Dried Flower Wreaths and You

“A wedding anniversary is the celebration of love, trust, partnership, tolerance and tenacity. The order varies for any given year”

. -Paul Sweeney

A wedding anniversary is an occasion to celebrate the date on which a wedding took place. On this day people celebrate the joys and pains they have borne together as a couple. Every anniversary serves to fortify the marital vows of sincere love and faithfulness. The anniversary gives them an opportunity to share their happiness with their friends and family. These celebrations are usually quite grand and we remember it for a long time.

Gifts form an integral part of wedding anniversaries. Jewelry, dresses, clocks are all gifts, which couples have been gifting each other since the advent of this tradition. Times have changed and so has the gifting patterns of man. But one gift, which has withstood the onslaught of time, is flowers. Man has been depending on flowers to express his deepest emotions since time immemorial. Each flower has a symbol and significance of its own

We use different flowers to celebrate each succeeding year of our marriage. Not only fresh flowers, even artificial ones, like those made of silk are hot favorites among couples of today. People gift flowers in the form of bouquets, accents, centerpieces and wreaths.

Anniversary comes once a year, so pull out all stops and turn it into the most memorable event of her life. You can make a breathtaking dried wreath yourself by following the simple steps given below.

Collect the following materials:

• Heart shaped grapevine wreath base
• Preserved salal
• Preserved eucalyptus
• Burgundy silk roses
• Preserved statice, fern, lavender, celosia, rice flowers
• Preserved Australian daisies
• Yarrow, Globe Amaranth
• Moss
• Bear grass
• Sheer mauve ribbon
• Florist wire
• Hot glue

Instructions:

1. Make several bunches with the flowers and foliage and tie with florist wire. Cover the wire with bear grass. You can include a particular type of flower exclusively in each bunch. Using different foliage for different bunches will give an interesting look to the wreath. Do not use up all the flowers and foliage, as you will need some later.
2. Tear the moss into roughly edged pieces and attach them to the wreath base with hot glue.
3. Attach some of the salal and eucalyptus leaves randomly with glue on the wreath.

4. Place each bunch on the moss-covered wreath and secure it with florist wire. In similar manner, cover the whole wreath with all the bunches, overlapping them a bit to give a dense look. Take a step back and check whether there is any gap in the wreath. If so, cover it up with flowers and foliage.

5. Cut the flower heads of the roses and decorate the wreath by attaching with hot glue.

6. Make a bow with the sheer ribbon and attach on one side of the wreath.

You may add a note expressing your undying love for your spouse.