Wreath workshops and decoration demonstrations

Wreath workshops and decoration demonstrations

Sarah Champier from Floral Eccentrics is back this festive season running a couple of sustainably focused wreath making courses and a new event this year; a demonstration of how to make a spectacular suspended table decoration and accompanying forest floor.

We’ve all experienced lock downs and loss since that surreal moment early last year when we realised  we faced a global pandemic! A lock down, entwined with  Christmas 2020 was very  different wasn’t it? No wreath workshops for starters! None of the excited gatherings with friends and family creating festive wreaths together. So many people commented on this, it has quite clearly become a tradition in itself and a precious part of the Christmas festivities.

At Overbury we love to keep up the traditions of the countryside and wreath making is one we have embraced over the past few years.

It has been customary from at least the 16th  century to bring evergreens into the home for Christmas. Trees were favoured, but the trimmings of the tree were then recreated into circlets and hung around the home. These were the days when everything was saved and used - certainly not the throw away culture we unfortunately, experience so frequently today.  The circlet shape is significant, heralding  eternal  life and Christians believe it symbolises the light that Jesus brought into the world. Whether you are a believer or not, we are all united by traditions that have been handed down through the centuries. The evergreen wreath was so admired because the splendid foliage survived the coldest winter chills with endurance, fragrance and charm. They symbolised hardiness and hope, in much the same way that we require these elements today in the 21st Century, and that is why hanging your wreath is almost as fundamental to our Christmas festivities as bringing home the tree.

With all this in mind, our resident Florist, Sarah Champier, is at the helm once again leading the way on our wreath courses. Sarah has a vast experience, having gained her floristic qualifications locally at Pershore College she went on to become the Personal Florist to HRH The Prince of  Wales. For more than eleven years she decorated palaces and castles, with Christmas being a very special time in her repertoire. “Creating seasonal  wreaths for iconic front doors was an extraordinary experience” she says. “I love the scents and aromas from the foliage as I weave them into fragrant circular decorations. The moment you hang the wreath on your door it’s an instant transformation! It signifies so many things, but always brightens up the most humble entrance and creates a stunning welcome to all who come to your home at Christmas.”

 

This year we will be focusing on collecting foliage from the estate, and the garden team will be working hard to gather nature’s bounty in the lead up to the courses. We will combine the gathered foliage with recyclable frames and reclaimed trimmings to help us towards a  more sustainable future .

“It’s wonderful to watch everyone coming together and learning to make something they’ve constructed themselves” Sarah says. “I see so much pleasure gained  in their new skills and everyone embraces  creating  something personal and original for themselves”

 

Something new for this year is a demonstration of Sarah’s skills, where she will be leading a talk based around the creation of a suspended table creation with a forest floor below. Sarah will give you tips and advice throughout, and most importantly, the confidence to recreate something similar in your own home.

 

There will be a range of festive treats available and the events promise to provide a really great start to the festive season. We hope you will be able to join us for a few pleasurable hours on either or both of the events which will be sure to get you into the Christmas spirit.

Wreath Making - £55 per person

Saturday 27th November 10am - 1pm

Wednesday 1st December 2pm - 5pm

 

Forest floors and woodland creations, demonstration by Sarah - £20 per person

Saturday 11th December 2pm - 4.30pm 

All at Overbury Village Hall, https://w3w.co/intensely.coach.tones

 

If you would like to book on to one of these events please contact the Estate Office on; - 01386 725111 or [email protected]