First Days in Poland and Polish Wedding!

On Thursday night (June 5th), Żaneta and I arrived in Poland! It was really cool to be back! The last time I was there was about 10 years ago I think, so a lot has probably changed.

On Friday afternoon, I took a bus to Białystok, because I had a wedding to go to there on Saturday. I am staying with some of my family here, which has been great! It’s been so nice to catch up with everyone! :)

On Saturday, my aunt, her friend’s son, and I went to a wedding! I was not sure what to expect, but I was so excited to note the differences between a polish wedding and an american wedding (This is just what I noticed in this one particular wedding, so some people will of course do things differently, but by talking to other people there, I found out that most games played and songs sung at this wedding were pretty traditional). 

So in a polish wedding, there are no bridesmaids or groomsmen. There is only one maid of honor and a best man. Also, the couple come into the church together instead of the bride being led by her father. After the ceremony, all of the guests usually wait in line to wish them all the best and to give presents to the couple (most people bring flowers and money). Then, they take a group photo outside the church (all the guests and the couple). 

Then, we headed off to the reception which was held in a very nice hall outside of town called: Pięc Dębów (which means Five Oak Trees). There were tables with nice place settings and everyone had an assigned spot (this assigned seating is a relatively new practice here). There were appetizers already on the table, as well as different juices and water… and vodka, lol. It wouldn’t have been a polish wedding without the vodka, haha. 

Here's a glimpse of the reception venue! There were about 180 people at the wedding.

The first course was a soup. Then soon after, they brought another warm course which was broccoli, potatoes, and meat. The drinking began during the first course. If someone says “gożka wódka” (bitter vodka), then the couple have to “sweeten” it by kissing, haha. They have to hold the kiss for as long as they can, then if the public doesn’t think it was long enough, they tell them to try again! When the vodka is deemed sweet enough, everyone takes a shot. 

Appetizers and drinks!

Soup

First course

Next, the MC called everyone to watch the first dance :). Then, everyone took to the dance floor for a while. Then, we went back to the tables for another course. There was a fruit/dessert/coffee/tea table where you could go get whatever you wanted, and they brought everyone strawberry sorbets as well! Mmmmm… so much good food!!

Desserts I picked out

Strawberry Sorbet

Part of the amazing dessert table!

Then, the MC and the band came around and we played another game (involving alcohol of course, lol). This time they sang a song where they went through all of the months of the year, and you had to stand up when it came to your month. They sang that you had to drink a shot, and they would keep repeating “do dna” (to the bottom, as in down it in one go) until you did. Then the song says to refill your drink and then kiss the person on your left and on your right, haha. It was pretty entertaining. 

Then, they served us another warm course, of salmon, green beans wrapped in bacon, and potatoes! This time these were brought on big platters so we could take as much as we wanted. I only took a little because I was already getting so full!

Salmon, potatoes, green beans wrapped in bacon!!

Then they brought out deli meats, carrots, and zrazy(basically meat and veggies wrapped in more meat- bacon in this case!)

Then we danced some more, and then past midnight, maybe around 12 30am (reception started around 7pm), we had cake! The cake tasted like a traditional polish cake, not too sweet, but good!

The couple cutting their wedding cake!

Then towards the end of the party, we were served some more soup!

Some sort of mushroom soup

Throughout the reception, we played a lot of funny games. We did the train, where everyone holds on to the shoulders of the person in front of them as we walk around the room. But, this MC gave us all sorts of directions. We started off with our hands on the shoulders of the person in front of us, but then we had to move our hands to the persons ribs, then to their knees, then to their ankles! Haha, it was a funny sight! 

Then, we played another where the bride and groom danced in the center, then all of the women held hands in a circle, then all of the men held hands in a circle around the circle of women. Then the MC told everyone to break the circle and to pair up, boys with girls. I ended up with this random guy who knew how to dance pretty well! We danced together for a little while, then the MC started giving funny directions. He told the guys to pick the girls up and spin around, then the guys had to get on their right knee and the girls had to dance around them, then the MC told the girls to get on their right knee and the boys danced around them, then the boys had to kiss the girl’s hand, then the girls had to grab the boys by the ears, and then give them a kiss (on the cheek) lol. It was pretty funny because it got people mixed up and dancing with someone new!

We also played another game, where the bride throws her veil (in the US, she throws her bouquet) and when a single girl catches it, she becomes the new bride. So, all the girls held hands and walked around the bride (who was seated with her eyes covered) until she decided to throw it… the girl right next to me caught it! For the boys, the groom throws his bow tie out to the single guys, who are hopping around in a circle around him (groom is seated with eyes covered of course). The guy who catches it, is the new groom. He puts on the bow tie and meets the new bride (with the veil on) and they dance together. In order to make it funnier, the MC talked to the new groom about his outfit, complementing him on it, and then even asking to see his socks, lol. So, the new groom took off his shoes, and they were quickly replaced with huge flippers- which he had to wear during the dance with the new bride. It was quite funny to watch. The new couple got a prize to share as well, which was a bottle of vodka.

They also played another game where the bride and groom selected teams of 6 people and the MC played different melodies on the keyboard and they had to guess what each song was. It was fun to watch how competitive they were getting. The bride’s team ended up winning, and they got a bottle of vodka as well!  (Hmm, I am starting to notice a trend here…)

There was another point in the night where they played a little game where during this one song, everyone had a chance to dance with the bride and groom. You could cut in anytime and steal a dance. You just had to go up and say “odbijam” (meaning “to take away” in this case, you were taking the groom). It was cool to dance with the groom, he was such a nice guy, and good dancer as well!

It also happened to be the groom’s father’s birthday as well, so the more to celebrate! Seriously, polish people know how to throw a party! Your glass is never empty, the food is amazing, fun games, entertainment, dancing… and according to the other guests, they didn’t play as many games as usual, so there are even more to discover! 

Wedding Favor was a mini sękacz! This stuff is similar to pound cake, but soooo much better!!

Hope to get to go to another polish wedding soon,

Magdalena