traveling to Alaska to visit relatives. After returning home to Canada, she kept in contact with Max. Two years later when she visited again, Max asked her to be his girlfriend. For the next three years, the two kept a long-distance relationship. Surprising Maria in her room after having shoulder surgery, Max popped the question by whispering in her ear. The two are Russian Old Believers and weddings in their culture proceed in a weeklong process where there are different celebration steps on different days. On the first day of the wedding the bridesmaids put the headpiece, or “krosata,” on the bride. On the last two days of the celebration, the church ceremony takes place and married ladies put a “shashmura” on Maria’s head. This is to conceal her hair and to be worn the rest of her life. On the rest of the days, gifts and words of wisdom are given to the newlyweds. The celebration took place in a cabin on the Kachemak Selo beach in Homer. Maria recalls her favorite moment of the celebration “walking out of the church as husband and wife with the feeling of our souls becoming one for eternity.”