What are some of the the Polish tradtions in weddings.?

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witeczek2002

Despite its name, polka is not a Polish dance and is not an element of traditional Polish weddings.
The first tradition of a Polish village wedding is when the newlyweds go from church to the wedding home and are stopped several times at "gates" prepared by young men from the neighborhood. To open the gate and move on, the couple have to pay a "toll"; usually a bottle of vodka would suffice.
Then, when the couple arrive at the wedding home, there is a ceremonial welcome by the couple's parents, with a big round loaf of bread and a plate of salt. A glass of vodka is also there, to be drunk in full, and then the glass must be smashed on the floor.
During the party, dances alternate with couplets sung by local verse masters; the couplets make fun of the bride and the bridegroom, usually putting their virtues in doubt. But they are usually just funny, never nasty.
And around midnight there is the ceremony of "oczepiny" - the bride's wreath and veal are removed and replaced with a bonnet, to mark the bride's elevation to the status of a housewife. Ceremonial songs accompany the event.
These are the most characteristic traditions, almost always preserved at weddings, even though sometimes in a simplified or modernized version.

Polka :)

Most Polish weddings take place on Saturdays and continue through Sundays. The marriage ceremony and wedding reception for all guests are held on Saturday, while a smaller, more private party for close friends and family is continued on Sunday. There are no weddings during the 40-day Lent before Easter and during the Advent before Christmas. Those periods of year are believed to be the time dedicated for penance and preparation for the most important Christian holidays, so there is not space for public celebrations and dancing parties. Interestingly enough, there are very few weddings in May as well. This is mostly due to superstition, as many people believe that persons who marry in May are not going to be happy and wonâ€™t live together long.
The wedding starts with the groom arriving to the house of the bride before they head to the church. His parents, godparents, closest family, and the best man accompany him. In the turmoil of last preparations, light snacks, for instance sandwiches, are served to the guests and sometimes a band cheers the crowd up with lively songs. Once the couple is ready, both parents give their blessings the kneeling couple and they all are off to church. Obviously, everyone wants to shine on that day, so the young couple rents or borrows a nice ride from a rental agency or family members if they do not own one. In some regions, decorated horse carriages are popular for such occasions. Depending on the families' budget and local traditions, the richly decorated parade to church can be quite a view especially if it involves regional costumes and horses adorned with white flowers and ribbons.
In the church, the bride and the groom walk up the aisle together preceded by their groomsmen and bridesmaids. The parents and other guests are usually already seated when the couple enters the church. Whether the ceremony takes place in church or at a local magistrate, there must be two witnesses of the marriage, who endorse the documents alongside of the bride and groom. During the religious ceremony, the traditional in the Western movies kiss basically does not exist. Civil ceremonies are less solemn and usually only the bride and groom, and the witnesses are allowed in the room, so whether they kiss or not, very much remains their private venture.

After the happy newlyweds exit the building, they are taken by storm with congratulations, best wishes, and flowers. Once every attending guest had kissed and hugged the couple, everyone is heading to the reception site, be it a restaurant, banquet hall, or one of the newlyweds house. On the way to the destination, a very popular custom is preparing by the wedding participants, although not necessarily, passing "gates" for the couple. To pass such gates, in most cases barricades on the road by objects or people, the newlyweds have to give out some food and vodka. The wedding reception starts once the married couple arrives and is traditionally welcome by the entrance with bread and salt. Bread and salt are the symbols of future prosperity so that the couple never goes about hungry in their lives. The wedding party lasts as long as the guests want to stay, in most cases overnight. Polish weddings are known for an unbelievable abundance of all kinds of foods and alcohol. In the past decades, Polish weddings were basically two-day feasts with dancing and games. In recent years, most people scale their budgeting and time, so the weddings start to resemble wedding receptions in the West with a nice dinner and a short duration.

maja1468

omg! i live polish weddings they are sooo much fun. sorry lol

well..

Usually the guests arrive at the house of one fionce(dont kno how 2 spell dat lol) and there the parents and the godparents beless the couple than they all go to the church, usually on their way there especially in little towns where everyone knows everyone they make like a bounry with people or a rope. If the couple wants to go through they have to pay somehow. So adults get alcohol and kids get candy. Than when you get to the church, you have the mass which seems to take forever.... After that when the couple gets out of the church on their way out people/family throws rice with money on them than they collect it. After that the kissing starts, and everyone wishes the couple whatever.... and when people go up to the couple the give them a bouque of flowers and an envelope where you have the money =] After everyone kissed the couple (oh btw u have 2 kiss them 3 timez on da checkz) they go to the party!!! woohooo finally lol. Than when everyone gets there the couple drinks a shot which is usually tied than they throw it behind them for luck! After that they have their first dance as a couple bah blah... than everyone sits and eats something hot, because through out the night they have to dance so that is the only time they can eat something good, after that it's only like a snack. So they eat, oh and usually the families separate like the brides family sits on one side and the grooms on the other but that doesn't matter much because they gonna mix after awhile because everyone is going to get drunk lol. So everyone is dancein guys get drunk even some gals lol it's holiraous!!!! Than at midnight there is something called "oczepiny" it's so cool because it's not only when the dude throws his tie and the other dudes cath it and the bride throws it too i mean the thing on her head, lol, because the people that catch it can be the new couple ( evevn tho they don't know eacother) it's really cool than there is many games i remember once on my aunts wedding there was this competition that you had to drink a shot run to the end of the room than spin like 5 times and come back it was funny beacuse they were falling down when they were comming back, and there is many games for kids also so they wont get bored. Oh and there is something like if you want to dance with the bride you have to pay and same with the groom then all of the money goes for their honey moon. It's really cool "oczepiny" is like the coolest part of the wedding you can make people sing beacuse they are drunk and they don't know or care what are they doing! In US wedding usually lasts one day and like until 9 pm but polish wedding are like a huge celebration because just the party lasts til 5 am somethimes longer and there is somrthing called "poprawiny" which is an after celebration of the wedding sometimes it even lasts a week. I love polish weddings beacuse its long and that's the main celebration the whole family gets together.

Be Here Now.

Well, and I personally can't handle this, they start on a Saturday (usually) and go on until Sunday (usually).

Crazy.

CaliChic57

Polka :) had a lot of good ideas. What I remember from when I was a kid and I went to few weddings with my family was guests throwing rice at the newlywed couple right outside of the church and after the church ceremony. The rice is suppose to represent prosperity. I'm not sure if that's a Polish thing or if it is adopted in other cultures as well.

Polonicus

For example:

Blessing: Only closest family are part of blessing which is given by parents to fiances. That part takes place at home. Fiances kneel in front of parents and listen to the words of a blessing. There is no such thing as a ready to use blessing, it just flows from the heart of parents. Accompanied by musicians just after, young couple go to church.
Blessing tradition is mostly kept in villages. It can also happen that bride and groom meet each other in church.

Jona221

There is a special song where the bride and groom have hankerchiefs and put them on the floor while everyone else is in a circle.Then a kiss cheek,lips,or hug and then the other person gets the hankerchief and so on until the song ends.

veggy actress (anti selena)

there is a game where evryone is in a circle and they take turn to give a hankerchief/tissue to the people they love and they take turns 2 people at a time

spydee

They are MY favorite weddings! Polka, beer, good times! Here are a coupla' good sites with LOTSA' ideas!
http://www.iarelative.com/wedding/polish.htm
http://www.polishamericancenter.org/Wedding.htm
Hoping that the wedding in your thoughts is the greatest!

dancers sometimes dress up and perform.
there's usually a GÃ³ralski band with fiddlers that perform.
usually there's singing once the vodka (spiritus) settles in.

polish weddings are a LOT of fun =)

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