Polish weddings have a reputation and I discovered first-hand that it's all true. This event was the whole reason for my vacation. If you have been following, I was in Manchester while my friend, the mother of the bride, went ahead to Poland. I followed with her neighbours two days later. And it was spring in Poland, a balmy 20 C (68° F) and the flowers were out!
This is a view from the parking lot of the hotel in Wrocław (pronounce it like "Wroslav" and you might be close) where a large group of us from outside of Poland climbed onto the chartered bus to go to the wedding venue near Swidnika.
I sat behind the bus driver and tried to take photos through the windows. It was a beautiful day. Everything was green and the flowers were out. I had vague impressions of the countryside, mostly farmland, but dotted with tile-roofed white houses or very old stone and concrete ones as we passed through smaller villages.
Do you see something that looks like balls in the trees? We figured out later that it was mistletoe. See my Tree Tuesday ~ Mistletoe in a tree.
We arrived at the venue where the groom met us at the bus and we were surprised just how efficiently we all received our room keys. The wedding was in one hour and we had to get ready! This is our bus.
And this is the venue. I never did find out its name but it was situated in a beautiful valley between two very steep hills. I will say, tongue-in-cheek, that you had to be a goat to climb those hills. That will prepare you for the goat photos that I will leave for another post!
Now, if you find these photos a little devoid of people, it's because I care about their privacy and really didn't want to show too many faces. There is still much to see. They had so many traditions.
There was no rehearsal. The poor bride and groom were told what to do as they went along. I can tell you that sometimes they sat and sometimes they stood and the ceremony was in both Polish and English, and this was a civil wedding.
Indulge me in a little shoe shopping!
I took this photo afterwards. Next, the bride and groom had a shot of vodka, I think, while being presented with bread, below. There may have been salt too. These are traditional house warming gifts in some places.
Below, inside the venue. The big dance floor and DJ were on the left. And that pillar you see is one of two huge trees. Once inside, we all toasted them. There were the typical first dances and a brief speech by the bride and groom, and then the action never stopped.
Dinner was fabulous and non-ending, very hearty and in large portions. As well as a buffet available the entire time, various food courses kept arriving until well after midnight.
I was seated at the table with the parents. And you know how there is always that one guy who starts the party? He was seated beside me and started the vodka shooters and everyone joined in. At the point where I was getting tipsy, I saw everyone around me chugging back black currant juice and chowing down the fabulous food. I did my part and joined them!
I snapped a photo of the vodka bottle and joked with my friend that she could give the photo to the coroner, but the hosts interpreted this as I really liked it and my glass was filled again - it was vodka flavoured with herbs and delicious. I'm just not used to so much! At our table, our Polish hosts spoke as much English as we spoke Polish but we all bonded and exchanged a few words through younger interpreters later. There was much drinking, eating and dancing. All I can say is the antidote to that much vodka must have been in the food because I had zero ill effects. What a great time!
The guest rooms were in the main building and a few other places nearby up the road. After breakfast the next morning, a group of us took a walk together up the road and back. And would you believe there were vodka bottles out for breakfast? I passed. lol
More forsythia.
Just a pretty country road in a lovely area. The bus picked us up after 1 pm and took us back to Wrocław which will be the subject of my next post.
