Once strictly prohibited in Russia, weddings in a historical setting are now fast becoming a tradition. This time the old residence of Count Sheremetyev has hosted its first wedding ceremony.

Built in the 18th century, the Kuskovo mansion, an old count Sheremetyev's residence, is a new venue of choice for the romantically inclined.

In its interiors Mendelson's music sounds more romantic than in Moscow's usual offices to register marriage, and the wrestling Cupids seem transfixed by the first wedding ceremony to take place in this noble palace's three-century history.

“It's unusual, I think, it's good,” the groom says.

“Actually, we were preparing and looking forward to it,” adds the bride. .

For the pleasure of marrying here one must pay a state duty and rent for the room. The place set aside for weddings held at Kuskovo is called the Italian Lodge

“They played cards there, bridge or something, danced, had fun. Maybe it would be also interesting in the mansion itself,” Mikhail Volohov, newly married, says.

But of course, because of its value as a museum, modern revellers will not be allowed to drink champagne here, eat or dance.

As early as last year things were quite different. Weddings could be registered within the museum's walls, but that was only semi-legitimate.

“Actually this was a non-thing, the marriage was solemnised in the registry beforehand. And then we held some kind of a dramatic performance here. But we wanted it to be an official ceremony,” Lyubov Borisova, bride.

Those, who wanted to marry in Kuskovo officially, had to wait for another year. It was not until last October that weddings in the capital's museums and estates were made legal by Moscow's government.

“Marriages have already been held in Ostankino mansion, in the State Pushkin Museum on Stary Arbat, in Golytsyn's mansion in Kuzminki, and now for the first time in Kuskovo,” Lidiya Bryakova, head of the local registry, says.

And now another page of the mansion's history is being written, this time with the official stamp of approval for modern romantics.