The Country

The Czech Republic, formerly known as Czechoslovakia (and the Kingdom of Bohemia until the 16th century), is located in Central Europe, flanked by Poland, Slovakia, Austria and Germany on its North, East, South and West border respectively.

The descendant of the Slavics - also its founding fathers - dominates this storied land with over 90% of the population. Following the First World War, Bohemia, as it was known then, was merged with the remnants of the Moravian Empire, forming the Czechoslovak republic. After almost half a century under the rule of communism, the country adopted democracy in 1989 in a relatively peaceful transition. The republic was officially dissolved in 1993, leading to the creation of two sovereign nations, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

The Czech Republic is a democratic republic led by a President, while a prime minister, a presidential appointee, heads the government. Two legislative body, the 281 strong Senate and Chamber of Deputies are responsible for appointing the President and is on a six and four year term respectively.

One of the few former communist country that has successfully transitioned into a fully developed country status, over half of its 11 million citizens profess to being either agnostic or atheist while a quarter of them are adherents of Catholicism.

Relationship With A Czech Woman

Dating a Czech woman isn’t that much different from dating women from anywhere else. The lack of an organized religious theme in the society has created a relaxed courtship atmosphere. Nevertheless, sticking to tried and tested dating rituals will probably serve you well. Flowers, dinner in a nice restaurant and compliments on her appearance will score you some points.

Additionally, it would not hurt to spend some time learning the polka as this is the land of its origin. Those little half steps move under a two-quarter beat will make you an instant hit at parties, not to mention impressing your Czech girlfriend – just ignore the smirks from the obviously jealous locals.

Marriage

A traditional Czech wedding begins when the groomsmen (ordinarily, members of the immediate and extended family) goes on a house-to-house visit extending invitation to friends and family to your wedding. Meanwhile, the bridesmaids will be entrusted with preparation of the wedding banquet consisting of popular local dishes like potato strudel, mushroom soup or kolace a few days in advance.

On the day of the wedding, a wedding breakfast would be prepared for the bride’s whole family. This will be the time for reflection and goodbyes as your girlfriend will be leaving her home for good after the wedding. Your party will arrive a few hours later to take the bride to either the church or the City Hall. Before leaving with her, the parents will remind you of your responsibility as a husband to their daughter. They will also give the same advice to the daughter on her responsibility.

After finishing the wedding solemnization, you and your new bride will head for the wedding reception. Your groomsmen and bridesmaid will collect gifts, usually in the form of money, from your guests along the way in exchange for ribbons. Traditionally the gifts are meant for your firstborn, to help with the expenses of the new parents.

The first thing that you will notice on your arrival is the sound of glass breaking by the doorway. A guest will smash down to the floor some preselected tableware as a symbolic gesture of a new beginning and the bride and groom are responsible for sweeping it away. Next, you and your bride will feed one another a loaf of bread (at times replaced by a bowl of soup). This symbolizes the couple’s unity and care for each other.

As the reception tapers down to end, and everyone has finished demonstrating their cool polka moves, your bride’s veil will be taken off and replaced by a traditional bonnet as a symbol of her entry to womanhood. Immediately after that, a group of friends will ‘kidnap’ the bride and you will have to negotiate a ransom to get her back, which you will eventually.

Regulation

Marriage in the Czech Republic is generally a straightforward affair. Copies of your identification and travel papers and a certificate of no Impediment to Marriage issued by your embassy, all duly translated into Czech and apostilled, are to be submitted to City Hall of your District Council at least 14 days from the planned ceremony.

In addition, confirmation in writing from the Czech Foreigner Police on your entry status must be submitted to the City Hall before the event. Your application status will be known before the marriage date.