Moni and Kuba get married

I think I have it figured out. The recipe for a Polish wedding is simple: Eat, drink, dance, repeat. Then repeat again. And again. Really. The music stops and everyone goes back to eat and take shots. Then they dance it off.  Again. And again. And I loved it. 

It's one thing to have 1 or 2 scheduled meals during a wedding reception, but 4? Plus cake? And the last food serving at 2am? I asked around and people say it's because there is so much drinking and dancing, that you need to serve multiple meals. And I'm not complaining one bit.  In some weddings the scheduled meals even go as late as 4 or 5am!

The schedule of meals (everything on here is food/alcohol)

This is not how it works in the US...but I think now it should be. At least it will be at my wedding, whenever that is (and assuming I'm not too old to stay up that late).

Monika has been a good friend since I moved to Poland. She always helps me with my Polish, with shopping, and currently she is helping me get wi-fi in my apartment (10 months after I arrived). She's always super helpful and made me feel very welcome when I first moved here. When she invited me to the wedding of her and her boyfriend Kuba, I had to say yes. Especially since it meant I could write a blog about it.  And especially since she personally invited every single person (as in, physically goes to them to invite them...that's a lot of work!!)

In the days leading up to the wedding, people would ask me things like "Are you ready for it?" and "Is there anything you want to know about it?".  This confused me because I have been to many weddings before.  What do I have to be ready for when it comes to this one?  Their response: "Oh, you'll see..."

I got a ride to Sochaczew (where the wedding was) with a couple co-workers: Angela (my boss from Romania), Gosia (my coach in Warsaw), and Andrew (a partner in Advisory). Sochaczew is about an hour from Warsaw, and is near Żelazowa Wola, where Frederick Chopin was born.

Gosia, Angela, and me

The ceremony was held in a nice church in town, and was a bit different that our weddings in the US. First of all, it started on time! When we arrived a few minutes before 3pm, Moni and Kuba were already waiting near the front door, in plain sight, to walk down the aisle. We got to say hello to them while they were waiting to walk, which seemed strange, but nice. When it started, there was no entry of the parents, the wedding party, or cheesy dancing while playing Chris Brown's "Forever": just the couple, flower girls, and the maid of honor and best man.

Moni and Kuba enter the church

Another difference is that they sat down in chairs during the ceremony (which lasted a little less than an hour). I had no idea what was happening, except that every 5 minutes or so, everyone stood up. I have to admit, this helped me, because after 4 hours of sleep the night before, and since it was all in Polish, I was getting a bit tired.

They get to relax during the ceremony

I did notice that after they said their vows, they said "Chcę", which means "I want".  I guess it's their version of "I do"! 

After the ceremony, everyone ran out of the church, in no specific order...almost like they were running for the open bar or something. There's no need for ushers here! Apparently they were racing to be first in the greeting line. After the ceremony, since not everyone joins for the reception, everyone lines up to congratulate the couple, present gifts, and give 3 cheek kisses (please see my prior blog on how long triple cheek kisses take when everyone does it).  The most stressful part of the day was having to do a triple kiss. 

The post-ceremony greeting line

Another observation I had was that the wedding party doesn't all dress the same. In the US everyone wears the same dress or suit, but here, everyone is unique. I guess its partly because they don't all stand during the ceremony, so you never see them side by side.

Moni and her bridesmaids

Oh, and there was a girl with a see-through dress. I guess every wedding has one of those girls whose friends never tell her "hey, i can see your underwear and butt cheeks when you wear that".  Sorry, no picture of that.

Afterwards, we went to the reception at a Magda Gessler restaurant next door to the house where Chopin was born. Before we went in, the party hosts presented the couple with bread and champagne. After they drank the champange everyone started yelling at me "Uwaga!" to get me to back away. I didn't know this was coming, but all of a sudden, they both threw their empty glasses over their shoulders and the glass shattered near my feet. Luckily I'm so fluent in Polish and I understood the warning.  It saved my life. 

The moms wait with the bread and champagne

The restaurant was very nice, and before I had a chance to walk around and find out where we were sitting, everyone was already at their tables, giving a toast, drinking champagne and starting to eat. These people don't mess around! They wanted to get the party started. And that they did. 

Tables are arranged in rows to make it easier to pour vodka for those across from you

Within 5 minutes, the guy across from me had poured me a shot of vodka. 5 minutes after I drank it, he poured me another. And it was only 5pm.

After our first course of salads, appetizers, soup, pork, and vegetables (dinner #1, which was served immediately upon arrival), we went for a walk into the park, where we sat outside Chopin's old house and listened to a piano concert especially for the wedding. Kuba's dad made a short presentation, saying part of it in English.  From my observation, only Angela and I needed the English, so I appreciate it!

Enjoying a little Chopin concert in the park

After this, we went back to the restaurant, and yep, we ate again. This time, we had more salads, meats, and veggies, and of course more vodka. The dancing had started, and it was such a fun environment. Rather than the couple dancing first, they did something untraditional, and got everyone to dance in circles around the room from the very beginning. It looked like so much fun and a great way to warm the crowd up. I didn't participate in this round because I didn't know what was happening, and also I wanted to take some pictures.

Everyone danced around me, while I took pictures

How do they all know what to do?

After the dancing, the music stopped again and people started mingling, eating more, going outside for air, and drinking endless shots of vodka (my final count was 17 shots - yikes!). The 3rd meal came at 8pm, which was some beef stroganoff/soup/goulash thing. This pattern continued for the next several hours, with a BBQ at 10pm, delicious hand crafted cup cakes at midnight, and soup at 2am, mixed around more dancing and drinking.

10pm BBQ?  Yes, please!

Midnight cup cakes

Moni and Kuba were having a great time, and there was lots of cheers, Polish songs, and jolly behavior that I can't really explain. It just made everyone, including me, feel like part of the family, even though I had no idea who anyone was, or what they were saying.  Everything was very orderly and organized and everyone seemed to know what was going on, like they had done this many, many times.

Taking the party to the streets

  
Even the older folks were taking vodka shots, dancing, and just having a blast. And there seemed to be a few "known" dances and songs that they all did, and helped me to be a part of. I don't remember much about them except that I was holding hands with older Polish guys dancing in circles a lot of the time. Holding hands with older Polish guys may not sound like much fun, but in this situation, it was a blast.

Thankfully there was no "Electric Slide" or "YMCA"

I had to catch a flight to Italy the next morning, so I had to leave somewhat early (before 1), but I know the party went on. 10 hours after the ceremony, it was still going strong. I am very happy and grateful to have experienced it, and it makes me want to marry a Polish girl so I can have this same kind of party. 

I am now accepting applications.