Hosting a Wreathmaking Workshop
Wreathmaking workshops are very popular - ours always sell out very quickly! It’s a great way to celebrate the holiday season - people love creating wreaths and with the smell of pine and holiday music playing in the background it’s hard not to feel festive!
You can either choose to have the participants create their own wreath greenery or have them premade. Premade wreaths can be easier, since all your participants have to do is then decorate them. You’ll incur more cost or work in having the wreaths premade, but it may be easier to ensure that the wreath-making doesn’t bog down the workshop progress especially if you’re going to be cramped on time.
However we’ve found that most people enjoy and really do want to make their own wreaths - there’s something that’s much more gratifying about wrapping and tying bundles of greens together than getting a premade wreath! The handling of all the greens is definitely part of the experience including the sticky resin from cut branches and the lovely pine-scent.
You will need to provide your attendees with the following:
A wreath base (the base structure that you attach your foliage to)
Florist wire (the green thin stuff that can be sold either in single pieces or a spool)
Snips or pruners
Materials for creating the wreath itself
Materials and ornaments for decorating the wreath
Wire or string or ribbon for creating a hanger
As far as wreath bases, you can choose either the wire base forms or a more eco-friendly grapevine or willow wreath depending on what works for your clients and for your budget. We don’t have a good source for grapevine base forms locally, so we opt for the wire base forms.
Wreath Materials
We’ve found it easiest to order in a large box of mixed evergreen foliage for our workshops - the large 25 pound box can easily make a lot of wreaths for your attendees (more if you’re doing asymmetrical wreath designs that require less material).
If you are able to, sourcing greens from your own flower farm is the best and will give you the highest profit margin. Sourcing locally may also be a good idea, especially if you’re able to save money as far as shipping, but don’t be afraid to buy-in evergreen foliage - most of the winter greens are grown in the U.S. or at least within North America.
Noble fir, cedar, princess pine, fir, Japanese yew and redwood are some of the more popular evergreen foliages that are available in the mixed greens, while you can also add in other greens like boxwood, salal, asparagus fern, leatherleaf and eucalyptus.
We generally like to include at least four types of greens to ensure good variety without overwhelming our attendees. We also will portion out the materials ahead of time to ensure that everyone gets the same amount of materials - I’ve tried the whole “flower bar” setup and I find that it usually doesn’t go very well - people tend to hog materials or take too much material or not enough, and it can be very stressful for the attendees. I highly recommend portioning out the materials ahead of time.
BONUS: Depending on your materials, you may want to even think about creating a dried wreath base. You can use grass seed heads like Frosted Explosion grass and basil or even dried foliage like eucalyptus as the base - so long as it covers the base form and doesn’t end up shattering too much.
Decorations and Ornaments
As far as decorating the wreaths, that depends on your style. There are a whole host of ornaments and bits of decor that can help your attendees personalize their wreaths.
Some examples of wreaths we’ve made in the past included:
Dried citrus slices
Dried apple slices
Dried starfruit slices
Dried chili peppers
Dried lavender and other herbs
Fresh herbs like rosemary and bay
Dried grass seed heads
Dried gomphrena
Dried strawflower and ammobium
Dried basil seed heads
Ribbons and bows
Glass ornaments
Salt dough “cookie” ornaments
Garlands of popcorn and cranberries
Rose hips
Acacia, mimosa and other tropical foliage
Dried and fresh proteas and leucodendrons
Fruiting branches
Dried and wired pomegranates
Dried and wired oranges and citrus fruits
Birch branches and wood slices
Colorful willow and dogwood twigs and branches
Really, the sky is the limit when it comes to decorations. If you think your attendees will like it, bring it and see if they use it. It’s always better to have more decorations and ornaments than not enough!
Also, if you’re really in love with dried materials as ornamentation - or dried materials in general - there is a gigantic booming market for dried flowers out there! It is a significant portion of our sales and is one that can really help with off-season sales in the winter months. We’ve written a book on growing dried flowers that you can check out below
Mock Schedule of a Workshop
10:00 AM - Setup and sign-in
11:00 AM - Welcome and introduction
11:15 AM - Demonstration of making a wreath
11:45-12:30 PM - Participants create their wreaths
12:30 - 12:40 PM - Demonstrating of decorating the wreath
12:40 - 1:30 - Participants decorate their wreaths
Assist anyone who needs extra help
Photography of wreaths and workshop
1:30-2:00 - Cleanup and disassembly
Demonstration
It’s important to do this well so that your attendees have a good handle on what they’re doing. You’ll find that most likely most of them haven’t had previous floral experience - so talking with them about what you’re doing in terms of cutting and wiring will be very helpful to ensure their success in creating their wreaths.
When I’m doing the demonstration, I make sure that everyone can see what is going on as much as possible. I’ll talk through it first, then physically perform the action next, going slow and talking through it a second time to ensure that everyone gets to see what I’m doing.
I’ll talk about cutting and preparing the greens first, then I’ll talk about tying and wiring the bundles together and then tying them onto the wreath form, and then adding the bundles to create the uniform overlapped appearance for the wreath.
I usually do one section of a bare wreath form, just enough for the participants to get an idea of the process of making the wreath. So that I’m able to walk around and assist people during the wreath construction process, I’ll have a fully constructed wreath pre-made so I can discuss decorating afterwards.
When I’m walking around and interacting with people, I always keep talking. Doesn’t matter about what, it can be about anything as simple as the weather or holiday plans or current events or other local activities and venues that people might be interested in - just keep the chatter ongoing.
If I notice somebody struggling, I’ll take some time with them to see if they can use my help. Sometimes it may be taking the time to explain the technique again, sometimes it may be helping them out with wrapping some bundles together. I’ll gauge the situation - some people just want to work at their own pace and I’m totally fine letting them do that, but if they are looking distressed or are struggling to keep up I’ll come and see how I can help.
Decorating
When we get to the decorating part, I’ll start off by showing off several of the different types of ornaments we have available. I generally have an idea in my head of what I want my wreath to look like so I’ll have those ornaments laid out and ready to go.
I like to express to the attendees that there’s no right or wrong way of decorating their wreath. If they want to follow my wreath exactly, they are welcome to do so, but they’re also welcome to decorate their wreath however they would like.
If there are materials that are more scarce, I’ll usually portion those out ahead of time for the participants. If there are plenty of materials for everyone then I’ll just set them out and let people grab what they want. If there are materials like ribbons or wire, I’ll cut out portions ahead of time so that people don’t have to fumble with fabric scissors.
The decorating part generally takes less time than the wreath-making part, but I’ll still give the participants plenty of time to enjoy themselves and have fun creating their wreaths.
Wrapping Up the Workshop
Usually we budget enough time to ensure that the activity gets done on time, but as people start finishing up I’ll usually ask to take a look at their wreaths and evaluate them. I’ll also ask as well if they want a photograph taken with their wreath - both to instill further value in their creation as well as to buy time while the rest of the attendees finish.
You can ask everyone to take a group photo - it’s great for advertising your workshop again next year, is a lot of fun for your attendees, and is a lot easier than mailing out individual photos - but again, feel out your attendees and the vibe to see if it’s a good idea or not.
Another idea (if you have the ability to do so) is having a wall where the attendees can hang their finished wreaths up at the end. It’s a great way to see everyone else’s work and your attendees can admire their work.
Again, I’ll be walking around to check and see if anyone needs help and giving assistance where needed. Usually most people are pretty well along at this point, but you may occasionally get the attendee that may need more attention than others, so this gives you the opportunity to help them catch up with the rest of the group.
Unless you need to get the room cleared, feel free to let people hang around and chat and relax. We find that having beverages really help people to stick around - hot tea, coffee, cider and hot chocolate go a long way towards making the experience super festive and keeps people lingering around to enjoy themselves!
We’ve found that a lot of our attendees like to connect with each other and discuss their holiday plans, as well as discuss their different personalizations on their wreaths. We tend to have a lot of people with similar interests and a lot of people in the wedding and floral industry, so they tend to really engage well with each other and have great conversations.
That’s it
Wreath making workshops are a great way to interact with your community and help people get excited over the creation of something very festive and happy this time of year. I hope you consider hosting a wreath making workshop of your own in the near future!