48 Hours at a Polish Wedding in Cycow, Poland

48 HOURS AT A POLISH WEDDING IN CYCOW, POLAND

 

 

 

 

 

It’s been a long time since I have been to a wedding and to be invited by my dear friend Lukasz Arasimowicz to attend his cousin Klaudia’s wedding in Poland was not only an honour but a great privilege.  To witness and be a part of another country’s traditions and ceremony is a wonderful learning experience.

I flew from Edinburgh to Cycow,  Lublin on Friday evening and was  greeted by Lukasz and his mother Anna who kindly came to the airport to pick me up.   The wedding was the next day and the church was nearly next door to their home.

While Anna and Lukaz’s sister-in-law Ewelina were out getting the make-up and hair done, Lukasz had organised a lovely hairdresser to come to the house to do mine.  Wedding hair,  as a dub it,  requires a time served hair stylist to do a good job and one who actually enjoys doing it.  I was delighted at the result.

 

At 4.30pm the guests started to arrive at the church all blowing their car horns, decorated in balloons and of course, the bride’s limousine was exquisitely decorated in red roses.  The service was held in a beautiful catholic church which can only described with pictures so I have included a few here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

After the hour-long service,  the bride and groom left the church and all the well-wishers gathered outside.  A huge bouquet of red and white balloons were released into the sky to celebrate Klaudia and Adrian’s wedding vows

 

 

 

 

 

completed.  Each and every guest offers the new Bride and Groom their congratulations,  so when a the church is full,  (and it was),  this part of the ceremony can take a bit of time when there are hundreds of guests. The relatives and friends bless the newlyweds with gifts of money and wine or chocolates.  When I saw the boot of the wedding car it had enough wine in there to open a small wine shop.  Everyone was so generous and candy was flying in the air instead of confetti as is the Polish custom.  All the children hurried to the ground to pick up the fallen sweets.

The reception  was at their Uncle Peter’s Inn which was just a 5 minute drive away. When I walked into the reception room, I could not believe just how beautiful everything was set up.  Attention to every detail.  In true Polish tradition the tables were heavily laden with food, flowers, vodka and wine.  What really took my eye was not only how exceptionally elegant everything was set up but the numerous Polish Tree cakes that adorned many tables throughout the room.  This traditional polish cake I came to

learn is made from over 120 eggs and is made on a rotisserie over a long period of time.  They call it  Sekacz, the  PolishTree Cake.  There were several stalls set up, one with hanging traditional polish sausage and homemade 70 proof vodka, and of course all the men were very keen on this stall.  One table covered in more dessert than a bakery, another with fish and cheese.  It was certainly a display set out for royalty.

 

 

 

 

 

It is tradition to sing throughout the meal at intervals a special song which has the bride and groom up and down kissing every ten minutes.   Everyone stands up and claps and sings until they get to witness the desired kiss.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The food of course plays a very important role as well and it never stopped coming.  When we sat at our appointed seats, the table was covered in salads, herring and vegetable dishes.   The live band played music throughout the

 

 

 

 

 

endless courses and Klaudia and Adrian got up during the plentiful dishes

being served to have their first wedding dance together.  Everyone rushed to the dance floor to watch the couple dance and this is all while eating and drinking which was great fun.  The meal was spread over hours and the singing and dancing continued throughout the night.   I jumped up and joined in a conga which intertwined the long tables moving throughout the room both inside and outside.

The band continued to play all night long when suddenly around midnight the room went dark and out were brought a full roast pig  and roast boar including fireworks to serve for the midnight feast and until the wee hours of the morning, we ate, drank and danced.

 

 

There were games outside for the children in the garden, dressing up for photographs, more dancing and plenty more food followed by copious amounts of vodka which went on until 6am and never stopped for one dull moment.  What a truly outstanding celebration.  I was sure happy to see my bed because little did I know this was all going to happen again tomorrow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

And it did, the band played, the vodka flowed, the dancing continued and we ate, drank and ate some more.  The word diet I don’t believe exists in the Polish language.

 

 

 

 

 

But most of all,  it was such a beautifully elegant wedding and I personally want to thank the Bride, Klaudia and Groom, Adrian and the Bride’s parents for inviting me to be a part of their  very special 48 hour celebration and all the Arasimowicz family, especially Anna, Ewelina, Lukasz, Miehal, Natalie and Szymon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you ever get an opportunity to attend a Polish wedding,  be sure you go, you will have a fun filled experience with Polish tradition and style.

It was a great pleasure to be a part of this, I feel like one of the family.

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