How to Plan a Traditional Polish Wedding

There are many wedding customs from around the world that can be used to enhance any celebration. If you are looking for an authentic twist for your big day, here is your guide to planning a traditional Polish wedding.

Instructions

1. Braid your hair the night before the ceremony (if you are the bride). Polish tradition dictates that the bride should wear her hair in two braids until after vows are spoken, which is when her bridesmaids remove the braids to mark her passage into married life.

2. Ask to be presented with bread, salt and wine by your parents. It is thought that the bread symbolizes that your household will never go hungry, the salt serves as a reminder of life's hardship and the wine represents the hope that you will never go thirsty. Afterwards, break the plate and the glass it was presented on for good luck.

3. Ask your caterer to prepare a traditional Polish dinner of beet soup, dumplings, meat and potatoes. Don't forget to ask for vodka and wine to wash it all down--many Polish weddings provide each table with their own bottle at the start of the reception.

4. Gather all your guests to sing the "stol lat" toast, which is Polish for, "one hundred years." It is traditionally sung on special occasions such as a wedding and is intended to wish the happy couple a long and happy life.

5. Participate in the money dance. All the guests are to stand in a circle around the newlyweds while the groom passes around a white handkerchief. The recipient dances with the bride and gives a small donation in return, which is supposed to help the couple establish their household.

6. See the bride officially become a married woman at the unveiling ceremony. On the last day of the celebration (it can often last up to a week), everyone gathers around the bride and helps take off her veil. The maid of honor pins it onto herself for a little while and later passes it on to the other bridesmaids.