A Polish Wedding(s)

This summer Mr. Pudding and I had the pleasure of going to Poland for two separate wedding celebrations. During our wedding marathon, I learned a lot about Polish weddings that I didn't know before. I have only been to one wedding in Poland before this adventure, and even though I have been to dozens of Polish-Canadian weddings, I found that the real thing can be quite different! I hope to incorporate some of these new found elements into our wedding, but some of them just wouldn't work in the North American setting.

(All of these pictures were taken on my camera by either Mr. Pudding, myself, or a relative, and are a combination of the two wedding celebrations that we attended in Poland)

The wedding day starts with the bride and groom standing outside of the bride's house welcoming guests and well-wishers.


This is a very interesting tradition. On one hand, I was thinking: "but what about the moment when the bride walks down the aisle and everyone is left breathless by the impact of seeing her for the first time?" On the other, we got to leave presents at the home, so we didn't have to worry about finding the gift table, and the wedding party didn't have to lug the presents from reception to home. Also, it allowed neighbors and acquaintances who weren't invited to the wedding to get a peek at the happy couple.

Polish wedding = Catholic wedding. Poland is an extremely religious country, and 95% of all Polish people are Catholic. Hence, a Polish wedding begins in a church.


After the ceremony, guests gather outside to congratulate the happy couple, and to get a couple of group shots. In Poland, instead of showering the couple with rice, bubbles, or rose petals, the guests throw coins (Mrs. Avocado talked about this tradition here)! This is supposed to symbolize the wishing of good fortune onto the newly weds. The couple has to pick up each and every coin all by themselves before heading to the reception.


The reception itself is a party full of food and dancing. There are no speeches. You heard that right....no tender words from the father of the bride, or embarrassing jokes from the best man. Instead, there is a lot of this:


Guests are too busy eating to take a time out and give a speech! Also, there are no bartenders at Polish weddings. Instead, the best man carries this:


There were bottles of wodka (yes, it is spelled with a "w") on every table, and the best man's job was to ensure that non of them were empty. The hosts planned for .5 litres of vodka per guest!

Fish is a very popular course in Poland. However, it is served a little differently than Mr. Pudding and I were used to.


It's smoked, often covered in gelatin, and is always, always, staring you straight in the eyes.


The final interesting thing about Polish weddings is that it is considered insulting to leave the party before the sun comes out. Mr. P and I were so tired, but we made it!


All in all, we had a lot of fun, and can't wait to incorporate some of what we learned into our own wedding!

Does your ceremony and/or reception reflect your culture?