Spring wreath workshop
By Paula Taylor
I was asked to participate in our Spring Women’s Evangelistic Event by leading a flower wreath demonstration. I was excited about this opportunity, as it was my first time doing something like this. The team organizing the event decided to use dried flowers, so I chose to dry my own flowers using methods I’ve successfully used before. With six weeks to prepare, I had plenty of time to gather everything I needed.
The planning stage was a bit tricky since I wasn’t sure of the exact number of participants. Since this was an evangelistic event, the church leaders decided not to charge the women for attending. As a result, I was mindful of costs and worked hard to get the best prices on flowers and supplies. I visited our local flower market for the flowers, wire, and ribbon, while purchasing the wreaths from Amazon as they had the best price.
Before promoting the event, we decided that the maximum number of attendees would be 54, based on the available table and space. In the end, 53 women signed up, including 6 team members. We prayed for non-Christian women to attend, or for Church women to bring a friend. The group was a mix of ages, ranging from older women to three teenagers who came with their mother and grandmother. Although most attendees were Christian, one of the biggest answers to our prayers was a childminder from our toddler group who isn’t yet a believer. She attended with a friend and her young daughter, and it was her first time attending an event like this at our church. I started the demonstration with part one, and then the women created their bunches of flowers to attach to their wreaths. We provided some foliage, string, and instructions on the tables, but the process of gathering extra flowers from the front took some time.
We had a break for a cup of tea. The speaker for the event was Amy Smith from Faith in Kids. We’ve had her speak before, and she’s become a great friend. She delivered a message based on Isaiah 40:28-31, reminding us that although we grow tired and weary, we can renew our strength by putting our hope in the Lord.
Isaiah 40:28-31
“Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The LORD is the everlasting God,
The Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
And His understanding no one can fathom.
He gives strength to the weary
And increases the power of the weak.
Even youths grow tired and weary,
And young men stumble and fall;
But those who hope in the LORD
Will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
They will run and not grow weary,
They will walk and not be faint.”
After Amy’s talk, I finished the second part of the demo, which involved attaching the flower bunches to the wreaths using wire. All the women seemed delighted with their creations. Looking around the room, I saw lots of happy chatter as people enjoyed the crafting time. We had some great photo opportunities, which we were able to share on the church’s Facebook page.
I do thank God for the answers to our prayers for the event. He helped me in my demo, gave me confidence to teach, based on my own learning. He worked through Amy as she shared her personal family struggles. This was a wonderful event.
Learning Points:
I would distribute the flowers more evenly across the tables next time to ensure a fair distribution. Despite requesting that people avoid being too greedy, some still took more than their fair share.
Since I hadn’t done this before, I realized I needed more flowers than I had initially estimated—it’s tough to gauge.
The cost per wreath came out to around £8, which was a reasonable budget.
List of Flowers Used:
Mini yellow & white roses (I needed more of these)
Statice in yellow, lilac, pink, purple, and white (very
popular)
Waxed flower (I wouldn’t buy these again)
Gypsophila (very popular)
Limonium in purple, pink, and lilac (lovely—similar to
heather)
Bunny tail
Dried lavender from my garden (harvested last year)
Hessian ribbon (I ran out and needed more)
I bought my grapevine wreaths from Amazon.