Plants and
Flowers in
Traditional Polish
Weddings
A ten wianek gotowała?
Tobie, miły, nie inszemu,
Ktoryś sam mił sercu memu.
For whom have I, with tender care,
Prepared this wreath of blossoms fair?
For thee, my love, whom I adore.
As ne’er I loved a lad before.
—”Song of the Fourth Maiden” by Jan Kochanowski
(1530-1584); translation by Lipinski, 1995
Flowers and herbs have played an important part of marriage predictions, courtship rites and wedding celebrations in Poland throughout the centuries. It was widely known, for instance, that lovage, called lubczyk in Polish, was an herb of sorcery and witchcraft. It is said a mother who had a particular husband in mind for her daughter secretly gave him a tea made of this plant. Any boy bathed in the leaves of lovage could easily gain the love of girls, as sung by a girl who has fallen in love with a boy:
Czy w lubystyku się kąpałeś
Ze tak mi się podobałeś?
Did you bathe in lovage
That I care for you so much?
In the region of Płock, if a young maiden wanted to know if the one she loved returned her regard she would tie mullein, known in Poland as dziewanna, in a particular way and intone the words:
Mullein
Zawijam, zawijam kawalarskie ziele,
Niech ono powie, czy Jaś (Józiek, Antek) kocha śmile
Mowiło drewno, że będzie napewno;
Mowił Fryc, że stego nie będzie nic;
Powiedzała Flora, że będzie ładna para.
Niech Pan Wszechmogący
Parę tę do kupy złączy.
I wrap, I wrap the bachelor’s herb,
Let it tell me, if John (or Joseph, or Anthony) loves me well.
Says the woody plant, it will be for sure;
Fritz says, nothing will come of it;
Florence said, it will be a nice pair.
Let Almighty God
Join this couple together.
There were plants that were believed to cast a spell or magic over a male such as adder’s tongue, which in Polish is nasięźrzał. It appears as a small fern but is so named because the tall stalk that emerges from the center is thought to resemble a snake’s tongue. It evokes images of the snake that tempted Eve in Paradise and is believed to have dark magic. It was said that a young girl wanting to gain the love of a boy was to go find the plant at midnight while naked and turning her back on the plant—so that the devil wouldn’t take her—she was to pluck the plant while intoning a specific chant:
Nasięźrzałe, nasięźrzałe,
Rwę cię śmiale,
Pięcią palcy, szósta dłonią,
Niech się chłopcy za mną gonią;
Po stodole, po oborze,
Dopomagaj, Panie Boże.
Adder’s tongue, adder’s tongue,
I pluck you boldly,
Five fingers, the sixth the palm,
Let the boys run after me;
In the barns, in the stable,
Give assist, Dear Lord.
MAIDEN WREATHS AND WEDDING WREATHS
In days of old, as young Polish girls grew into young maidens of an age to marry, they planted gardens with specific flowers, herbs, and plants. Some of them were simply favorite flowers such as hollyhocks, asters, nasturtiums, roses, pansies, larkspurs, dahlias, violets, lilies, and mint. It was customary for these young, eligible girls to weave the flowers into wreaths, and wear them on their heads for almost all special occasions such as going to church on Sunday and attending local dances and church fairs. Just as clothes could identify a person’s occupation and wealth, a wreath worn by a young maiden identified her as someone who was available for marriage, and most importantly, it was a symbol of her virtue—that of being chaste and virginal. There are legions of Polish songs that refer to the wreaths sung by young men or soldiers going off to war begging a girl to “give up her wreath”—to give up her virginity. A maiden guarded her virtue carefully and her joy, and that of her family’s, that her virtue was intact on her wedding day is preserved in a song sung along the Narew River in the Mazowsze region of Poland:
Wedding wreath made from country flowers.
Pansies
A ciesy się, ciesy -nasza rodzinecka,
ze Kasieńka donosiła -do czasu wianecka
A ciesy się, ciesy -nasi przyjaciele,
ze Kasieńka ostawiła - wianecka w kościele
Happy, happy is our family,
that Kasieńka arrived to the time of her wreath
Happy, happy are our friends,
that Kasieńka left her wreath in the church.
The most important wreath a Polish girl would ever wear in her life would be her wedding wreath. One of Poland’s oldest chroniclers, a man by the name of Kosmas, lived and wrote during the time of Poland’s first king, Mieszko the I (960 A.D.). When the king married a princess by the name of Dobrawa he documented that “she placed upon her head the wreath of a girl.” Wearing a wreath on one’s wedding day is a Polish tradition that was continued for over a thousand years. The importance of the wreath is evident throughout the life of the young girl as she grows into maturity, continues through courtship and culminates with the last moments of her wedding day.
For her wedding wreath a young girl planted certain plants in her garden. While they vary from region to region, the plants most frequently cited in customs, songs, and wedding rituals were rue, rosemary, myrtle, lavender, and periwinkle. Everyone who passed by the garden, usually located in the front of the house, and saw these plants growing, knew that within the house a young girl dreamed of a future husband and was planning for her wedding day.
Of all the customs associated with a Polish wedding, there was none more significant than the moment when the wedding wreath would be removed from the bride’s head and replaced by the cap of a married woman. The custom is called oczepiny because the wreath would be removed from her head and be replaced with a czepek, a cap. The wedding day would be the last day of maidenhood, the last day of wearing a wreath, the symbol of virginity. The removal of the wreath was significant and again, we hear the bride sing:
Lavender
Wianeczku ruciany,
Jużeś się mi zmienił,
Już się mi nie będziesz
Na głowie zielenił.
Wreath of rue,
You have already changed,
You will no longer
Be green upon this head.
This last time of wearing the wedding wreath is sung:
Błogosławcie ją ojcowie
Ostani wianek na głowie
Błogosławcie ją sąsiedzi
Dopóki tutaj siedzi
Błogosławcie ją drużbowie
Ostani wianek na głowie
Błogosławcie ją druchneczki
Jej na głowie ją wstążeczki
On the last wreath on her head
Bestow your blessings, neighbors
while she continues to sit here.
Bestow your blessings groomsmen
The last wreath on her head
Bestow your blessings, bridesmaids
The ribbons on her head.
Over time, the wedding wreath came to be referred to as a crown and came to be covered with spangles and trinkets, entering the age of a new look.
Flowering rue
The gathering of women to celebrate, adorn, and advise a bride before her wedding is as ancient a custom as marriage itself. In Poland, a special event called the maiden evening, the dziewczyny wieczór, was set aside for just this purpose. It took place the evening before the wedding. The bride-to-be met with her bridesmaids to decorate the house for the next day’s festivities, make boutonnieres for the groom and groomsmen, and help with the cooking if need be. But the most important reason for getting together was for the single girls to officially say goodbye to their friend as a single woman and to help her make the bridal wreath to wear on her wedding day. In some regions, two wreaths are woven, one for the bride and one for the groom, as very often wreaths were exchanged instead of rings at the wedding ceremony.
In the Podlasie region of Poland along the Narew River, on the maiden evening the bridesmaids and friends gather together at the house of the bride-to-be. They cover the table with a white cloth and then stand around the table. The bride-to-be brings to the table, either on a plate or in her apron, the rue that she has grown in her garden and places it on the table. As she does so the girls begin singing:
Bride with wreath and veil. Nardowe Archiwum Cyfrowe. Illustrated by Anna Romerowa
Rozsypała [Kasieńka]
drobną ruteńkę po stole,
ej po stole, po cisowym,
po obrusie bielowym.
Któż tę ruteńkę pozbiera,
[Kasieńce] wianek uwić ma?
[Bride’s name] has scattered
Small pieces of rue on the table,
oh on the table of yew,
on the white cloth.
Who will gather this rue,
and weave a wreath for [bride’s name]?
The wreath was then woven by the bride herself or by her maid-of-honor. The herbs and flowers were attached to a twig branch brought together into a circle or to a circular metal ring. In the Maszowsze region while weaving the wreath the bride-to-be often sings:
Moja ruteńka, drobne ziele
Trzeba wianuszka na wesele
My rue, tiny herb
We need a wreath for the wedding
The bridesmaids then sing:
Uwili wianek z ruteńki zielonej
We’ve woven a wreath of green rue
In the same region they often weave the wreath with rue and lilies:
Ach, mój wianeczku ruciany
Lilijamy przewijany
Otoz mi się kołem
Nad panieńskiem czołem;
Jużem cię ostatni wiła,
Pokim panną byłam.
Oh my wreath of rue
Woven with lilies
Surround
My maiden forehead;
I’ve woven you for the last time,
While still a maid.
Another important component of this evening was the preparation of the rózga weselna, the wedding rod or branch. This was always an evergreen branch or the tip of a pine, juniper, or spruce tree that had at least two sides as well as a central one and was about a half yard long. Many had up to five branches. In the Mazowsze region, the branch had to be juniper and was called korona. The lower branches were removed so that it could be held easily. In ancient times the branches of the evergreen were decorated with natural flowers, ribbons, white feathers or small bunches of rooster feathers, apples, ribbons, and/or nuts. In the Kujawy region, where the branch was always decorated with apples it was called a jabłonka. Sometimes it was decorated with periwinkle (Vinca minor), also an evergreen. It was prepared by the bridesmaids for the bride but it was given to the groom by the bride and carried prominently throughout the wedding day by the groom or the master of ceremonies. After the wedding, the branch was hung from the rafters in their house where it was believed to bring prosperity to the home. The meaning of the wedding branch is not completely clear even to Polish folklorists. Some advocate that it was the consolidation of the marriage contract and had its roots in the Middle Ages when it was customary to hand over a green branch at the time of a business transaction. Others maintain that it represents the tree of life or Garden of Eden and was a symbol of fertility rites from a very ancient past.
Flowering periwinkle (Vinca minor) vine
Three pronged wedding branch on wedding bread from Przemyśl region decorated with periwinkle (Vinca minor) and apples. Kolberg, 1891.
Wedding procession with Master of Ceremonies leading the procession with the rózga weselna (wedding branch).
(Date and location unknown. Narodowe Muzeum Cyfrowe)
Wedding party from Garbow near Lublin with rózga weselna (wedding branch) on far right. (Wisła, Miesięcnik Geograficzny-Etnograficzny, 1901)
GLOSSARY OF WEDDING FLOWERS AND PLANTS
Cornflower (Centaurea cyanus / Polish: Bławatek). The beautiful, striking blue flowers of cornflower, also called bachelor’s button, could at one time be seen growing wild in Poland among the endless fields of grains that dotted the landscape. Flowering from May until the final grain harvest, it is considered a true native Polish flower. It had the benefit of being widely available and the supple stems of the flower could easily be woven into a wreath to decorate the hair of the bride if she married during the summer. In Pamiętnik Galicyski (Galician Memoir) published in 1821, the author wrote this poem:
Tu przez dziewięc miesięcy mogę zaplatać wianki
Mające skron ozdabiać mej drogiej kochanki
Niech inny chwali kwiaty co rosną daleko…wole
Moje polskie bławatki, maki i kąkole.
Here through nine months I can weave a wreath
That can decorate the temples of my loved one
Let others praise the flowers that grow far away… I prefer
My Polish cornflower, poppies and corn cockle.
Hops (Humulus lupulus / Polish: Chmiel). There is a song in Polish folklore tradition titled “O hops, O hops”:
Oj, chmielu, chmielu, ty bujne ziele
nie będzie bez ciebie
żadne wesele.
O hops, oh hops, you lush plant
without you
there is no wedding.
Hops
Folklorists can date this song to the 17th century but they all agree that it goes back further than that, so far back that the meaning cannot be said with surety, but most agree that it refers to the groom and his virility. The song is to be sung only by married men and women during the oczepiny (unveiling), the sweet supper in the bedroom of the bride and groom, and during the ancient custom of podkladziny (bedding ceremony). There is also a dance to accompany it called the chmielowy, otherwise known as the hop dance. The bedding down generally brought all wedding celebrations to a close for the young maiden who was soon to be a maiden no longer. The wedding wreath was carefully saved, the leaves considered effective in treating various illness. It’s also important to note that in the Przemyśl region of Poland, the bride and groom where showered with hops and oats as they left for the church.
Lavender (Lavandula officinalis; Lavandula spica / Polish: Lawenda): Lavender was widely grown in Polish gardens and enjoyed tremendous popularity, not only as a plant used in bridal customs but also as an herb to place in chests and coffers and between sheets and special occasion clothes. It was a favorite for bridal wreaths in the regions associated with Great Poland. Lavender (Lavendula spica) was used for wedding wreaths in the Kujawy region. It, too, is encountered in wedding folk songs throughout the centuries. The following is traditionally sung by the groom:
Powiedz mi raz
komu rączke das
i ten wianek lewandowy
co na głowie mas.
Tell me once
to whom do you give your hand
and that lavender wreath
You wear on your head.
At the time of the unveiling and the removal of the wreath the bride sings:
Mój wiankecku lewandowy
Zdejmują cię z tej głowy.
My lavender wreath
I’m removing from my head
Or:
Moj wianeczku lewandowy
Nie spadaj mi z mojej głowy,
Bom cię moją rączką wiła
Pókim jeszcze panną była.
Do not fall from my head,
For I wove you with my hand
While still a maid.
Lily (Lilium candidum / Polish: Lilja). The symbolism of the lily as an emblem of innocence, purity, and virginity is widely known and accepted. It has always been associated with the Blessed Virgin Mary, mother and wife, as well as St. Joseph, guardian of the Holy Family. Favored by royals and magnates, it was always a favorite flower at weddings. In Polish folksongs, the lily appears in wedding songs in which a bird arrives bringing a lily to an orphan collecting flowers in a garden. In mythology a bird is often depicted as someone who can cross between this world and the next and considered to be the embodiment of deceased souls. Holding the flower, the girl walks to the cemetery to her mother’s grave, asking her to help dress her for her wedding day, believing that her deceased mother is watching over her on this most important event coming up in her life.
Wedding photo of Agota Toczek and Macieg Cupak, married November 15, 1881, in Nozdrzec, Poland. Her bridal veil is decorated with myrtle. (Photo courtesy of John J. Cuprak Jr.)
Myrtle (Myrtus communis / Polish: mirt): A plant that became prominent in Polish wedding traditions during the 20th-century period between the two world wars was myrtle. This myrtle variety is a shrubby plant grown indoors on windowsills as a potted plant and tended very carefully by single girls of marriageable age. It was used exclusively on its own or in conjunction with rue and rosemary for the bridal wreath. In 1840 in the Radom area, wreaths of myrtle, decorated with white ribbons, were blessed by the priest and exchanged by the couple during the marriage vows instead of rings. Myrtle was also used to decorate the wedding cake and the hats of the groomsmen. This was especially true in the southern mountain regions of Poland. Over time, with new customs and traditions and the influence of other fashions and other countries, the wreath was abandoned but the plant itself hung on as part of wedding attire. Sprigs of myrtle were attached to edges of veils or along hemlines. The groom’s boutonniere, as well as that of the groomsmen, was made from myrtle and tied with a white ribbon as seen in the wedding photo of Agota Toczek and Macieg Cupak (opposite page). This wedding custom was brought from Poland when many Poles immigrated to America. A careful study of old photographs, such as the one of the Polish-American couple from Niagara Falls, New York (right), show brides with sprigs of myrtle on the hemline of their wedding dresses and/or along the edges of their veils.
Bridal photo of Aniela Wieczorek and Józef Dera on May 12, 1813, at Niagara Falls, New York. Her bridal veil is traditionally decorated with myrtle (myrtus communis). (Photo courtesy of Brian Stanish and Mrs. Emily Stanish)
Orange blossoms (Citrus sinensis / Polish: kwiat pomarańczowy).
Orange blossoms have also played a role in old Polish wedding traditions. Orange blossoms, a traditional wedding flower that originated in England, became fashionable for the wreaths of wealthy brides. The symbolism of the orange blossom is said to be one of virginity and the promise of fecundity. The white blossoms are a symbol of innocence and purity while the orange tree has a reputation of bearing abundant fruit and it is hoped that the bride who wears it will have similar fruitfulness.
Periwinkle (Vinca minor / Polish: barwinek). If a girl knew she was going to be married during the winter months she took special care to have periwinkle in her garden. Periwinkle is a trailing groundcover which remains green during the winter months. In Polish folklore it was a symbol of purity, of maidenhood. The young maiden protected the plants against freezing during these cold months by lightly covering them with straw.
Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis / Polish: Rozmaryn lekarski). From time immemorial, rosemary has been known as the plant of fidelity and linked with weddings and bridal wreaths in many parts of the world. With its spicy fragrance and soft blue flowers, it also played an important part in Polish weddings.
Rosemary was planted by young maidens with thoughts of love and of handsome young men riding to find their one true love. This Polish folk song is best understood when one understands that many centuries ago it was customary for the bride and groom to exchange wreaths, not rings, on their wedding day:
Hey, zgóry, zgóry
Jadą Mazury.
Jedzie, jedzie Mazureczek
Wiezie, wieze mi wianeczek
Rozmarynowy!
Hey, from the hills, from the hills
Ride the Masurians.
Here he comes, here he comes
Carrying, carrying me a wreath
Of rosemary!
Rosemary was especially popular as part of the wedding flower tradition in the Poznań region of Poland, especially among the upper classes. During the usual three weeks of the engagement period, the young man wore a branch of rosemary tied with a green ribbon in his cap. Over time, the rosemary was worn at the lapel instead of the cap. It was tied with a white ribbon and pinned to his left lapel. This was prepared for him by his fiancée and she herself wore a wreath of rosemary during the engagement period. As was customary at the time, the groom and groomsmen rode on horseback from house to house to invite guests to the wedding. The groom dressed in his very best, wore a hat decorated with rosemary, and carried a kerchief also decorated with rosemary. The bride, as well as the bridesmaids, wore wreaths of rosemary on their heads. Long ago, during a wedding in the Poznań region, the priest placed small wreaths of rosemary on the heads of the couple as a symbol of their fidelity to each other instead of wedding rings. In the evening, just before the oczepiny, the capping ceremony, the bride dances with her friends and guests and sings about her rosemary plant.
Rosemary
Oj mój miły rozmarynie
siewałam cię po zagonie.
Juz cię teraz siać nie będę
bo już teraz za mąż idę.
Będą cię siać moje siostry
ale jeszcze nie urosły!
Oh, my beloved rosemary
I sowed you in the garden.
I will no longer sow you
Because I’m getting married now.
My sisters will sow you
but they have not grown yet!
In his “Mindowe,” Polish poet Julius Słowacki has Aldona say to Dowmunta, “I’m going to be married. I will don a wreath on my forehead ... some wild roses and much rosemary; may they foretell my happiness.” In 1692, Stanisław Wierzbowski, who left a detailed account of his marriage, stated that on the eve of his marriage he sent his beloved a rosemary plant as a symbol of his eternal and unfailing love. Hundreds of Polish folk songs also testify to its importance on this particular day.
To jest korona – nie ze sebra zrobiona
Ani ze złota – ale z droższego klejnota:
Uvita z rozmarynu i ruty
Godło niewinności i panieńskiej cnoty.
This is a crown – not made from silver
Or gold – but a more valuable jewel
Woven from rosemary and rue
A sign of maiden innocence and virtue.
Roses (Rosa canina / Polish: Róża dzika). With the passage of time the maiden wreaths and wedding wreaths began to change from just circles of simple greenery to ones where flowers began to be added. Real flowers, especially in the dead of winter, could only be had by the very rich who owned hothouses. Roses, especially white ones, were very popular among the rich and poor alike as indicated by the song, “Moj wianeczku z biały róży” (“My wreath from white roses”). Roses were most popular in the Mazowzse region among a group of people who called themselves Kurpie. In Poland, as elsewhere, roses symbolized love, while lilies symbolized innocence and faithfulness.
Rue (Ruta graveolens / Polish: Ruta). Of all the plants, rue was the single most favored plant for the bridal wreaths and played a role in all aspects of wedding tradition in Poland. It was closely tied with marriage and marriage predictions. A wreath of rue woven by a maiden and released on the current of a stream or river on the magical night of the midsummer celebrations (St. John’s Eve, June 23) would predict her future. If the wreath drowned, she would remain single. If it continued downstream and was caught by the boys in boats or skiffs it gave hope that she would soon marry. The girls sing:
Nasieję ja ruty w nowym ogrodzie
Hey mocny Boże, w nowym ogrodzie
Uwiję ja trzy wianecki, puszczę po wodzie
Hey, mocny Boże, puszczę po wodzie
I will sow rue in a new garden
Dear powerful Lord, in a new garden
I’ll weave three wreaths and release them on water
Dear powerful Lord, I’ll release them on water.
In Łapczyca, near Bochnia, there is a legend. In the cracks on top of the stone wall that encircles the church, there grows a small bush of rue. The people there point to it and say that in very ancient times there came to the church an older girl with a wreath of rue on her head. The people, seeing her dressed up this way began to murmur and one of them even said to her face that she is unworthy to wear a wreath of rue because she was no longer an innocent. The girl, insulted by this lie, ripped the wreath off her head, threw it with all her might at the wall and fell on her knees. She raised her hands up to the heavens and called out, “Oh people, people! How terrible you are. Dear Lord, have mercy on me and show these people that I am truthful. Let this rue from my wreath grow forever on this wall.” The good Lord heard the prayers of this girl because the wreath remained on top of the wall surrounding the church and grew into a small bush of rue that renews itself each year and gives testimony to her purity.
According to Polish folk tradition the leaves of rue grew out of the blood of the Savior on his way to Golgotha. It was a very cherished, well-loved plant and wreaths of rue figure constantly in Polish folk songs as the plant that symbolized chastity. In medieval times, a young woman gave a suitor a wreath of rue during the engagement contract as a way of confirming a marriage agreement. The plant, which keeps its green even in winter, was carefully tended as winter came by covering it with straw or a mound of sticks or lightly with soil so as to have some rue to wear in her hair should she get married during the winter.
Close-up of rue plant without the flowers.
Rue was also used to decorate the wedding cake, the hats of the groomsmen, and even the whip for the horses that pulled the carriage carrying the bride to church on her wedding day. As a talisman for young, unmarried girls, rue had no equal, to the point where, should a young girl die unmarried, a wreath of rue was added to her coffin.
Viburnum (Viburnum opulus / Polish: Kalina). A symbol of maidenly virtue, chastity, and loveliness, the songs in Mazowsze and among the Russians compare the bride to the beautiful viburnum. The red berries of this plant were a much-preferred decoration at weddings and especially on the korowaj, the wedding bread. It too played a part in Polish wedding celebrations when the bridesmaids sing:
Zażądała Kasienka
Kalinowego wianka
i posłała matenkę
za Dunaj po kalinę
Kasienka wanted
a wreath made of viburnum
and sent her mother
beyond the Dunajec for viburnum
Aspects of old wedding traditions have had a recent resurgence in Poland including regional folk dress or modernized versions of it, traditional foods, and the flowers of the season found growing in gardens and meadows.
