As the sweet scents and gentle colours of blossoming spring-time trees give way to the warmer summer months, love is in the air across the northern hemisphere. In Europe, June tends to mark the start of wedding season, and it’s no different in Poland. The Polish diaspora reaches far and wide – those from across the globe may be friendly with a Pole or two – meaning that invitations to Polish weddings can find themselves crossing borders and bringing wedding guests to the country for the first time…

…well, in normal times, that is. In the year 2020, there’s no escaping the fact that the global pandemic has shut down borders and flights, spelling a swift end to any overseas wedding plans. Of course, this hasn’t only impacted the preparations of foreign guests. Domestic restrictions have targetted, among others, group gatherings, effectively ruling out any matrimonial services and festivities. With good reason. In the current health climate, nothing could be worse than bringing together hundreds of people of all age groups – some of them from different parts of the country – to stand and sit next to each other for hours. And yes, dear reader, this has affected me, too. The Polish government’s recent loosening of restrictions allows for weddings of up to 150 people; understandably, my friends in Gdańsk decided not to take the health risk for their planned wedding in mid-June. A different invitation beckons in July, but I wouldn’t be at all surprised if this wedding was also cancelled.

All of this makes me a little sad. Not because I’m missing out on a knees-up – not going to a wedding is a tiny and entirely trivial sacrifice to make when public health is at stake – but because Polish weddings are such joyous occasions and a wonderful way to become acquainted with the