I hope you enjoyed reading Polish Weddings – Part 1 , and that you learned something about the Polish culture! We ended with getting to the church…

In the church, the bride and the groom walk up the aisle together preceded by their groomsmen and bridesmaids. Usually though, there is only one  Best Man (Starszy – which literally means “older” or Świadek – means “witness”) and one Maid of Honor (Starsza – means “older” or Świadkowa – means “witness”). Large wedding parties are not popular (although I have been to a few weddings with more then one groomsmen and bridesmaid). The parents and other guests are usually already seated when the couple enters the church. Whether the ceremony takes place in a church or at a local magistrate, there must be two witnesses of the marriage.They endorse the documents alongside of the bride and groom.

  One thing that my family and friends from the States noticed is that Bride, Groom, Best Man and Maid of Honor all sit down during the ceremony. Again – it is not a rule and there are weddings where the whole wedding party is standing.

Our wedding was really beautiful and the priest actually spoke English very well. He kept saying a lot of words in English and I think it really made my husband’s family feel much more comfortable. I said my vows in Polish and my husband said his in English – that’s how we wanted to do it and the priest was fine with that. You must know that a lot of polish priests are very strict.

Before the end of the ceremony, the bride switches her bouquet with maid of honor’s bouquet and leaves it in the church. Sometimes they will bring a third bouquet of flowers and leave that one instead– so they can keep theirs. And yes – there was a kiss after we were pronounced husband and wife!

After the happy newlyweds exit the building, they are taken by storm with congratulations, best wishes and flowers. But before that – we were showered with coins – this is supposed to bring a good luck to the couple. We had to pick all of them up from the ground and save them….forever.

Once every attending guest has kissed and hugged the couple (it took about an hour after our wedding), everyone leaves for the reception, which is usually held at a restaurant or a banquet hall.

The wedding reception starts once the married couple arrives and is traditionally welcomed at the entrance with bread and salt. The bread and salt are symbols of future prosperity so that the couple never goes about hungry in their lives. Then they drink either glasses of champagne or shots of vodka (both tied with the ribbon) or throw the glass down behind them hard – so it brakes. Again – this is a symbol for good luck. After this is done the Groom then carries his Bride through the door.

The reception lasts as long as the guests want to stay, in most cases into the early morning (I will not share a picture of us at 6am…). Polish weddings are known for an unbelievable abundance of all kinds of foods and alcohol.

Guests, who arrive from distant places, are usually welcome to stay at the newlyweds’ parents or other family members’ houses. Suggesting a stay at a hotel would be considered very impolite. So, no matter how crowded the houses get, it is all about family. After all, the saying goes: the more the merrier. Those guests, who have been invited but can not attend, are still expected to send a congratulation card.

In Poland, weddings in the countryside are usually much bigger than weddings in the city. The reason for that is simple; in the countryside all people know each other, so most get invited to the wedding unless there is some conflict between the families. Thus, weddings in the country are longer and more extravagant because more people attend. Many guests return on the following day to celebrate, eat, drink, and dance some more.

Next time I will tell you a little more about the food, dancing and different games during the reception. Also – about the second day of the wedding, called “poprawiny”. And remember – these are traditions in a lot of places in Poland. However, there are weddings that are different and you may not see as many old traditions incorporated into them. A lot of weddings in big cities are similar to the weddings in the States.

Do następnego razu! (Till next time…)