Are you looking for a fun holiday girl’s night idea? Why not host a Christmas wreath decorating party? Here is a guide to what you need to do to host your own successful wreath night.
Complete Guide to Hosting a Wreath Decorating Party
Are you trying to think of a new idea for your next holiday girl’s night party? Why not throw a wreath decorating party? Not only is it fun but your guests get to leave with what they created…and we all need a wreath to hang on our doors!
Here is a guide with all of the tips and tricks to plan your own party
Pick a Date
When is the best time to have a wreath party? My advice would be to do it right after Thanksgiving when most people will be starting to decorate their homes for Christmas.
Another important factor is that fresh green wreaths will be readily available at your local stores around the Thanksgiving holiday.
This party was held the Thursday night after Thanksgiving.
Send Out Invites & Get Headcount
Next, make a guest list and get those invites out! 3-4 weeks before your party will give you time to get an accurate headcount and gather all the supplies and have enough wreaths for each attendee.
Send out an email, evite, or even set up a private Facebook group to invite your friends to your party.
You will also need to figure out a ballpark figure of how much to charge each attendee to cover the costs of the wreaths and supplies. FYI, the prices of plain wreaths and even ribbon and floral wire have jumped up quite a bit in the past year so maybe take a trip to your local craft store to price out supplies beforehand.
We did $30 a person and it covered nice 22″ full wreaths and all of the supplies to decorate them with.
Pick a Space to Hold Your Wreath Party
This will depend on how many people are coming to your wreath party. Tonight’s party will be around 20 women and this adorable barn space is where it’s going to happen,
Your friends will need space to work on their wreaths so long folding tables work well.
If you live in a warmer climate it would be fun to throw the party outside!
For a small gathering, you could use a dining room table but make sure to put a disposable tablecloth on it to protect it from the mess.
Plan Your Food & Drinks
Since your guests are going to be active during the party it’s best to stick to light finger foods and beverages.
We found that with the wreaths and supplies on the tables that there wasn’t much room to put down wine glasses or appetizer plates.
Fun Beverage Ideas:
- Wine Bar- Set up a bar with a variety of wines.
- Hot Cocoa Bar– Fill a warm drink dispenser with cocoa and set up a bar with toppings ( candy canes, crushed peppermints, and marshmallows). whipped cream, flavored liquors (raspberry, peppermint schnapps, or Baileys are good choices), and a stack of disposable hot drink cups.
- Coffee Bar– Fill a warm drink dispenser with coffee and have flavored syrups, flavored creamers, whipped cream, and flavored liquors (Kahlua, Bailey, Raspberry)
For a fun appetizer idea, these mini charcuterie cups were a hit! Fill disposable charcuterie cups with skewers of cheese cubes, meat, & fruit. Perfect grab-n-go snack.
Buy the Wreaths
If you ever wondered what 20+ wreaths look like in the back of a Jeep…here you go!!
I shopped around my area pricing wreaths and looking for good-size full wreaths to work with.
These are 22″ wreaths and are the perfect size for most front doors that I found at Home Depot. (Also had to find a store that had 20+ wreaths on hand!)
Look for the freshest-looking wreaths…give it a shake to see if it loses lots of needles. If it does put it back! Some needle loss is normal but not a pile!
What Can I Decorate a Plain Wreath With?
There are endless ideas of decorations you can add to a plain greenery wreath! When planning the supply list for the wreath decorating party I tried to keep in mind that everyone has a unique decorating style and will be drawn to a variety of embellishments.
So I gathered up a little bit of everything!!
Here is What We Offered to Decorate the Wreaths:
- Pinecones
- Fresh Greens
- Fresh Winter Berries
- Dried/Fresh Flowers
- Eucalyptus
- Silver/Gold Jingle Bells
- Dried Orange Slices
- Cinnamon Sticks
- Gingerbread Salt Dough Ornaments
- Feathers
- Ribbon
Extra greenery & Winter Berries
Have different varieties of cut greenery to add to the wreaths. Fresh cedar and boxwood were the most popular at the wreath party.
Also if you have access to fresh winterberries and bittersweet they add a natural pop of color against the greenery. They are plentiful here in New Hampshire and you can find them on the side of the road.
Trader Joe’s usually has them and also check with your local nursery.
pinecones
For the party of 20, we put out 4 big bags of pinecones (the cinnamon pinecone bags from Joann’s). On half of the pinecones, I frosted the tips with white acrylic paint and rolled them in iridescent glitter.
Jingle Bells
Jingle bells are a great addition to Christmas wreaths!! We had gold and silver bells available. They are easy to attach to the wreaths using floral wire. Run the wire through the back loop and give a couple of twists then wrap the tails of the wire around the wreath and twist the ends together until the bell is nestled securely on the wreath.
Next time I would get these bronze jingle bells too, they were out of stock when I was ordering supplies.
natural touches
The sleeper hit of the party! Wait until you see all the beautiful wreaths the partygoers made using dried orange slices and cinnamon sticks.
Another favorite was the feathers. Let me tell you they almost didn’t make it to the party…they were delayed a couple of days and arrived as I was packing up all the wreaths and supplies to head over to set up!
Cinnamon salt dough ornaments
How fun are these?? Cinnamon salt dough ornaments in gingerbread and snowflake shapes.
Flowers & Eucalyptus assortment
The day before the party I hit Trader Joe’s and stocked up on a variety of eucalyptus bunches, sea thistle, and baby’s breath. I also brought a few dried strawflowers from my cutting garden.
Assortment of ribbons
Luckily I found the ribbon on sale at Joann’s before the party! Plan for 3 yards of ribbon per guest to make sure you have enough. Also, grab an assortment of styles.
I made sure to grab some classics, plaids, and stripes plus a few fun winter patterns. When I was selecting the ribbon I also tried to keep in mind the colors of the supplies we were going to be adding to the wreaths to coordinate.
Of course, you could keep your party simpler and choose just a couple of different ribbons to use.
other important must-haves
Make sure to have plenty of floral wire on hand. Figure 1 paddle for every 4 people at the minimum.
Also, a few pairs of utility scissors and be sure to have a hot glue gun available.
Let’s Party!
The wreath party was 2 hours long which was plenty of time for everyone to socialize, hug their friends and make their wreaths.
Everyone got right to work! It was so fun to watch how different each guest’s wreath came out! You’ll see…
I did my best to work my way around the room to assist and answer questions.
Wreath Decorating Ideas
using dried orange slices
This mother-daughter duo knocked it out of the park! They both used orange slices but added different things.
- Wreath on Left– Orange slices, silver jingle bells, assorted feathers, baby’s breath, & cedar, w/ bronze ribbon.
- Wreath on Right– Orange slices, pine cones, cinnamon sticks, salt dough snowflakes, & burlap& bronze ribbon.
Flowers & berries
OK, she said she had never decorated a wreath before!!! Isn’t it gorgeous??!! This wreath has assorted flowers, a touch of eucalyptus and boxwood, winterberries, pinecones, and silver jingle bells
Asymmetrical wreath
I loved this asymmetrical wreath! Lani used feathers, winterberries, and frosted pine cones with a mint green chiffon bow hanging from the opposite side.
classic new England winter
Another beautiful wreath that just reminded me of New England winters was this one adorned with frosted pine cones, winter berries, baby’s breath, boxwood, silver jingle bells, and small birch sticks with a festive red bow.
a few more winter wreath ideas
See I told you everyone created a unique wreath! Three friends sitting together all made completely different-looking wreaths.
Something to fit everyone’s style and home! You’ll be seeing the winter sweater print ribbon (left wreath) used on my front porch this season too.
Look at how lovely the bows are on these two wreaths! An asymmetrical wreath with flowers, eucaplyptus, pine cones, silver jingle bells, a cinnamon snowflake, and a “Merry Christmas” bow.
On the right a red and white design with birch branches, berries, frosted pinecones, a red gingerbread ornament, and an intertwined red snowflake ribbon.
Fun Night!
Throwing a wreath decorating party is definitely the perfect girl’s night idea! Everyone had a great time.
Some more than others…
wreath supplies seen here
