Polish Wedding Tradition
At a Polish wedding, whoever dances with the bride pays money to her.
Bruce learned this tradition through his Polish family. His family and his relatives moved to the United States from Poland in the 1920s when he was a very young child. He grew up in Bridgewater, Massachusetts, and most of his relatives lived in New England as well. He said he learned this tradition as he became older and started attending the weddings of his Polish family and relatives. This tradition is important to him because it is a way that the bride and groom collect money to start their new life.
Bruce did not mention anything about paying money to the groom if a person dances with him, so I assume this is only for the bride. This makes sense, as dancing with the bride is commonplace at many weddings, not just Polish weddings. Also, this is a very easy way for the bride and groom to make money, as many of the guests at weddings want to dance with the bride. It is a nice and easy way for the bride and groom to get started in life, as they are likely to have little money.
Im not sure if this custom applies to people of other ethnicities, nationalities or religions. Bruce did not say this only happened at Catholic Polish weddings, but he mentioned that the majority of Polish people were Catholic, so there could be a correlation between religion and this custom.