Larry Walshe, celebrity London florist and founder of Bloom, shares his step-by-step guide to creating a beautiful Christmas wreath.
A Christmas wreath adorning your front door is a wonderful way to make your home feel instantly more festive and cheerful. There’s also nothing quite as special as making your own Christmas wreath to reflect your personal style.
Whether you prefer a minimalist Scandi look, a more textured layered style or like using lots of colour, the beauty of creating your own fresh wreath is that you can play around with the design to create something unique that both looks and smells amazing.
Here, Larry Walshe, founder of the newest luxury online florist, Bloom, is sharing his essential tips to help you create the most stylish of Christmas wreaths.
Larry says: “Nothing makes a statement quite like a fresh, full and abundant wreath adorning your front door in the cold winter. They captivate your senses every time you’re near – the look, the feel, the intoxicating scent – they’re full of the magic we crave during the dark, winter months.
“And they’re so personal. No two wreaths are ever the same and so they provide the perfect opportunity to make a personal statement, whether that’s flamboyance, luxury, Scandi cool or something more delicate and understated. Pick a style which best represents your home, values, preferred colour palette, the neighbourhood, and the level of impact you’re looking for.
“Beyond the basic steps, there are a few useful tips to take on board when designing your own wreath, but the most important thing is to get creative and have fun playing with textures and scents. And if in doubt, our simple rule of thumb is the bigger, the better.”
Read on for Larry’s step-by-step guide.
DIY wreath essentials
Firstly, check the width of your front door to ensure your wreath is the perfect size – about 13” to 16” is usually more than ample to create a fabulous impact without getting in the way of the function of the door.
Once you know the size of wreath you’ll be making, you will need a moss ring, a good pair of scissors or secateurs, twine and floristry wires. These can be found in most garden centres.
Consider your scheme
For a luxurious wreath, it’s best to work tonally – different textures of the same colour work well to add depth and interest whilst ensuring the overall look is tasteful and sophisticated.
For a bolder wreath, consider complementary colour schemes; choosing opposing hues from a colour wheel will create a little more impact. Think sumptuous golds with deep blues or timeless red and green with woodland inspired browns and balanced with snow inspired whites for an effortless, natural look.
Consider whether you want to add any other design elements such as baubles. These can create a strong burst of colour and impact – perfect if you want your wreath to really make a statement. If you’re after continuity with your festive decorations, opt for baubles that match the decorations on your tree, but if you’re after something a bit more individual, there’s nothing stopping you from incorporating a rainbow of different coloured baubles in your wreath.
Similarly, if you have any broken Christmas tree decorations, you can love them once again by adding them to your wreath design for a really personal touch.
Foliage base & scent
There is nothing finer than a fresh wreath – fragrant Nordmann Fir Spruce is a popular base for most wreaths. Combine this with Berried Ivy, Conifer and Berried Eucalyptus to help conjure the spirit of the season every time you walk through your door.
Dried ingredients are wonderfully textural and can work to enhance a scheme which is both style savvy and creative. Dried fruits are a firm favourite for good reason; the colour and the scent add a real punch. Similarly, bundles of cinnamon or bunches of dried lavender are wonderful scented additions. Remember – you’re designing with your eyes and your nose.
If you’re lucky enough to live near a woodland or green space, spend some time foraging for natural items to include. Anything native to your home environment not only makes for a wonderfully unique design, but working with the local flora and fauna will result in an even more meaningful wreath – think pinecones, branches with lichen, feathers, and red berries.
And let your creativity flow – if you love the texture of an ingredient but it’s not going to work with your colour scheme, why not paint it?
Time to start making
Start by adding the fresh spruce or base foliage to the moss ring – if you have a glass door or plan to hang your wreath in the window, make sure to dress the back of your wreath too to ensure no glimpses of an unsightly moss ring.
Then take small bunches of the remaining foliage and larger dried ingredients and secure to the moss ring using twine.
The final step is to add the smaller dried ingredients or decorative elements using the wire before placing it directly through the foliage and moss ring and out the other side. Then bend and return the wire back through to hide the ends. Continue until your wreath is complete.
Finishing touches
It’s Christmas, so don’t be shy about making a statement with the finishing touches. Adding a large bow is a lovely way to finish your design – you can either match it to the colours in the wreath or choose a complementary, opposing colour for a bigger impact.
If you don’t have any sustainable ribbon or you prefer a more understated design, opt for a classic wreath sans ribbon and let all your wonderful, natural ingredients do the talking.
Wreath maintenance
Make sure to lightly spritz your wreath every 2-3 days with an atomiser of fresh water to keep the fresh elements looking luscious.
If you’ve loved the creative process and the way your artwork looks on the door, it’s worth remembering that a wreath is not just for Christmas… You can impress visitors and neighbours throughout the year with seasonal variations. Think tulips or peonies in spring, sunflowers in summer, hydrangeas and dried leaves in autumn. You can also theme your wreaths with annual events such as Easter or Halloween. The options are endless!
For more information on Bloom and/or Larry Walshe, or to buy your own Christmas Wreath or DIY Kit please visit: www.bybloom.co.uk
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About Bloom
Launched in October 2020, Bloom is an online luxury flower delivery service created by celebrity London florist and designer, Larry Walshe.
Bloom is unlike any other online flower delivery service, offering a variety of options to suit all requirements, including hand tied Luxury Gift Bouquets (from £75), bunches of Market Flowers, which come direct from the grower (from £30), and flexible Best in Bloom flower subscription (£35 per box, per delivery).
Uniquely, Bloom is reinventing the way we buy flowers online by offering customers a revolutionary and hyper personalised Create Your Own Bouquet service. Starting from £44, customers can pick the stems, foliage, size, colour, sentiment, and overall look of their desired bouquet – just as they would in a florist – with Bloom then bringing the vision to life.
The Bloom website also features a Curated Home Collection of chic vases and trendy pots & plants, and there is a generous loyalty programme for customers to earn reward points towards future purchases.
Bloom is the first luxury online florist in the UK to be entirely sustainable and 100% plastic-free. The packaging is recyclable and/or compostable, all orders are shipped using DPD – the cleanest, greenest courier service currently available in the UK – and the brand also partners with the World Land Trust, planting trees to offset its carbon footprint.
Flowers arrive in Bloom’s stylish signature designed and fresh-water packaging and can be enjoyed at their very best instantly, with free deliveries for purchases of £100 or more.
For more information on Bloom, visit www.bybloom.co.uk.
