# female witness of wedding



## jancho

Hello.

How would you call "female witness of wedding" in Finnish? It is a noun meaning a role for a girl, usually bride's friend, who is there to support them and writes a signature.

example: Petra choose her friend Gabriela as her witness.
(I am not looking for translating this example, I am looking for translating the term itself)

suggestions: todistaa, todistaja, todistus, nähdä, näyttää toteen, tarkkailija, todistaa, todistaja, varmennus, varmentaa

(it is hard to recognize for non native speaker, because some of them mean witness of a crime)

Thank you.


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## Hakro

The Finnish wor for "witness" is *todistaja* both for marriage and crime (where's the difference?) and for both male and female persons.

In Finland, generally _two witnesses_ are needed for a marriage but you don't have to choose them yourself. There are always two functionaries available (gratis) who will be the witnesses.


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## m_k_h

But if you mean the friend of a bride who helps the bride to get dressed and such, the word is *kaaso*. That is, kaaso is the female version of bestman. But in the Finnish wedding culture, kaaso's have nothing to do with writing signatures.


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## jancho

*kaaso*=bridesmaid then?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Participants_in_wedding_ceremonies#Bridesmaids

But, according to what Hakro wrote, *todistaja* is the witness of bride, who writes the signature.


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## m_k_h

Actually, i'm not sure whether *kaaso* and *morsiusneito* (bridesmaid) are the same thing 

I'd assume that bridesmaids can be e.g. young female relatives, while kaaso is more likely of the same age as the bride.


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## dinji

m_k_h said:


> Actually, i'm not sure whether *kaaso* and *morsiusneito* (bridesmaid) are the same thing
> 
> I'd assume that bridesmaids can be e.g. young female relatives, while kaaso is more likely of the same age as the bride.


There is only one kaaso, just as there is only one bestman while there may be several bridesmaids/morsiusneitoja. Very often the kaaso is the best friend, rather than a relative.


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## jancho

From the information you provided, I realize that:



> todistaja - best man
> todistaja, kaaso - maid of honor
> - groomsman
> morsiusneito - bridesmaid



BTW I posted a general topic here.


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