A Wielki Dzień project
Wildflowers at Karczma Viking
Written by: Magdalena Raba
Colourful wildflowers at Karczma Viking in Stara Kiszewa: a hoop with tulle behind the couple’s table, flowers under the gazebo eaves and bouquets beside the benches.
Up close
Photos from the project
Wildflowers in many colors were given a peaceful background
In August 2025, we decorated a wedding for about 65 guests at Karczma Viking in Stara Kiszewa. The motif of the entire setting were wild flowers in many colors. It was not about one species, but about a free selection of flowers of different shapes, heights and colors. The scope of our work included the decoration of the hall, the outdoor wedding setting at the gazebo and floristry, i.e. wedding bouquet, boutonniere and corsage. Despite this freedom, the couple and I first decide on a palette, and then we choose specific species within it, so that the diversity does not turn into randomness.
With so many colors, it's easy to create chaos, so we left the colors to the flowers themselves. Their palette included magenta and purple, pink, red and burgundy, coral, orange and yellow, as well as cream, light green and fresh leaves. The rest of the table is calm and based on white, to which we added peach fabric napkins and natural woven plates. White candles in slim rose-gold candlesticks look light and do not add any additional color. This is clearly visible on the guests' long table, because vases with colorful flowers run in a row along the tabletop, and there is a lot of white around them.
The white room in Stara Kiszewa shows every color of flowers
Stara Kiszewa is a commune village in Kościerzyna County, Pomerania. The Karczma Viking has a garden and a terrace, and the reception took place in a bright room. Its walls are made of horizontal white boards, the ceiling is sloping and beamed, and the floor is wood-colored. The guests' long tables were covered with white tablecloths and set with white chairs. We know from working in many rooms that the color of the walls and floor strongly influences the appearance of flowers. Here, white acts as a clean background, so every color, from magenta to yellow, is clear and does not blend in with the surroundings.
The wedding took place outdoors, on a paved square in front of a white wooden gazebo with a gray roof. There are tall thuja hedges around, and guests can sit on white benches with black cast iron legs. The white of the gazebo and the dark green of the thuja create a simple background against which colorful flowers and ribbons stand out as clearly as on the white walls of the room. The same species of flowers and the same colors appeared outdoors as on the tables, but only the scale and method of mounting changed.
Behind the couple's table there was a circle with tulle and wild flowers
We built the wall behind the couple's table from a thin white circle, through which we threw white tulle flowing on both sides. A large composition with long, hanging greenery occupies the upper left part of the rim, and a smaller one on the right balances it. The large composition includes magenta and cream dahlias, red gerberas and yellow-peach gerberas, pink twig carnations and cosmoses, white and lilac twig chrysanthemums, green ball chrysanthemum, veronica and grasses. The asymmetry leaves a large part of the circle free, thanks to which the circle remains legible and does not turn into a heavy wall of flowers. Long, drooping green shoots soften the geometry of the rim and lead the eye towards the table.
We placed a row of glass vases with individual wildflowers along the front edge of the couple's table. Next to them were sets of white candles in rose gold candlesticks, and the place settings were given the same woven plates and peach napkins as the guests. We left the tabletop decoration low because behind the table there is already a circle with tulle and flowers. A tall composition on the table would obscure the space for people sitting at the back of the room, and would also block the view of the wall. Low vases bring color to the tabletop, and the steam remains clearly visible to guests.
Single stems bring color to guests' long tables
We based the table settings on the guests' tables on natural woven plates, which warm up the white tablecloths and match the field motif. We added a peach-colored cloth napkin to each one, tied in a knot. Peach works as a connecting color here because it is close to the coral and orange in the flowers, and at the same time it is calmer than them. There were also sets of white candles in slender rose gold candlesticks of various heights on the tables. We place the candlesticks stably on a flat countertop, with a distance from flowers and napkins, and not at the edge of the table.
We brought glass vases, spherical and bottle-shaped. Each plant has one to three stems in it. On the tables there are cosmoses, also two-colored, gerberas in pink, red and yellow, pink and purple eustoma, veronica, dahlias, burgundy and cream carnations, white branch chrysanthemums, green ball chrysanthemums, small white flowers similar to chamomile, as well as grass. The vases differ in content, but they all stick to the same palette. Such a vase takes up as much space on the countertop as a glass, so it does not take away from plates or platters. The decoration remains low and openwork, so it does not create a partition between guests.
Wild flowers hung under the eaves of the gazebo
During an outdoor wedding, the guests' eyes first go to the ceremony site, and here it was a white wooden gazebo. Under its front eaves, we hung a large, loose composition of wild flowers and greenery. The flowers placed high do not cover anything, and from the benches they can be seen above the heads of people sitting in front. The flowers stand out clearly against the white gazebo and gray roof. The composition collects the colors of the entire setting in one place, from magenta and pink to yellow and white.
Up close you can see what this composition was made of: dahlias, cosmoses, gerberas (also yellow), white branch chrysanthemums, pink carnation, small white flowers similar to chamomile and lots of greenery. The flowers do not form a compact shape, but are arranged loosely, and some of the stems and leaves hang freely. This form resembles flowers in a meadow that grow unevenly, each at a different height. A dense, evenly cut composition would look too stiff with a field motif. The loose ends of the greenery also soften the straight line of the eaves and enliven the whole.
Ribbons connected the gazebo chairs to the guests' benches
The chairs in the gazebo had white tulle covers gathered at the back of the backrest. Here we added a bouquet of wild flowers and long, wavy ribbons. They have flower colors: lilac and pink, peach and orange, rust and cream. The tulle on the chairs refers to the circle behind the couple's table, so the same type of fabric appears both outdoors and indoors. White chairs against the white gazebo would easily get lost, and colorful ribbons mark clear vertical lines next to them.
We tied bouquets of white twig chrysanthemums, pink, red and burgundy carnations and greenery to the ends of the benches on the aisle side. Each one has long ribbons in the same range as the chairs in the gazebo. In the room, the flowers on the tables and peach napkins refer to these colors, so the ceremony and reception look like one whole. Not every element visible in these photos is our work, because the gazebo, benches, chairs and lighting belong to the facility. We gave fresh flowers to the couple after the wedding.
With wildflowers in many colors, we recommend starting with a calm base
If you are planning multi-colored wild flowers, choose a neutral base for them. All you need is white and one mild shade of fabric, for example peach, and accessories made of natural materials, such as woven charger plates. Then the color stays with the flowers and does not have to compete with the tablecloth, napkin or candlestick. Plan single-stem vases according to the length of the tables, not the number of guests. On a long table, the color should run from one end to the other, with no blank sections. It is also good to mix glass shapes, because spherical and slender vases give the table rhythm even with very small flowers.
For an outdoor wedding, use ribbons in the colors of flowers and napkins. They are light, clearly visible from a distance and easily move the pallet from the room to chairs and benches. In August, the selection of flowers is large. For decorations that stand without water for several hours, choose flowers with strong stems, such as carnations and twig chrysanthemums, and leave the more delicate ones in vases with water. Also ask the facility what is permanently there, i.e. what color the walls, chairs and tablecloths are, and what the ceremony site looks like. Against this background, flowers will be visible in every photo, so it is worth matching the palette to it.
