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When you want to communicate to the world that your home is holiday-ready, you hang a wreath on the front door. Not a faux one that gathers dust down in the basement in the off-season or a shiny tinsel design tied off with a giant red bow—a real, live, flower-festooned number.
On the hunt for inspiration, we enlisted the help of a few of our favorite floral designers and tasked them with the challenge of reinventing this standard adornment with their signature flair. Bonus: With a circular wreath form and some thick, bendable branches (think: honeysuckle or grapevine), you can re-create any of these natural garlands on your own.
The Eternal Icicles
Just looking at it, it’s easy to pinpoint the inspiration behind Takaya Sato’s creation. “It’s reminiscent of the icy crystals that lightly dust everything in the frost’s path,” says the Buunch NYC designer. Look closely at the monochrome arrangement and you’ll see slight variations in color—hints of gold, yellow, and cream—shining through.
The Materials:
- Bleached amaranthus
- Bleached helichrysum
- Dried chamomile
- Bleached miscanthus
- Bleached thistle eryngium
- Silver dollars
The Prickly Pick
Pine cones are a time-tested way to adorn a wreath, but Taylor Patterson, owner of Fox Fodder Farm, took an outside-the-box approach with banksia, an Australian wildflower known for its spikes and oversize heads. “This unconventional material still feels very holiday to me,” says Patterson. The juxtaposition of the heavy bulbs with the paper-thin leaves gives the monochrome design an extra edge.
The Materials:
- Dried lunaria
- Dried banksia
The Romantic
If you want your wreath to last through the whole season—and beyond—opt for preserved blooms like baby’s breath; they hold their shape and color nicely. “My favorite part of decorating with florals in the winter is getting creative with the palette,” shares Kelsie Hayes, founder of PopUp Florist. For a hit of color and a twist on the traditional red, she incorporated burgundy strawflowers.
The Materials:
- Caspia
- Seeded eucalyptus
- Dried olive baby’s breath
- Strawflowers
- Green ribbon
The Berry Beauty
The duo behind New York–based studio Putnam & Putnam may be known for their over-the-top arrangements, but they can do minimal just as well. The designers went heavy with greenery and holly berries on just one side of this ring, leaving the grapevine base largely exposed on the other half. A wine-colored bow and eggplant-hued blossoms enhance the drama.
The Materials:
- Dried pomegranates
- Holly berries
- Purple carnations
- Sprigs of smoke bush
- Merlot satin ribbon
The Forest Foliage
Wander around the backyard or take a stroll through the woods and you’ll have everything you need to re-create Jenya Tsybulskyi’s invention. (It’s almost exclusively constructed from winter greenery, with a handful of dried palms thrown in for structure.)
The Materials:
- Small pine cones
- Twigs
- Pine
- Cedar
- Juniper
- Palm leaves
- Teal ribbon
The Wild Child
Spencer Falls of the Unlikely Florist began his version with an unstructured grapevine form, then added on the elements. To achieve a similar amount of volume, let your curly willow branches sprawl out in all directions. Tuck in a single banksia flower (this time in red) for a special touch.
The Materials:
- Craspedia
- Curly willow
- Agonies
- Holly berries
- Grevillea
- Banksia
The Asymmetrical Halo
Los Angeles floral designer Kristen Caissie of Moon Canyon decided to go about as un-wreath-like as possible, opting for an uneven composition and a delicate loop of Victorian birch branches for the frame. She went full force in just one corner, packing in found fall foliage and dried fruits—an homage to the season’s harvest.
The Materials:
- Victorian birch branches
- Maple leaves
- Rose hip
- Dried citrus
- Dried persimmon
- Eucalyptus
- Silk ribbon
This story was originally published in October 2019. It has since been updated.