confession #000038

or, wadowice wedding weekend 

also known as 'the major diet fail weekend'.  but i had very good reasons to fall off the diet wagon.  as the sub-title of this post indicates, this weekend the mr. and i were invited to a wedding in wadowice, which is a couple of hours' train ride from krakow. 

wadowice train station

wadowice's claim to fame is the fact that pope john paul ii was born and bred in this quaint and quite town which nowadays celebrates his origins practically on every corner of every street.  if one is interested in the pope's life and background, the town makes for an enjoyable day's trip while visiting krakow.  trains seem to be rare from krakow to wadowice (we had to do some planning for this in fact) but there seem to be buses which run more frequently as well. 

the river close to our hotel

one of the quaint streets off the town centre

the town is located in between kalwaria zebrzydowska which hosts the famous lady of kalwaria shrine and oświȩcim, the town where the auschwitz-birkenau camps are found.  one could consider hopping from one town to the other while visiting krakow.  

wanting to make the most of this wedding weekend, and seeing another part of the małopolska (little poland) region, we set off somewhat early on saturday morning to be in wadowice in time for the wedding that same afternoon.  in typical maltese fashion, i loaded a 'packed snack' for the train-ride.  little did i realise that once the wedding party kicked off, we were in for a seven-course meal, including free-flowing wine and vodka (obviously), as well as a lot of dancing! i should have kept myself light! oh well ... 

if you've never been to a polish wedding, well, this is quite something.  once the bride and groom entered the reception hall, everyone burst into 'sto lat' which is a song sang on any occasion from weddings to birthdays, meaning '100 years' more of celebration.  well, since there were other maltese people invited, only the polish were singing while the maltese contingent was clapping along and mumbling something as they picked up the easiest words in the song, i.e. 'sto lat'. the guests then queued up to give the newly-weds their best wishes and gifts and then everyone made their way to the respective table.  

the wedding dinner menu ... a true feast!

in between courses, there was a lot of dancing.  and by a lot, i mean A LOT! it appears to be part of the tradition to get up and dance to digest the food (and vodka) and prepare your system to the next round of abundance.  i don't quite like communal dancing like 'congas' and 'trains' but i did shake my boot-ey once or twice during the night (probably once the vodka started truly kicking in ...) i loved the little differences in tradition between maltese and polish weddings:  at the start of the reception, after the 'sto lat' dies out and everyone swigs the first celebratory drink, the newly weds throw their glasses behind them - if the glasses break, it means all's fine and they'll have good luck.  at another point during the reception, the bride and groom gave presents to the parents.  little things that have such a profound meaning.  

dancing like there's no tomorrow

the bride and groom feeding wedding cake to each other

myself and natalia, the bride and my former polish language teacher

like most of the maltese contingent (who had to return to the rock the following day), we bowed out before the big festivities were over - at least two main courses were still left to be served! we are not used to such abundance! 

the next day, we decided to stroll around the town centre until it was time to head back to krakow.  in all fairness, we were not planning on going on a papal tour, and in fact did not, but savoured the tranquility of the town over some pierogi, kremówka papieska and a whole lot of sun (despite the rather nippy temperature - i certainly wasn't dressed enough for that!)

plac jana pawła ii ... john paul ii square

tiles showing all the places the pope visited ... including malta!

'i was there' kind of photo ...

the glorious kremówka papieska

heading back to krakow was for us as though we were heading back to malta from gozo.  the contrast in these two places which are so close in vicinity, yet so different in lifestyle is positively impressive.  i think i've found the place where you can really get 'away from it all' ... 

homeward bound...

the beauty of nature (through the train window ...)

confession #000036

... or, let the wedding season begin!

fair enough, i only have one wedding invitation for the coming month, but the main conversation with the girls at the office over the last few days revolved around weddings, and wedding guest outfits.

the spring months are generally synonymous with weddings and the enjoyable trauma of shopping for that perfect outfit to wear as a guest.  i'm sure brides and brides/grooms' mothers and the entire entourage go through a much more stressful process ... but having been only a bridesmaid so far (a number of times), i've only experienced part of that so far.

i find that over the years, weddings have somewhat lost part of their glamour.  possibly, this is because some of the weddings i've attended over the last years, included guests wearing hot-pant suits.  that is just plain wrong, at least in my books.  i do appreciate that weddings have in fact become a slightly more casual affair than in yesteryear, but not to that extent.

when shopping for a wedding guest outfit, i find that it is important to bear in mind four simple points so as not to get it wrong:

• your relationship with the bride and groom:  this is not limited to whether they're family or not, but how close you are and how respectful you are towards them.  showing up to their special day in an outfit you would wear to the beach is not the right approach, unless, that is, the wedding is a beach wedding ... and even there, a string bikini is not what they're after ... 

• the wedding location: google the venue if you haven't been there before to get an idea of the setting.  if it's a palatial setting, then don your most exquisite gown; if it's a garden wedding, steer clear of stilettos as you'll only end up sinking in the lawn.  

• the dress code:  if the the bride and groom have established a dress code - stick to it.  so what if you're not into fancy dress, if the bride and groom want an elvis-style wedding, bring out your bejewelled bellbottoms and show them some love and respect! it's fair to say that some dress codes like 'smart-casual' tend to be a bit vague, but as the great oscar wilde once said, "you can never be overdressed or overeducated."

• the outfit's mileage: in this day and age, a wedding invitation can sometimes send shivers down one's spine while calculating the expenses it can bring about, especially if the entire family is invited or if the invitation is followed by a few others.  it is, therefore important to think how much wear you can get of an outfit.  we're not all celebrities, so it's not a sin if one wears the same outfit twice.  if you're invited to two or more weddings where the guests will be in common, you might want to consider buying a block colour dress and changing the accessories to create a completely different look.  if you only have one wedding, think of how you can dress up the outfit for the wedding, and dress it down for a more casual affair.  it's all about being clever, not thrifty! check out these outfit ideas i created on polyvore:

one dress: two outfits by tikkamars featuring a bangle bracelet

one dress: two outfits by tikkamars featuring embroidered handbags

hope you enjoyed that ... and please wish me luck for my first polish wedding! i need to brace myself for all the vodka i'm sure will be flowing *grin* if you've ever been to a polish wedding, let me know ... any tips are more than welcome! much love!