Wedding Wednesday-Polish tradition

This year, not only did I get married, but a few other people I love as well.  The first photo is of W, my matron-of-honor, who decided to get married too when we were about 4 months away from my wedding.  It took a TON of last minute planning, but she wed her prince on Labor day weekend, almost exactly a month before me.  There was a lot of craziness to pull it off and you will definitely hear more about this on another Wednesday post or two, because I learned a lot through this past year.  Oh I forgot to mention, that though I was planning my own wedding, I returned the favor of being her Maid-of-Honor and helping her with a few things. And yes, of course, she is one of my best friends so she knew to dress me in PINK!

So, since I just shared about how I incorporated CK's family tradition into my wedding on this post about the crackers, I figured why not shared another family's tradition.  I think one of the best things about a wedding is the personalization, the feeling that this wedding is, in fact, a reflection of the couple.  This bride comes from a polish background and her family's weddings always include this tradition and I hope I explain it correctly and do it justice.  Much to my surprise, I was one of the key elements to this production, so it's a good thing I am type-A and on top of everything.

This is me.  A good little Maid-of-honor, and No, I'm not pregnant, the camera angle and poof in my dress just presents that way.  Annnyway, you may be wondering why I am sporting an extra something.  Well here's the deal...

The band plays a polka song (which is quite a catching tune) and guests line up to dance with the bride (W). The maid of honor (me) wears an apron and collects the money given by the guest for the dance. 

After all guests have danced with the bride, they form a tight circle around the bride. 

The groom tries to break through the circle while the guests try hard to keep him out. 

Once he breaks through, he picks up his bride and carries her away to their honeymoon.

The fabric from the apron that I wore (which had secret pockets to stash the money that people gave me) was made from the bride's grandmother's (or great-grandmother's, not sure) bridal gown.  How awesome right?  And the bride wore a "babushka" on her head to symbolize her womanhood.  They got a lot of money! The part where everyone surrounds the bride and then the groom has to break through to get to her, was...a little intense!  He was lucky enough to get her though :)



Want to share a tradition that you did or are going to do at your wedding?

 Email me at bridalshrink@gmail.com