Beata & Robert

Beata & Robert's Wedding

Welcome to our wedding site. We will try to provide you with all the information you will need about our wedding here, however feel free to contact us if you have any questions at all. You can use the contact form on this page or feel free email either of us.

Date

We will be getting married on the 6th August 2016. This will be almost a year to the day since we had our civil ceremony in Oxford, making it the perfect time to celebrate with all our family and friends.

Location

Our wedding will be taking place in Świdnica, Poland. This is where Beata's parents live and she spent her teenage years growing up. The ceremony will be in Świdnica Cathedral and the reception will be a short drive away

Hotel

We are trying to arrange a group discount in a local hotel so that all our friends and relatives can stay together in the town centre, giving you the chance to explore the city.

Wedding List

We have not registered for gifts. However, there are a few things that could help us on our way in married life so we would be more than happy to accept donations towards these.

Information

The wedding will be taking place in the city of Świdnica. The church is located in the city center.
Polish weddings are traditionally held over 2 days so we would recommend you aim to arrive Friday evening or Saturday morning and depart on the Monday morning, or for those of you that have to work, Sunday evening.

Dress code: of course wedding style!
We would be delighted for you to join us in this this time of happiness, joy, fun and dance by taking part in our wedding theme by getting dressed in the whole outfit or details.
Colours: All shades of blue and gold.
Second day: Smart casual for a garden party.

If you have not been to a Polish wedding before we have picked out some good advice for you below from an article by Jamie Stokes. If you would like to read the full article you can find it here.

1. Standing, kneeling and sitting - The Catholic wedding service is essentially a mass. As with all masses there is a certain amount of standing up, sitting down, and random kneeling to be endured. If you’re not used to this sort of thing it’s usually easy to just follow the crowd.
2. The disappearing bride and groom - You’ve survived the sitting, standing and kneeling business. Everything seems to be over and the newlywed couple are advancing back up the aisle towards the doors. You’re already loosening your belt in anticipation of the coming revelries when suddenly the bride and groom take a sharp left turn and disappear into some hitherto unnoticed wing of the church. What to do? Is there some special exit for newlyweds? Is something else tedious and detrimental to your buttocks going on? Panic not. More than likely they’ve nipped into a side chapel or nook to pay their respects to the local holy painting or finger bone of Saint Tibulus. They wont be long.
3. The salt and the bread - Off to the party. On arrival everybody gets a drink and the bride and groom get salt and bread. It’s just symbolic. One or other of the parents who’s job it is to provide the bread and salt may make a short speech.
4. Songs, songs, songs - Immediately following the salt and the bread business all Poles in the vicinity will break into song. The song is known as “Sto lat” (“100 years”) and is the same song you will hear sung at birthday parties, presidential inaugurations and, in extreme cases, the opening of a tin of sardines. Here are the words — you’re going to hear them a lot in the next few hours:

Sto lat, sto lat,
Niech żyje/żyją, żyje/żyją nam.
Sto lat, sto lat,
Niech żyje/żyją, żyje/żyją nam,
Jeszcze raz, jeszcze raz, niech żyje/żyją, żyje/żyją nam,
Niech żyje/żyją nam!

Which translates roughly into English as:

A hundred years, a hundred years,
We want him/her/them to live.
A hundred years, a hundred years,
We want him/her/them to live,
Once again, once again, we want him/her/them to live,
We want him/her/them to live.

5. First dinner, first dance - Once the singing has died down everybody sits down to the first meal. Note my use of the word ‘first’ here. There may be additional singing in the form of traditional demands for the bride and groom to kiss like alien face-huggers, but there’s nothing important going on there that you need to worry about. Immediately following the first meal the newlyweds are invited to embarrass themselves horribly by performing the first dance.
6. A lot more dinners - I often advise people going to Polish weddings to beware of the amount of food they will be required to consume. “There will be a lot of food” I say “I mean, really a lot.” “Oh good” they say. I shake my head and hold my tongue. A few days later I see them again and they say “Why didn’t you tell us there would be so much!” “I did!” I say “I tried to warn you.” “My god” they say with the horror of recollection in their eyes “I didn’t know there was that much food…” This is how it works. Immediately after the first toast you will sit down to an excellent meal of something roasted, with vegetables and potatoes and a side salad preceded by soup. You will eat this and then help yourself to the various cakes, cold meats, breads etc. scattered liberally about the table. At this point you will be completely stuffed and saying to yourself “Hey, that guy was right, there really was a lot of food, but I could handle it.” You will probably be quite satisfied with yourself and think me a moaning minnie with the food handling capacity of a small rodent. About an hour later the waiters will be bearing down on you with exactly the same thing all over again. An hour after that they will be back again. By now you’ll be feeling the fear. Fortunately there are only three or four more courses to go, each one the size of a hearty Sunday dinner. And then cake.
7. Proper dancing - Dancing is also a big deal a Polish weddings. The first time I went to a Polish wedding my girlfriend said “You know there will be dancing, don’t you?” “Well yes” I said “that’s normal.” I had in mind the vague individual flailing around that every self-respecting Brit regards as dancing. Not so. Proper dancing is expected. In pairs, with feet and everything.
8. The two-day wedding - It is true that Polish weddings sometimes go on for two days. The second day is known as “poprawiny” and you’re most likely to come across it at a traditional village affair. At first the idea of a party that goes on for two days sounds quite appealing to the average Brit. By the fifth course of the first night the idea becomes less attractive. The first time I went to a two-day wedding I imagined a Bacchanalian blow-out that would literally go on for 48 hours. In fact the truth is less terrifying. On the first night everybody goes home in the early hours of the morning, sleeps for 10 hours, then comes back and does the whole thing all over again minus church. The second night is traditionally much more relaxed than the first.

Beata & Robert's Wedding

Beata & Robert's Wedding

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