You are invited to the wedding of
Maja Lorkowska
&
John Callaghan.
The ceremony will take place at 17:00, in Kościół Wniebowstąpienia Pańskiego, ul. Atolowa 6, Osowa Góra, 85-435.
The party will take place at Dwór Hulanka, Pawłówek 6, 85-438 Bydgoszcz.
More information is provided below, so please take a look and if you have any questions, just let us know.
RSVP
We hope that you will be able to join us! With the challenges of planning an international wedding during a pandemic, we ask that you please R.S.V.P. as soon as possible so we can have a good idea of how many people will be attending.
Other information
Dress code
We would describe the dress code as formal, which is the default for Polish weddings. There is no theme.
We'll be going directly from the Church to the venue, so make sure you have comfortable dancing shoes!
COVID-19
We excpect everyone will be fully vaccinated against COVID-19. As of the 23rd January 2022, you are also required to present a negative result of the COVID-19 test taken within 24 hours before crossing the Polish border (this can be either a Lateral Flow or PCR test). This may change in the coming months though, so we will update this section if there are any changes to the guidance. You can find out more on GOV.UK or GOV.PL.
The Church
The church is located a little outside the city, so we will be providing transport from the city centre (and afterwards to the party). You can make your own way there if you prefer, there is some parking available and a bus stop nearby.
The ceremony starts at 5pm, we'll be contacting everyone to confirm the time for the transport.
The ceremony itself will be very similar to an English Catholic wedding, just in Polish. There will be a translator who will explain what's happening, and the priest is aware that half of the congregation won't speak Polish so don't worry, there won't be any confusion.
The Party
You'll be drinking lots of vodka, so start preparing your body! A Polish wedding party is quite different to an English wedding.
The party starts immediately after the wedding ceremony and transport to the venue will be available.
Rooms at the venue are limited and reserved for close family or those who need to look after young children. If you would like to put your name down for a room at the party venue please contact us to chat. However, the venue is only a short 15 minute ride back to the city. We'll be making sure everybody gets back to their hotel safely afterwards.
To summarise the actual party - it basically comes in waves. You'll be fed, we'll drink some vodka and then we'll dance. After a short while, more food will come and we repeat until sunrise. Yes, a Polish wedding usually goes on til the early hours. The steady intake of food and mandatory dancing should be enough to keep you sober. The tradition is to do a shot at various times throughout the evening, so pace yourself.
There is no bar, the alcohol will be provided by us. So, if you drink everything on your table within 20 minutes you might be getting a hangover by the end of the night... The aim is to be still going strong by 4am!
Throughout the night there will be various activities and games accompanied by a DJ and a translator - they're both experienced in Polish/ English wedding parties, so everything will be made clear.
Plan your trip
Things are hard to plan these days, but to help you figure things out we've pulled together the most obvious ways to fly and places to stay to help you get started.
Flights
Bydgoszcz is a relatively small city, it does have a local airport but the only direct flight to the UK is from Birmingham. There are other UK airports you can fly from, but they'll take you to other cities in Poland and you'll have to get transport from there to Bydgoszcz. This can often work out cheaper, because everything is cheaper in Poland. A bus from Gdansk to Bydgoszcz is around £15. It's more like a transfer minibus that you can pre-book.
Hotels
Here are a few hotels that have been recommended to us. We'd also suggest checking out Airbnb as there are some great (cheap!) places to stay. Some hotels don't have English websites, so we'd recommend checking them out through sites like booking.com. Many offer free cancellations until August/September in case something changes with COVID so be sure to check for that.
Things to do
Bydgoszcz is a smaller city but it's very pretty and there are some fun things to check out. As well as museums, galleries, gorgeous churches and fantastic food, it's lovely to take walk around the Old Town and the little cobbled streets surrounding it. Maybe stop for a giant scoop of ice-cream on the way. You can take a look at the city's attractions here.
If you're planning on staying a little longer, Toruń is the next nearest city. As well as being the birthplace of Nicolaus Copernicus and home of the best gingerbread in the world, it's very old and beautiful. Take a look here.
It's also easy to get the train to Warsaw, Kraków, Wrocław or Poznań if you want to explore further. These bigger cities aren't as cheap as Bydgoszcz but obviously there are lots of attractions if you plan on doing a longer holiday.
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