A Polish Wedding Crafted with Love (1920)
Polish weddings were meticulous, hand-crafted community events. In the early 1900s, a marriage started not with love, but with a matchmaker. The matchmaker would negotiate the marriage with the bride’s parents; the bride and groom may not even know each other prior to their engagement! The man would present the woman’s family with a dowry to provide he could provide for his bride. A vodka toast would seal the deal. Then the work began. The bride would make her wedding dress, often making the fabric by hand. She would embroider her wedding clothes and some of her linens with detailed colored patterns. Her headdress was an elaborate, colorful floral crown. The groom’s wedding clothes were also embroidered. This made him stand out among the men. The bride’s ‘bachelorette party’ consisted of her party making paper flowers for the bride’s crown and ceremony site.