Wedding Day

St. Adalbert's Roman Catholic Church

Ceremony

Westbury Manor

Reception

Spring

For your convenience, a shuttle will be available at the hotel beginning at 6:45 PM. The first departure will be at 7:00 PM, with a second run to follow at 7:30 PM. Return shuttle service will begin at midnight and will run as needed throughout the evening. We look forward to celebrating with you!

Our Wedding

Link to live stream is below!

Live Stream

Paulina and Daniel first met at Seton Hall University through the Slavic Club — the starting point of a friendship that would later grow into something much greater. They enjoyed spending time together in the University Center between classes, never imagining the journey that awaited them. After graduation, life pulled them in different directions, and they lost touch. Years later, Paulina happened to see Daniel’s face on the cover of the Seton Hall alumni magazine — featured for his cold plasma research with NASA. Something compelled her to reach out. What began as a simple “Hey, long time no see!” message soon turned into hours of conversation, shared memories, and the realization that something much deeper had been waiting for its moment. Long-distance was not easy — between COVID and Paulina’s training, challenges arose. Yet they made it work. Every FaceTime, every visit, every shared playlist and inside joke reminded them how right it felt. When training finally ended, they took their first real trip together to Mexico — the place Paulina jokingly says she officially “turned him bougie.” Soon after, they moved in together, and before long, Daniel proposed with a ring more beautiful than Paulina had ever imagined. From college days to beachfront sunsets, from Slavic Club meetings to long-distance love, their story has been anything but ordinary. Now, Paulina and Daniel stand as partners, teammates, and best friends, ready to say “I do” — surrounded by the friends and family who have been part of their journey.

Our Story

Through the Years

Engagement Shoot

Photos

Viktoria Wojciechowska

Trajan "Tony" Ristevski

Emilia Wojciechowska

Jakub "Kuba" Soltysiak

Anna Ivashko

Christopher Dotter

Ewa Kowalczyk

Alexander Lopez

Maya Wierciszewski

Samad Beeler

Elena Wierciszewki

Daniel Guerrero

Wedding Party

Q + A

We have arranged a hotel block at the Courtyard Westbury. Feel free to stay with us or book a room at any hotel nearby! There are plenty of options within a 10-minute drive for the reception!

The hotel is around a 30-minute drive to the ceremony and an 8-minute drive to the reception. The hotel block is under: Paulina and Daniel's Wedding If you cannot access the link, please click <a href="https://www.marriott.com/event-reservations/reservation-link.mi?id=1751575432294&amp;key=GRP&amp;app=resvlink" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">here</a>. More details to come!

Courtyard Westbury Long Island

Travel

Things to Do

Registry

The ceremony&nbsp;It is perhaps no surprise that many Polish wedding ceremonies are still held in churches.A full Catholic ceremony can be long. While you’re listening, take a second to see if the bride and groom have observed a number of&nbsp;older supersitions.When she is walking down the aisle, check out the bride’s shoes. Tradition has it that they mustn’t be open-toed – future wealth and fortune would fly right through any open toes. The wrong shoe is not the only accessory choice that can doom the marriage – custom dictates that brides never wear real pearls, as they will bring a lifetime of misery.If you see the bride subtly move a patch of her wedding dress to cover the top of her groom’s shoe, she might be following the old belief that this will give her a position of dominance in the relationship.&nbsp;Having made it through the ceremony, the newly-wed couple will exit the church as husband and wife. Where this moment is often accompanied with the throwing of rice, you will likely find that guests in Poland shower the newly-weds with coins (some Polish coins are quite small, thankfully). This is an adaptation of the traditional custom of throwing grain at the couple to ensure a prosperous and productive future. The coins, similarly, represent wishes for a successful future.&nbsp;

Bread, salt, vodka: the reception begins&nbsp;Now that the ceremony is over, it’s time for the party to begin. Many Polish wedding receptions still open with the traditional presentation of bread and salt. Upon the newly-weds’ arrival at the reception, their parents present them with these two essentials. The bread is specially prepared&nbsp;and often decorated with the names of the couple. This gift of bread and salt is symbolic – bread is offered so that the couple may never know hunger, while salt reminds them of life’s difficulties and the importance of learning to cope.Customarily, the father of the bride or groom presents the couple with two glasses – one of vodka, one of water. Tradition says that whoever ends up with the glass of vodka will be the dominant partner in the relationship. After their drink (and the portent of their future dynamic), the couple throw their glasses; if they break, it's a sign of good luck.

Getting the party started: food &amp; drink&nbsp;With these traditional ceremonies out of the way, guests can look forward to the beginning of a very long, very filling evening. The most popular beverage (as one might suspect) is vodka – and it flows freely throughout the night. The gathering may spontaneously raise their glasses and start chanting ‘Gorzko,&nbsp;gorzko!‘, meaning ‘Bitter, bitter!’ in order to demand a kiss from the groom and bride – in other words, to ask for some sugar.

At the stroke of midnight: oczepiny&nbsp;Where many weddings would be winding down as midnight approaches, a Polish wedding is just approaching one of its most traditional moments – the removal of the bridal veil. This ceremony, called ‘oczepiny’, traditionally represented the transitional moment for the bride as she moved from her single youth towards her married future. The midnight hour was significant as this time of transition. The details of the ceremony have changed significantly over the years, but it remains a memorable moment in many contemporary Polish weddings. Oczepiny has instead become a time for fun and games. &nbsp; The party continues… a second dayEating, dancing, drinking and toasting often last into the morning. As one can imagine, these 12-hour affairs can get rather spirited – and can be quite exhausting. Lasting through the night is certainly an accomplishment, but it does not mean your wedding experience is complete. Polish weddings can include a second day of partying, and historically some wedding parties lasted three or four days. This follow-up reception – called ‘poprawiny’ – typically consists of more eating, drinking and good cheer.

Paulina & Daniel

Paulina & Daniel

Photos

Through the Years

Engagement Shoot