Polish Wedding

Listening to: Silversun Pickups, "Panic Switch"

Every region, I suppose, must have different wedding traditions. I've only been to one wedding outside of Pennsylvania (my half-brother's wedding in Florida), so I can't be 100% sure about this, but it seems like a natural side effect of that whole "melting pot" thing.

I never saw the Polish version of the money dance (also known as the dollar dance) until I went to a western PA wedding. Since I moved to this area permanently, I've been to many weddings, and almost all of them have featured this crazy, awesome, exhausting version.

The money dance is traditionally some combination of giving money to the couple,* dancing with the bride or groom, and getting a shot of liquor. At my wedding, we did it just like that--money, a dance, and a shot. It was a great chance to get face-time with our guests, and it raised a few bucks. And then it was over.

My brother-in-law and I get feisty during the money dance.

My mom and one of my best friends do the shot portion of the tradition.

The Polish version includes all this (except dancing with the groom--he has a special mission that will be explained momentarily), but after you've had a quick dance with the bride to this song, you join the previous dancers in forming a circle around the bride. You dance/run as others dance, and the circle gets bigger or other circles are formed around the inner circle. It gets pretty crazy, as you have to disconnect or raise your arms occasionally to let people in, and the circles get nuts or turn into the outline of an amorphous blob because some guy had one too many drinks and keeps pulling the circle this way and that.

So you're running/dancing in a circle for a good while, sometimes shouting "Hey! Hey! Hey!" And then the real fun begins.

Once everyone has danced with the bride and joined the circle, the groom comes along. And his mission is to get past everyone to get to his bride.

Generally, it's considered good form to make this as hard as possible for him. It's also fun.

It's also a tad dangerous, but whatever.

The wedding I attended on Saturday, at which TH was best man, had the best money dance I've ever seen. We were crushing together around the bride, screaming at the groom, telling him to go OVER the crowd, calling for backup in emptier spots. The groom was pushing people, fighting his way past people stacked five deep. He kept circling and diving, looking for a weak spot.

I'm proud to say we probably kept him out for a good 45 seconds.

I'm also proud to say that my wrist was killing me for the remainder of the night.

It's one of the most fun, most unique wedding traditions I'm aware of, and I'm always a little sad that I didn't know about it before my own wedding.

Any interesting wedding traditions where you come from, or that you've seen in other regions?

*Apparently, some people think it's tacky, but I've never had a problem dropping a dollar into a bag for the couple. I mean, come on--it's a dollar. And if you're like a lot of the people at our wedding (and now us), you tie that dollar up into a nice tight knot before you toss it into the bag.

Wedding Bells

Ah, it's summer. That season when so many blushing brides walk down the aisle, eyes bright with joy, to meet their groom and be joined for life...

...and also that season when the bride's and groom's friends do that thing they promised to do at the wedding, all the while wondering, "Why did I think this was such a good idea ten months ago?"

Yes, I will be reading an original poem at TH's friend's wedding. Today. Yes, after poring over this poem for the past month, and practicing it aloud many, many times, I kinda hate it. And yes, I am a nervous freaking wreck. But this is something you do for friends, and I love these guys, so I'll get through it.

The best part? The bride does not want to hear it until I actually read it at the ceremony.

Pressure? Nah.

Of course, as a member of the wedding party, sort of, I received a gift from the couple. A lovely pen with my name engraved on it. Can you believe this is the first time I've gotten an engraved pen? You would think someone would've thought of that a long time ago. I teared up a little bit when I saw it. Not sure why.

And of course, as a member of the wedding party, I get a seat on the booze bus to a bar, then the reception.

Drinks? Yeah. I'll have seven, please.

Wish me luck.

Bright Ideas

Listening to: Citizen Cope, Bullet and a Target

So one thing that's been bugging me as I finish this book is, of course...what's the next one gonna be? I can't help it. I'm a writer. We're neurotic, okay?

Well, it came to me as I was driving to my mom's house last weekend...out of nowhere. It seems everyone has their special times and places where ideas just come to them, and driving is mine. Because the very next day as I was driving up to my dad's house, another idea came to me. For a book that isn't even in my genre. I write YA, tending towards contemporary fantasy, and this one would be a mystery. Craziness!

So now I'm all excited to finish this one and start on the next, even though I'm not totally ready to start it yet. I have a lot more planning to do. My mom helped me out a bit with that as we drove to my grandma's...I told her my idea, and she started filling in all these blanks and coming up with ideas that hadn't occurred to me. I guess I know where to go the next time I'm stuck on some detail....

In other news, I'll be playing violin at my cousin's wedding next year. I sort of volunteered/was asked to do this, and it should be interesting. Heck, the wedding itself should be interesting, because her fiance's family is Mennonite. That means no music at the reception, and I'm fairly certain no alcohol, either. Which is really okay...my family is crazy enough without booze.

More later.

-Kristin