Wedding of the Weddings
Wedding of the Weddings
We all the [catholically married] couples that celebrated their wedding without alcohol, to (Poland) on to the thPolish National Meeting "Wedding of the Weddings" (in Polish "Wesele Wesel").
Young, intelligent, independent and thinking Poles are marrying without alcohol.
In Polish, wedding reception is called “wesele” meaning in English “The Joy”. Everybody should enjoy the wedding, not the drinking.
The Priest Włdysław Zązel, heading a small parish in Kamesznica, is working very hard for spreading the tradition of non-alcoholic wedding receptions. In his parish, 120 out of 140 wedding receptions (as of 1994) were celebrated without alcohol. In 1995, he was invited by Radio “Maryja” (leading Catholic radio station) to tell the listeners about his experience with alcohol-free weddings. Listeners from all Poland were calling the radio station to say that alcohol-free weddings were organized by many individuals. Father Zązel proposed then to organize a meeting of those who had alcohol-free weddings. The meetings were called “Wedding of the Weddings”. First two such meetings were organized in Father Zązel’s parish Kamesznica, then in Zamość, Częstochowa, Stary Sącz, Kraków, Białystok, Koszęcin, Ludźmierz, Warszawa, Olsztyn, Wrocław, Bydgoszcz, Tarnów, Łomża Miejsce Piastowe (2010), Radom (2011), again Kraków (2012), Wieleń Zaobrzański (2013) and once again Kamesznica (2014), then in Krynica (2015), Myczkowce (2016), Trąbki Wielkie und Gdańsk (in 2017), Ludźmierz (in 2018), Toruń (in 2019), Radom (in 2020), Niepokalanów (in 2021), Łopoczno (in 2022) Bardo (in 2023), Koszęcin (in 2024). In 1999, Father Zązel went with alcohol-free couples to Rome, where they were blessed by Pope John Paul II. The forthcoming event will be held in Kamesznica.
The meetings are always multi-layered events. Everybody enjoys the all-night-long dancing. But there are also conferences, discussions, lectures, meetings with local state authorities and bishops. The couples swear love as on the day of their wedding and are blessed by the bishops. Every day they attend with their children Holy Masses celebrated specially for them. Even couples from abroad (Austria, Australia, France, Germany) feel attracted.
The 2007 national meeting took place in the first August weekend in 2007 in the picturesque city of Bydgoszcz in north west of Poland.
You can have a look at the 2007 meeting wedding reception, if you click the link.
The meetings pursue the goals:
FORMATION and INFORMATION
Conferences, workshops, symposia, panel discussions are organized.
Participants share their experience in organizing alcohol-free entertainment, dancing etc.; help in organizing alcohol-free wedding reception is offered
to those who are about to marry.
PROMOTION OF CULTURE
Meetings with scientists and artists take place
RECREATION and LEARNING THE BEAUTY OF THE HOMELAND
Organizers offer excursions, guided tours through historical towns, sighseeing tours, sport competitions etc.
RECOLLECTIONS and EVANGELIZATION
Daily Holy Mass with preaches by Church shepherds (bishops, archbishops, cardinals) is attended. The role of matrimonial love, family and the moral principles in the life of society is specially underscored.
FINE ENTERTAINMENT
In the last night of the meeting, a wedding reception is celebrated.
Parents demonstrate their children by example that they are really capable to dance und cheer without alcohol, so as hundreds of other people from whole Poland coming together that night.
The Wedding of the Weddings is strongly supperted by the Catholic Church. The Popes John Paul II, Benedict XVI and Francis have written several letters to the participants of these events. Many bishops attended the meetings, among them Cardinal Archbishop Franciszek Macharski of Kraków, Cardinal Archbishop Zenon Grocholewski from Vatican, Archbishop Wojciech Ziemba of Białystok, Archbishop Edmund Michał Piszcz of Warmia, Archbishop Józef Michalik of Przemyśl, by-then President of Polish Bishop Conference, Archbishop stanisław Gądecki of Poznań, Archbishop Alois Tkacz of Koszyce (Slovakia), Bishop Jan Tyrawa of Bydgoszcz, Bishop Stanisław Stefanek of Łomża (three times), Bishop Antoni Pacyfik Dydycz of Drohiczyn, Bishop Kazimierz Górny of Rzeszów, Bishop Andrzej Jeż of Tarnów, Bishop Józef Zawitkowski from Łowicz, Bishop Marian Duś from Warszawa, Bishop Jan Szkodoń from Kraków, Bishop Andrzej Siemieniewski from Wrocław, Bishop Wiesław Lechowicz from Tarnów, Bishop Tadeusz Bronakowski from Łomża, Bishop Tadeusz Zawistowski from Łomża, Bishop Adam Szal from Przemyśl, Bishop Piotr Greger from Bielsko-Biała-Żywiec.
In brief, the Christian initiative „Wesele Wesel“ [in English “Wedding of the Weddings” or "Joy of the weddings"] is engaged in spreading the idea of alcohol-free weddings. It should be stressed in this way that the real joy of a Christian wedding stems from the received Holy Sacrament of the Matrimony, from the love of the man and the woman, and from the wonderful message that a new family has been founded. At the "Weddings of the Weddings" the creme de la creme of Polish intellectuals comes together. Since 2006 the career of this initiative is the Association "Wesele Wesel".
You had an alcohol-free wedding reception? Share with us your experience.
See some
Non-alcoholic Wedding Jokes
Readers interested in Polish culture are recommended to visit the following pages of this service:
The Organizers: Mrs. & Mr.
Initiator and spiritual superviser: Reverend Prelate Władysław Zązel
The Board of the Association Wedding of the Weddings
Remark: The official language of the Meeting is Polish.
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Disclaimer: This Website uses CatholicEnglish. In particular, words like marriage, wedding, spouses, wife, husbnd, love, children mean what in CatholicEnglish is meant. The text may not make sense when one applies other English dialects to its understanding.