Survival guide
Be prepared:
- to start at 7.00pm at the church
- followed by the reception which finishes around 5.00am in the morning
- lots of food
- lots of alcohol
- dancing and singing
As promised a long time ago, please find a small survival guide that will help you enjoy our day on the 1st July 2011.
In a British wedding ceremony the groom arrives at the church first and waits at the altar with his best man for the bride to be escorted down the aisle by her father (like Prince William and Kate).
In a polish wedding, the groom comes to the brides house before the wedding ceremony where they receive blessing from parents. The bride and the groom arrive together at the church (usually at least 15 min before the ceremony) where they are greeted by the guests.
So if you’re waiting in the church and notice that Mike is missing don’t get excited, he’s coming!
We are getting married in a catholic church with majority of the ceremony in polish, so you will have a bit of time to get used to polish accent. If you are not sure what to do, just follow the Polish people and they will give you an indication on when to sit/stand/kneel.
On exiting the church the happy couple is usually showered with rose petals or rice. Traditionally it was money (small change), so please bring some small change from your country. The bride and groom are expected to pick every single penny and the one who has most of the coins is going to be in charge of money (you are welcome to help).
Traditionally after the church everybody lines up to congratulate the couple with a bunch of flowers. Since we are planning to leave Poland a few days after the wedding, we have asked polish guests to bring us lotto tickets instead of flowers. There will be several people invited only to the church, so it perfect time for them to exchange kisses with the couple.
In New Zealand lots of people take photos in front of the church, which is not common in Poland. It would be great to have a photo with everybody, so please stay in front of the church.
We have organized transport to the reception venue, which is only a few minutes drive from the church.
The wedding reception starts once the married couple arrives. The parents of the bride and groom greet the newly married couple with bread, which is lightly sprinkled with salt and a shot of vodka.
Parents usually say:
"Staropolskim zwyczajem witamy Was chlebem i sola, aby w Waszym domu zawsze goscil dostatek."
"According to our old Polish tradition, we greet you with bread and salt, so that your home might always enjoy an abundance of food and wealth.”
The bread and salt blessing is an old polish tradition and it symbolizes future prosperity. Bread symbolizes abundance of food. Salt reminds the couple that their relationship may go through some difficulties. Vodka symbolizes health and happiness. After the bride and groom each taste a piece of bread they break the glasses for good luck. Please keep a distance ;)
The party starts with first toast and song called "Sto lat" which literally translated means "one hundred years". Sto Lat, usually is sung by the guests that signifies 100 years of good health for the bride and groom.
STO LAT - ONE HUNDRED YEARS
Sto lat, sto lat niech zyje, zyje nam,
Sto lat, sto lat niech zyje, zyje nam,
Jeszcze raz, jeszcze raz,
niech zyje, zyje nam, niech zyje nam....
(Good health, good cheer, may you live a hundred years,
one hundred years....)
You will hear this song several times during the night, so visit you tube if you want to join in: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MaX_Wcw4Yw (I couldn’t find any good video)
The party starts with first toast and song called "Sto lat" which literally translated means "one hundred years". Sto Lat, usually is sung by the guests that signifies 100 years of good health for the bride and groom.
STO LAT - ONE HUNDRED YEARS
Sto lat, sto lat niech zyje, zyje nam,
Sto lat, sto lat niech zyje, zyje nam,
Jeszcze raz, jeszcze raz,
niech zyje, zyje nam, niech zyje nam....
(Good health, good cheer, may you live a hundred years,
one hundred years....)
You will hear this song several times during the night, so visit you tube if you want to join in: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MaX_Wcw4Yw (I couldn’t find any good video)
STO LAT is often sung to celebrate any major occasion, such as weddings, birthdays, etc..
After the first toast, the main dinner is served which usually consist of the soup and main course.
After the dinner, everybody is invited to the dance floor. Soon you will find a pattern of eating, drinking, dancing and singing until the morning.
Around midnight you will find Polish people running around and trying to steal brides and grooms shoes.
Between midnight and 1am you will witness a special moment during the wedding reception, called “unveiling ceremony” (oczepiny). This tradition was representing a moment when a young girl becomes a married woman. Nowadays, the maid of honor removes the veil/cap from the bride's head as music is played when later all unmarried ladies circle the bride and she throws the veil. Whoever catches the veil is believed to get married soon and she temporary becomes the new bride of the evening. The same happens to the groom, whose tie is removed by the best man and later thrown among all single guys. A new bride and groom are selected and the couple has to dance together.
After this ceremony, the real bride and groom have to buy their shoes back from the guests, so if you managed to steal a shoe, please step forward, we will ask you to perform a mysterious task and you will rewarded with a bottle of alcohol.
At the end of the uncapping ceremony, guests line up to wish the couple all the best and gift cards and/or presents. This happens around 2am.
Somewhere in between there is also time for the wedding cake.
This is followed by more dancing, singing and eating.
We plan to finish around 5am so please stay untill the end and have fun (standard Polish wedding usually go until 7am). Make sure that you have plenty of sleep the night before, you don’t eat too much since there will be plenty of food, learn sto lat song and enjoy J
