The Manitoba Social
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| Ukrainian Socials Table |
What do you get if there’s Ukrainian-style rye bread (KUB)
on the tables and a spread of kubasa sausage with other cold cuts, and
hot sauerkraut or pizza (optional), some pickles and cheese cubes, and maybe
some Tim bits in the equation? Well, it’s most probably a buffet table that’s
being set up as a late night snack for a social in Manitoba! More
often than not, it would be a pre-wedding party that is meant to raise money
for an engaged couple to help cover their upcoming wedding expenses and to a
lesser extent to pay for their honeymoon or a down payment on the house.
The bridesmaids and groomsmen to be are very important party aides for this event. They can enlist DJs
and friends in the know to help plan the event, sell tickets, seek donations, and
contribute cash to get some creative theme baskets going. These baskets then make for some awesome
raffle prizes and silent auction items. The couple’s parents can assume responsibility
for the door and grand prizes. Dress can
be informal, and theme parties like Star Wars or those that incorporate
occasions, colors or seasons are not unusual anymore.
Door prizes are seemingly more expensive at these events, and
the presence of cash cubes are growing in popularity too. As long as all ticket sales, raffle draws,
and door prizes meet the social occasion raffle licensing requirements of the Liquor and Gaming Authority of
Manitoba, you are good to go. The music at these socials varies with the tastes of
the couple and family members. DJs will play everything from country to classic
rock, or the World Latin charts right up to the top40s to keep the dance floor
hopp’n after midnight.
Wedding socials (Stag and doe parties) and zabavas (Evening Dances, Parties) are still the familiar forms of
entertainment in the Prairie Provinces of Manitoba, Alberta and Saskatchewan.
Food choices may vary somewhat when that buffet table rolls out before midnight
and may even be enhanced for more elaborate affairs. A live band and taped
music is typically used at zabavas but a DJ tends to be more successful and cost
efficient for socials.
All the same, these
practices are quickly evolving to include any charitable event or fundraising
social. So, a charity social can be held for someone who recently lost their
home. Or, a fundraising event can help reduce the financial costs of someone’s
life-threatening illness.
The meaning of a social
has changed somewhat over the decades. It has expanded and grown to include
charitable events and parties other than just a wedding social. What is more, the
social is a colorful and relatively inexpensive form of entertainment when compared
to club hopping
which is why it probably retains much of its appeal. In the end, the return on
investment may make it worthwhile to host one. Love it or hate it, it’s a
Prairie thing. So, when is yours?
Written by: Ihor Cap, Web Author and Dad.
