The tradition of marrying near the family hearth dates back to pre-Christian times, when the father or the senior priest would declare the couple as husband and wife and ask the fire to unite the fates of the two young people. For this, a lock of hair was thrown into the fire, and a ritual offering of bread and milk was placed before the flame.

This ancient ritual became a part of the traditional wedding complex, specifically the farewell of the bride to her family hearth, symbolizing her transition to another family and another hearth. During this farewell, the bride was expected to throw a ribbon or a lock of hair into the stove, and in return, she would take a few embers from the family hearth to carry them to the groom's home. The belief was that by doing so, she could bring a piece of the warmth and comfort of her family home into her new family.

During the matchmaking ritual, the elders (or "starosty") would try to get closer to the stove. It was believed that if, during the negotiations with the bride's parents, the starosty managed to secretly scrape a small piece of clay from the stove's plaster or brick and place it in their pocket, the matchmaking would surely be successful.

If the matchmaking was successful, before sitting down to the table, the starosty would bow three times to the icons and the stove, acknowledging the sacredness and symbolism of the home hearth in their negotiations.

Gathering periwinkle before the wedding was a significant ritual, marking the beginning of the wedding preparations. Early in the morning, before sunrise, the bride’s friends (her bridesmaids) would come to her house, and together they would go to collect periwinkle. In the Dniester villages, the periwinkle gathering was accompanied by ritual songs and special ceremonies meant to ensure a happy marriage for the couple.

The bride would always take with her a braided loaf of bread tied with a red ribbon. This same loaf would later be used to invite guests to the wedding. She would also take two other loaves, which would be given to the woman from whose garden the periwinkle was collected.

Typically, the girls would go to the forest to collect periwinkle, but in Bakota, the periwinkle was not collected in the forest but from people's gardens or orchards, where it was specially planted. The bride would give the loaves to the homeowner, and the woman would sprinkle them with water as a blessing for the marriage.

The first four flowers the bride picked were taken through the window, two for herself and two for the groom. These special flowers were tied with red thread and later became part of the wedding attire: the bride's wreath and the groom's wedding flower. While gathering, the flowers were placed in a handkerchief along with all the other periwinkle collected by the bridesmaids. A large amount of periwinkle was collected — two big white handkerchiefs — because, in addition to making wreaths, the periwinkle would be scattered under the feet of the couple as they walked to the wedding ceremony.

On the way back home, the group sang songs, and they all went together to the bride’s house. There, the bridesmaids would scatter the periwinkle, and they would eagerly search for the bride’s special flower, believing that the first girl to find the tied periwinkle would be the next to get married.

The periwinkle was then washed in a sieve, dried, and sorted, and by evening, the girls would gather to weave wreaths. This took place on Friday evening, known as "Dychy Vechir" (Maiden's Eve). On this evening, the bridesmaids would cut periwinkle, weave wreaths for the bread, and make a special flower for the bride and groom. The periwinkle was also used to decorate the wedding tree, known as the "hiltsye," which was crafted by the wedding matka. Periwinkle was used in other wedding rituals as well.

Similarly, the groom's side would also go to collect periwinkle, but it wasn’t the bridesmaids who went — it was the "svitylky," young unmarried girls invited to the wedding. The groom himself never went for periwinkle; instead, he and his friends would visit the bride’s house on Saturday evening, and she would give him the wedding flower she had prepared.

“May the road be paved with periwinkle!” — this was the blessing given to the newlyweds at the wedding. It symbolized a sincere wish for long life, health, and that the bride’s beauty would never fade, their children would be beautiful, and their life would be as flourishing as the periwinkle itself.

The home is a place where the family tree blooms, and the symbol of this tree is the "hil'tse" — the ceremonial tree of a traditional Ukrainian wedding. It is the second most important symbol in the wedding ceremony. It was believed that, just like the wedding bread (khorovai), the hil'tse brings happiness to the newlyweds and protects them from evil.

The hil'tse is usually made from a young cherry tree, symbolizing the beauty and purity of the bride. In winter, a fir tree is used instead, as the tree must always be green and "alive." The decorating of the hil'tse begins a day before the wedding, during the "Dychy Vechir" (Maiden's Eve). Only young girls — the bride, bridesmaids, and light-bringers (svitylky) — can decorate the hil'tse.

The hil'tse is adorned with shavings of colored paper, and the number of shavings must be even. The main elements of the hil'tse are rose flowers, one smaller flower for the groom and a larger one for the bride. Only the bride herself can make these flowers. Once the hil'tse is fully decorated, the bride, with the help of her senior bridesmaid, ties two large rose flowers to the top of the hil'tse.