Wedding traditions

[JustJohn or JJ]

Dear All,

I want to ask members about a custom I read about on this website:
"The Oczepiny Ceremony

Of all the customs associated with a Polish wedding there is none more significant than the moment when the czepiec - a cap that symbolizes being a married lady- is placed on the head of the bride. The custom, called oczepiny, is one of the oldest and most important Polish wedding customs, surviving over the centuries where others have died out and become nonexistent. It was the custom in ancient Poland for married women to cover their hair by wearing a cap called a czepiec or czepek. A new bride would usually receive her first cap, or czepek, on her wedding day during the oczepiny ceremony.

This first marriage cap was usually a gift to the bride from her godmother. The oczepiny usually takes place late in the evening after all the guests have wined and dined. In ancient Poland it was the role of the best man to signal the maid of honor that it was time for the oczepiny to begin by placing a bench in the middle of the room in order to place the bride on it. Surrounded by her attendants and admidst much singing and oftentimes tears, her veil or headpiece was removed and on her head is placed the czepiec.
It is an irrevocable moment for the newly married girl, one from which there was no turning back. She is now officially a married lady."
I was surprised as I've never heard of this custom. I found this passage when I was googling how to spell "Chippick" (czepek) I remembered how my mother often used the word while I was growing up, and I heard a lady in Poland explain the Polish expression for being born with a silver spoon in your mouth means literally "born in the cap": "w czepku urodzony". Has anyone heard of a marriage cap like the one described here?


The Polish Wedding

Today most of the charming customs formerly connected with a Polish wedding have disappeared.
Did you ever wonder about some of the old customs and what they meant ?  Because we are proud of our Polish heritage, you will find here,
a few of the practices of days gone by.

Perhaps you will remember hearing about them, or just relate to what
is left of the traditions.

www.angelfire.com/tn/scooterchase/polishwedding.html





Another custom was:

In a Detroit area Polish American family, at midnight, the bride sat in the middle while her maid of honor took off her veil, signifying that she was no longer a bride but a married woman. Then the band played and the maid of honor, then each brides maid, then any single woman who wanted good luck in finding a groom danced, taking turns wearing the bride's veil.