They cost celebs hundreds, but here their creators reveal how to make them for a song...
DECEMBER is finally here and it’s time to hang your festive wreath. This simple custom, which dates back to Ancient Rome, is now a huge industry, with designs costing up to £425. For many, the only option is DIY. But creating a wreath can be a daunting prospect. How do you decorate it? And how do you stop it shrivelling up?
SARAH RAINEY asked the UK’s leading florists — from the man who did blooms for Kate and William’s wedding to the genius behind Eugenie’s big day — to reveal their secrets…
GLORIOUSLY GOLDEN
‘ More is more,’ says florist Larry Wa l s h e , a favourite of stars including model Jodie Kidd. That’s clear with this wreath (£ 125, larrywalshe.com) studded with pine cones and baubles.
‘This intersperses different textures, which stops it looking too gaudy,’ Larry explains. ‘The base is Norwegian spruce with eucalyptus and asparagus, and viburnum berries.’
Larry covers a metal ring with moss and leaves using florist’s wire (£3.99 for a 45-metre roll, amazon.co.uk). ‘Cut the foliage up. Don’t go too small; you want natural pieces sticking out,’ he explains.
on top, everything is decoration. ‘Twist the wire back into the base,’ he adds. If you’re hanging it on a glass door or window, use foliage to make a green ‘back’, wired into the base, he says. A fresh wreath should last at least three weeks. ‘only use products that will last, such as dipdyed or painted leaves,’ he adds.
Larry is running wreath-making classes on December 5 and 9 in Chiswick, London (£85pp).
STUDDED WITH SURPRISES
AT FIrST glance, this wreath by McQueens — which supplies five- star hotels — looks very traditional: pine, gold and a red ribbon. But on closer inspection, it’s anything but.
Senior florist Andrea Bassoli topped blue pine leaves with artificial gold trees, pomegranates and mini succulents (cacti) dipped in glitter. He adds bonsai roots, pine cones and dried blue scabiosa flowers. ‘Go with the directional flow of the leaves,’ he says.
He uses a ready-mossed straw wreath ring (£1.95, amazon.co.uk) and florist’s wire. ‘You need a robust frame, or the wreath will lose its shape and things fall off,’ he says.
For a more modern look, put the ribbon slightly to one side, Andrea says, and affix a twist of florist’s wire to the back for a ‘hook’.
Bespoke wreaths from McQueens cost around £250. There are full-day classes in London, on December 3, 5, 7 and 8 (£295pp, mcqueens.co.uk)
ECO-FRIENDLY EXTRAVAGANCE
everY element here (£ 425, simon
lycett.co.uk) is biodegradable, recyclable or reusable — which matters to Simon Lycett, the florist behind the blooms at the weddings of Prince William and Kate, Prince Charles and Camilla and the Beckhams.
‘I’ve tried to avoid glitter and plastic. Use home-grown ingredients,’ Simon says. He uses a wire wreath frame (from 50p at hobbycraft.co.uk) — ‘or make one from a pair of bent coat hangers’ — and covers it in moss: ‘rake it off the grass.’
Cover the base using Christmas tree trimmings, attaching it with wire going clockwise. ‘Start at the top with stems pointing down,’ he adds. Decorate with dried fruit, crab apples, berries and rosehips, and baubles.
‘If you’ve got children, skip the berries and add Quality Street sweets,’ he says.
The silk ribbon, frame and baubles, can be recycled for next year. ‘Pull out all the wires and throw the rest in the compost heap,’ Simon says. ‘You can hang the mossed frame up in the garage and use it again.’
ASPARAGUS FERNS & BERRIES
THIS crescentshaped wreath (£95, wildatheart.
com) is by Nikki Tibbles Wild At Heart — which has done ornate floral displays for Kensington Palace, Chanel and Dior.
‘ This asymmetric design is a contemporary alternative,’ says head florist ruth Warren-Steed.
It comprises autumn meadow flowers and seeds attached to one side of a 15-inch copper hoop (from £3, etsy.com).
ruth affixes scented pine, willow, asparagus fern, pine cones, copper strawflowers, protea heads (£10,
amazon.co.uk) and berries. ‘Use buds and dried flowers, such as poppy seed heads,’ says ruth. You could cover half of the frame, which is ‘ half the work’, and she also recommends that you ‘don’t get hung up on the classic ring. Let your imagination run wild’.
POPS OF PINK AND PURPLE
Unconventional colours — pink, purple, orange — make this wreath by vic Brotherson, owner of Scarlet & violet (a favourite of nigella Lawson and Kate Moss) stand out. on a wire frame covered in moss, vic adds pine foliage, copper beech leaves, rosehip, heather and pink peppercorns. vic recommends pine and cedar leaves, which last eight weeks, and adds them in bundles.
‘Some of our clients have expensive front doors, so don’t want to use nails for hanging,’ vic explains. ‘I run a ribbon from the wreath over the door and attach it to the letterbox on the other side. nobody can steal it!’ Small wreaths from
scarletandviolet.com cost £85 and large wreaths are £100.
FRUIT & NUT
RoB van Helden, who decorated St George’s chapel for Princess eugenie’s wedding, says slices of apple, preserved oranges and nuts are ideal for wreaths.
‘they’ll last all season and give a lovely scent,’ he says. Rob uses a straw frame (from £2.50, etsy.com) for a homemade look. ‘I layer it with blue pine and pine cones. then I add the fruit, nuts, cinnamon sticks and baubles, before tying it with a ribbon.’ Rob’s top tip is to arrange the elements in clusters, and to ‘know your door’ — on a navy door, for example, blue and copper colours work well. ‘ I also like one on a table, around a hurricane vase with a candle in it,’ he adds. Luxury wreaths cost around £ 250 at rvhfloraldesign.com.
SCENT AND SPARKLE
RoSeMaRY and lavender are key to this design by Lavender Green Flowers, who created displays for Pippa Middleton’s wedding. ‘It gives your house a festive smell,’ says Maddie Dawkins.
She binds moss on to a metal frame and adds pine, lichen, dried oranges, hydrangeas and pine cones in glitter spray (£ 4.50,
amazon.co.uk). ‘You don’t want a perfect circle,’ says Maddie.
‘Dry garden hydrangeas by hanging them upside down,’ Maddie says. ‘Preserve sliced citrus fruit on greaseproof paper by baking them for five hours at 80c.’ Spritz the back and sides of the wreath with water once a week. Lavender Green Flowers wreaths range from £75 to £200. the shop is hosting wreath workshops on December 13 and 15 (£125pp, lavendergreen.co.uk).