I survived the Polish Wedding Marathon and all I got was this lousy t-shirt … oh wait, no t-shirt. After nearly 4 years living in Poland, we were finally invited to a wedding. I had almost come to terms with the fact I would never get the opportunity to experience a Polish wedding first hand, only through reputation. After a scavenger hunt for an outfit to wear last week, I wound up with a nice skirt and blouse, a huge relief.
Disclaimer – the account below is simply from my own single experience at a Polish wedding. I, in no way, intend to generalize the traditional Polish wedding experience. I'm sure the customs and traditions vary from region to region as well as from family to family. In fact, one of my friends mentioned that in other areas of Poland, they celebrate the wedding for an entire week – even the thought exhausts me.
The Ceremony
Beginning at 6pm, the ceremony was nice and pretty much as I had expected. The only major differences were that the Bride and Groom (as well as their Maid of Honor and Best Man) were provided seating at the front of the church. They were permitted to sit while the priest gave his sermon, a nice gesture. During the ceremony, they sent around an offering plate to collect money for the church. This is something that I've never seen before at a wedding so it threw me off guard. I thought it a bit tacky, but not having attended a great deal of weddings, I have no idea if this is the norm, so I threw my hard earned zlotych into the pot. After the ceremony, the guests met the new Husband and Wife outside the church and showered them with gifts and well wishes. It's also customary here to give the new Bride flowers, and what beautiful flowers they were. After we made it through the mosh pit of guests, which might have been called a reception line had the people any concept of forming a line, it was on to the reception.
The Reception (AKA – The Marathon)
Now, I have heard the rumours about these Polish weddings, Vodka Dancing fests that last all night. And in some ways it was, but not as wild and out of hand as I had imagined it would be. The music was atrocious, had it not been for the forementioned Vodka, I wouldn't have found the nerve to dance to it. We spent a great deal of time dancing in circles around the Bride and Groom, with many trips around the reception hall in a conga line. I learned that the chicken dance defies all cultural boundaries. Which has led me to the conclusion that if we could only find a way to broadcast the Chicken Dance oom-pah song simultaneously throughout the world, we may have a chance at finally establishing world peace. The most important ingredient for a successful Wedding Marathon has to be the food, which was delicious and plentiful. Appetizers and drinks were omni-present on the table. We were served hot dishes every hour on the hour. Traditional Polish foods were served, Barscz (beet root soup), Flacki (chicken stomach soup – yuck – I couldn't bring myself to try this), duck, chicken, pork, steak tartar, and too many others to mention. All in all, it was a great strategy to keep us not only conscious but lively throughout the event. We got home around 5am – but the party was still alive and kicking when we left.
The After Party
The day after the wedding, there is another party. This one started at 4pm. We made a brief appearence. I think this party serves a tri-purpose, one, to get rid of all the left-overs, two for the people who were not brave enough to pull an all-nighter to score a piece of wedding fun, and three as bragging rights for the people who were brave enough to face the night.
All in all, we had a terrific time. Good food in good company.
