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BRITISH/POLISH FUSION HERTFORDSHIRE WEDDING | HITCHIN | MAJA AND JAKE

Writer: Purple Kite Photography
Purple Kite Photography
Sep 1, 2023
3 min read

Updated: Jul 16, 2024


Bride and Groom with their backs to camera throwing glasses over their shoulder in Polish wedding tradition

INTIMATE FAMILY WEDDING AND CHRISTENING IN HITCHIN, HERTFORDSHIRE

Jake and Maja had very different plans for their wedding, but then the Covid Pandemic happened and everything changed. Many months after their original wedding date, they scaled back their plans and settled on an intimate wedding in Hitchin, Hertfordshire once international travel was again allowed, meaning that Maja's Polish family could fly over to join the celebrations.

  • A gold pocket watch on a blue wool suit jacket
  • A man in a white shirt fastening a cufflink
  • Man's hands putting a brown leather shoe on a small boy's foot
  • White wedding dress hanging from a door frame backing on to a garden
  • A lady in a black vest pinning a buttonhole to a man's jacket
  • A lady in a black vest pinning a corsage to a lady's dress
  • A bride laughing while a friend slides a garter over her thigh
  • A lady in a sage dress and another lady in a peach outfit help to fasten a bride's veil in her hair

WEDDING CEREMONY AND CHRISTENING AT ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH OF OUR LADY IMMACULATE AND St ANDREW, HITCHIN

The wedding was an extra special affair as they combined the ceremony with the christening of their young son.


  • Hands holding 3 ring boxes each containing a wedding ring
  • Priest giving a sermon while groom smiles at his bride
  • Lady in a sage green dress in a church pew, dabbing a happy tear from her eye
  • Lady in a wedding dress reading her order of service. Her husband stands next to her, holding their small son in his arm
  • Bride and groom holding their son over the font in church while the priest pours water on his head
  • Priest with his back to the camera faces Bride and Groom in a church during the wedding vows
  • Close up of a bride and groom holding hands whilst seated in church
  • Bride and groom walk down a blue carpeted aisle of church as newlyweds

VINTAGE CAR RIDE THROUGH HITCHIN TOWN CENTRE

After the ceremony Jake and Maja drove off through Hitchin town centre in a gorgeous cream Beauford Convertible, taking me along for the ride! The children enjoyed the surprise of masses of bubbles produced by the vintage car. We stopped off in a quieter nearby spot for a few portraits and a brief moment for the couple to be alone together before heading back home for the party.


  • children catching bubbles coming from a cream wedding car
  • Newlyweds sitting in a cream Beaufort convertible car outside red brick church
  • view from the front seat of a vintage cream wedding car decorated with ivory ribbon as it drives through a town
  • Bride and groom smiling at each other in the back seat of a Beaufort convertible car
  • Bride and Groom looking at each other on the bank of a pond
  • Groom fishing in a pond as Bride in a veil, holder her bouquet laughs at him
  • Bride and groom portrait standing at the edge of a pond with a weeping willow tree next to them
  • Bride and groom standing in front of a cream coloured vintage wedding car
  • Bride and groom waving as they drive off in their chauffeur-driven cream classic car

BREAD, SALT, VODKA AND BROKEN GLASS - A TRADITIONAL POLISH WELCOME


When Jake and Maja returned home they were greeted by her parents with bread and salt, as is Polish wedding tradition. The bread symbolizes prosperity, while the bitter salt is a reminder for them to navigate life's challenges together.

Traditionally the father of the bride or groom then offers the couple two shot glasses, one filled with vodka and the other with water. This marks their first toast as a married couple, and the bride has the privilege of choosing one of the glasses without knowing which drink it contains. It is believed that whoever gets the vodka is predicted to become the dominant partner in the relationship! The bride and groom must drink their chosen glass simultaneously and then throw them over their shoulders. If the glasses break, it is seen as a good omen, symbolizing a long and blissful life together. It was a fantastic moment for me to capture, but led to some hurried scrabbling around trying to clear up broken glass before it caused harm to the small children running around - or the barefoot grandparents!


  • Bride and groom drinking from small shot glasses in a garden decorated with paper flowers
  • Bride and groom drinking from small shot glasses in a garden decorated with paper flowers
  • Bride and groom throwing small shot glasses tied together with string over their shoulder in a garden decorated with paper flowers

DINNER AND SPEECHES - AND LOTS MORE VODKA!


Food was plentiful - as well as a tremendous hog roast, Jake and Maja had laid out lots of Polish goodies on a hand made wooden bar - an array or meats, cheeses, pickles and polish wedding sausage or 'Kiełbasa weselna' - and of course plenty of home-made flavoured vodka.


The speeches were epic. Full of laughter as well as a few tears, and interspersed with many vodka toasts.


  • Older lady in striped bouse and cream cardigan wearing a wreath of artificial flowers on her head
  • A vase filled with bright pink peonies surrounded by white candles on a wooden table
  • Bottles of home-made fruit flavoured vodka
  • A DIY wooden garden bar full of meats, cheese and bottles with sausages hanging from a rail
  • Groom sitting at a table raising a toast to his bride
  • Bride, groom and guests drinking a shot of vodka at the table
  • Father of the bride making a speech. Bride laughing
  • A bride and her bridesmaid sitting at the wedding breakfast table dabbing tears from their eyes with white napkins
  • Groom standing behind his chair giving a speech while the bride and guests laugh
  • Groom in white shirt and blue waitcoat
  • Best man giving a speech - guests are all laughing
  • Bride and groom cutting the cake
  • bride and groom sharing a kiss as they cut into their cream covered cake topped with pink peonies

FIRST DANCE


As evening began to draw in, Jake and Maja danced together under strings of festoon lights and paper lanterns while family and friends cheered them on. A perfect end to a wonderful day.


Bride and groom dancing in their back garden which is decorated with lights and paper lanterns

LOVELY WORDS

A professional, flexible and experienced photographer. We used Sarah for our wedding and from the pre-start meeting, throughout the day of the wedding and the aftercare, she has been nothing but professional, reliable and approachable. She was even able to organise everyone so that we could get the shots that we wanted . . . no easy feat with children running around and it being a hectic day. Thank you!

Maja

SUPPLIERS

Catering: Spitting Pig

by Sarah Whyte, Purple Kite Photography

Female wedding photographer based in Hertford, Hertfordshire


If you’re getting married and looking for a wedding photographer, please do get in touch - I would love to chat to you about your plans.




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