Polish Wedding Traditions

A pre-wedding engagement ceremony for the two families to gather and plan the wedding.

The couple and their parents hand-deliver wedding invitations to family, friends, and everybody in the village without excluding any member of the community. Procedure involves invitations being given first to the bridesmaids and groomsmen, followed by the godparents, then everybody else.

A wedding dress that includes both white and blue.

Blessing ceremony at the home of the bride's parents considered more important than the church itself. The bride and groom are blessed by the bride's parents with holy water during a private gathering just for the two families. The order of those giving the blessing is the bride's mother, bride's father, the groom's parents, godparents, and grandparents.

The wedding guests gather at the home of the bride's parents to witness the blessing and accompany the couple to the church.

If one of the parents are deceased, the couple first visits the cemetery prior to the church ceremony.

Ceremonial gifts of bread and salt are given by the parents to their children. Bread symbolizes prosperity so that they are never hungry. Salt represents the importance to cope through life's difficulties. This tradition is considered to date back to the 16th century.

The bride's mother places the veil on her daughter at their home to symbolize the final act of a mother before marriage.

The bride and groom walk down the aisle at the church together followed by their parents.

The bride is expected to display naturally happy emotions at the church to symbolize happiness in her forthcoming marriage.

The reception is traditionally held at the home of the bride's parents.

A special ceremony takes place at midnight where the bride's mother removes her daughter's veil followed by the bride's hair being unbraided and cut to symbolize the transition of marital status. The bride's mother and godmother both take part in this ceremony together.

Traditionally, the main wedding reception lasts 12 hours until the midnight ceremony continuing with a followup reception that lasts into the second day.

Irish Wedding Traditions

Act of "tying the knot" originates through Irish custom of handfasting, where the bride's hand is taken from her father and tied to the groom's hand through trinity of marriage. This tradition is considered to date back 2,000 years and was a statutory form of marriage in Gaelic areas beginning in the 7th century.

Claddagh rings date back to Galway in the 18th century and are considered the true sign of a married Irish woman. Rings are passed down from mothers and grandmothers.

After an engagement is confirmed or on the night prior to the wedding, the two families gather at the home of the bride's parents to formalize the marriage agreement. This includes how the couple will care for their parents in old age.

Traditional wedding dresses were blue until white became popular. Celts favored bright colors for good luck. Celtic symbols are incorporated into the dress with embroidery. Irish lace is used for the veil. Queen Victoria popularized Irish lace with her wedding in 1840.

A happily-married woman, such as the bride's mother, places the veil on the bride. It is bad luck for the bride to put on her own veil. Tradition involves the bride's hair to be braided, which represents feminine power and good luck. Ancient traditions include a wreath of wildflowers for luck instead of a veil.

The bride carries a Irish white linen handkerchief which is later sewn into a bonnet for the first-born's christening outfit.

Ancient folklore of fairies and traditions for good luck include bells to ward off evil spirits, avoiding green which entices fairies, the bride carries a horseshoe or putting a coin in her shoe, the bride should not dance with both feet off the ground because of fairies, a statute of the "Child of Prague" being used to prevent rain, and an old shoe thrown over the bride's head.

Celtic weddings in small villages involved the wedding guests laying a path of flowers from the home of the bride's parents to the church. The bride follows a different path home to symbolize her new life. Another tradition is for the wedding guests to take the longest road back to the bride's home.

The bride's father presents her at the altar by walking her down the aisle.

Traditionally, the wedding reception takes place at the home of the bride's parents who took pride in offering plentiful food and drink without anybody being turned away. The bride's parents also take pride in their place within the "receiving line" of guests.

Festivities incorporate Irish dancing and Irish Uilleann pipes (not Scottish). Traditions for the reception include the couple eating three spoonfuls of oatmeal and salt. A tradition that is considered to date back to medieval times is toasting each other with special goblets of mead. They should continue drinking mead for one month or one lunar cycle. This is considered the origin of the term "honeymoon".