Polish Wedding Traditions

I've mentioned some tips about the must-haves for a big, fat Polish wedding in this post and additional ones here, here and here. But it seems I am constantly learning about different Polish wedding traditions and their meanings.

Thanks to some Polish friends of ours I recently found out that the bread, salt and vodka ceremony (earlier I thought it was wine, apparently in Poland it is straight vodka) has an additional meaning  behind it. During this tradition, the bride and groom are presented with a loaf of bread and salt from their parents as well as shot glasses full of vodka. What I didn't know is that out of the intended two glasses for the bride and groom, one glass is filled with vodka and the other is filled with water. According to my sources, the person who picks up the vodka-filled glass and downs it with a straight face symbolizes that that person will be the strong one in the marriage. Interesting little tidbit. Have any of you heard this before? I love that there are so many traditions to a wedding and many meanings behind all of them. I for one, am terrified of picking the one full of vodka because I highly doubt I'll be able to keep it together and not make a face. I'm actually more terrified of me spitting out a mouthful of vodka onto two unhappy sets of parents and a stunned new husband. Haha can you imagine? Oh dear maybe I'll just pre-plan mine to be the water one and take the safe choice...

Imaga via thedailygreen.com

Polish Wedding Date Myths

When we first started planning a wedding, choosing a date turned out to be a little tricky, for various reasons. Apparently the Polish culture has some urban myths regarding days and months that you should get married on.

It's said to be bad luck to get married in a month that does not include the letter "r" in it. For example, May in Polish is spelled Maj, hence it's one of those unlucky months.
Now clearly, these are pretty much old wives tales, my own parents were married in May and recently celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary so take that you myth believers!

The day of the week that you get married on also supposedly has some significance. I found this interesting tidbit on a fellow Polish wedding blog:

Monday (Poniedziałek - p'ony'ej'aw'ek) - it is believed to bring to couple health.
Tuesday (Wtorek - ft'or'ek) - couples married on that day of the week will be wealthy.
Wednesday (środa - shr'od'a) - brings general luck in life.
Thursday (Czwartek - chv'art'ek) - financial trouble.
Friday (Piątek - p'eeo(n)t'ek) - worries and pain.
Saturday (Sobota - s'ob'ot'a)- general happiness with a little bit of trouble here and there.
Sunday (Niedziele - ny'ej'el'a) - happiness in marriage.

Hmm, too bad I didn't find out about this until after we'd chosen our Saturday date in June. (According to this info, we're pretty much in the clear with just a bit of trouble hehe) If all these myths were indeed true, I'd probably go with Tuesday or Wednesday, luck and wealth?! Not a bad combo jk ;)