Polish Weddings

This weekend I went up to Biala Podlaska for a wedding. It was a two and half hour drive from Warsaw, and we just made in time for the church ceremony. Walking in we realised we didn't recognise anyone in the church. Oh well, we thought and took a seat somewhere in the middle, not sure which side was for the bride and which one for the groom. Trying to be conspicuous we glanced around at all the faces around us. Nothing. Not one familiar face.
'Are we in the right church?' Jarek asks.
I give him a worried glance.
'I don't know anyone here.' I said.
It was a distant cousin who was getting married, and I had no idea how he looked like, let alone how the bride looked like. We just had their names from the wedding invitation.
We were about to walk out again, when we saw my uncle walk passed. Breathing a sigh of relief we smiled. We hadn't walked in on a strangers wedding. Next time however I'm getting out the photo album so I know who's wedding I am going to. When they dropped off the invite, I was not home.

Polish weddings are a little different to Aussie weddings. Ok, their a lot different. In Australia, the party closes before midnight, when the bride and groom leave their guests and head to a hotel to spend their first night together as a married couple. At a Polish wedding, the bride and groom are the last ones to leave, and that's usually at around five in the morning when the sun is starting to rise.

It's not a Polish wedding without a Wiejski Stół filled with home made sausages, hams, patte, smalec and litres of Bimber (moonshine). There was plenty of that at this wedding, and a never-ending flow of vodka which the guests were enjoying in between dancing stints on the dancing floor and the constant supply of food, hot and cold.

I made it till 2am. My stomach full and my feet sore from dancing. Luckily we managed to stay and get a good nights sleep at the venue in one of its hotel rooms. A lovely place called 'Jolanta'.
Weddings don't finish after just one night of dancing, drinking, eating and celebrating. No that wouldn't be fun at all. The next day, usually around noon, the party continues, or for some weddings it 's just starting. 'Poprawiny' are sometimes much better than the wedding itself, people are more relaxed, the alcohol has a quicker effect, and well, someone's got to finish all those left over bottles of vodka.

These 'poprawiny' are sometimes known to last for even a week. This was more popular a few decades ago, in villages, however some people still like to celebrate the joining of two people for a little longer then just a few hours on Saturday evening. Any excuse to have a few too many drinks and a hit the dancefloor. I'm all for it.

Glossary
Bimber – home made vodka, this is made from yeast and sugar over a long period of time.
Poprawiny – the after party for a wedding reception, which starts at around noon the next day with the bride and grooms family and friends. The number of guests range from the closest family and friends to most of the people who attended the reception.
Smalec – lard with a little pieces of meat, apple or mushroom.
Wiejski Stół – a table covered with bimber, smalec and a range of home made meats, sausages, patte, marinated mushrooms and much more.