Christmas time has always been precious to me. Mostly with the kids growing up and especially since I live in London.
Here, almost all doors are extravagantly decorated and the gorgeous wreaths are all out for the festivities in the capital …
So this year, for the first time, I wanted to feel like a true Londoner and participated in a workshop to make my own wreath! 

Today, DOYOUSPEAKLONDON invits you to learn all the secrets of wreath making … 

The origin of wreaths

Christmas wreaths are a well-known tradition, which has been around for a while. Wreaths are used in all houses, inside and out, as a decorative sign of Christmas. But where do their name  and meaning come from?
I learnt that “the word ‘wreath’ could be derived from an English word meaning to twist, such as in a circle”. 
From a christian religious perspective, the Christmas wreath symbolizes the Christ. The circular shape, with no beginning or end, represents eternity or the unending circle of life, while the evergreens symbolizes growth and everlasting life.
The wreaths were typically decorated with four candles, three on the exterior and one in the middle. The middle candle was lit on Christmas Eve to symbolize the arrival of Jesus Christ. A tradition began in the early 19th century to lay evergreens shaped into wreaths or crosses on graves to honor the dead. Family members would bring them home to use as part of their Christmas decorations during the holiday season.

How to make your own wreath?

Wherever you look in London, the facades and doors are adorned with wreaths. Some are quite simple, some others are more sophisticated. Whatever their aspect, the wreaths are always a good addition to your home!
This year, I booked in for a wreath-making workshop organised at my kids’  school, with a professional. A few mums (including me) had never decorated a wreath before (unsurprisingly mostly foreigners!), but some others obviously knew their stuff, having brought their own utensils and decorative led tinsels ! 
To begin with, wreaths are made of evergreens. You can choose artificial branches of course, but then you would miss the particular smell of the evergreens…
Wreaths can be decorated with a wide variety of Christmassy items such as pine cones, holly berries, dried fruits or anything that suits you!
Here are the best advice I’ve had while decorating my own wreath:
1. Always work in a clockwise direction, following the wreath’s branches.
2. Keep it as natural as possible. Tinsels may be appealing, but I rather fancy a natural effect on my wreath.
3. Make bunches of items, don’t use them individually. The professional there advised us to group 3 items together, which I did for the dried oranges, cinnamons and berries, to give more of an “organized feel to the wreath design”. 
4. Be proud of your result! All wreaths are nice to look at anyway!

Wreath inspirations

You surely associate Christmas with decorations and celebrations. Christmas also gives the opportunity to gather family and friends around a good meal …and wreaths can be an good inspiration for meals !

Try this salad, which combines nice ingredients with a good looking impact: salad leaves, pears, walnuts, blue cheese and pomegranate (one of my favorite fruit to decorate salads…!).
Here is a caprese Christmas wreath that is absolutely my style: the perfect healthy appetizer !
And I would personally go for this BBC Good Food recipe to try a tasty dessert: a “spiced fruit & pistachio bread wreath” (pistachios are always a good treat, aren’t they?). 

But there are still many other choices! Especially there is no shortage of ideas on Pinterest on how to make edible wreaths to decorate the house and finally eat everything up at Christmas! Enjoy!

I hope you’ve enjoyed this post and found inspiration here. If you are planning to make your own wreath or have any recommendation of wreath-inspired recipes, please share your experience here!