“How Wedding Traditions Have Changed from Slovakia to America”
by
Joe Bielecki
Saturday, April 18, 2026
2:00 pm ET
What we think of today as a classic, Slovak-style wedding in America is actually something that has morphed greatly over the past 140 years in America. This talk will show the gradual evolution of these weddings into what we today consider a “Slovak wedding.” The transformation of the wedding reflects the transformation of the Slovak immigrants in America.
To register for this online event, visit https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/gsz0j-9rTK601WsZ1GL0xA.
Joe Bielecki received his bachelor’s, master’s, and juris doctor degrees from Duquesne University, and has been a practicing lawyer in the state of Pennsylvania since 1985. He has also been an officer of the Czechoslovak Room Committee, at the University of Pittsburgh Nationality Rooms, since 1986; he has been president of the Nationality Council since 2018. In the year 2000, he (together with the Nationality Rooms program) received one of 20 Millennium International Volunteer awards given out by the US Department of State, recognizing the program’s community impact and his work in intercultural exchange and educational programming. He has served on the national board of directors of Sokol USA since 2003, and is the current Sokol USA president. Joe also serves as an officer of the World Sokol Federation in Prague, Czech Republic. In addition, he has served on several boards of directors of ethnic societies and community groups: GBU Financial Life; the Western Pennsylvania Slovak Cultural Association; the South Side Community Council (a Pittsburgh neighborhood improvement group); the Mary, Queen of Peace Parish Finance Council; and a variety of other organizations. He has given many talks, and presented educational programs, to numerous ethnic societies and community groups, some of which were filmed and are available for viewing via the Sokol USA website.
