Christmas Wreath
Seasonal decor for your door
The Christmas wreath has long been part of the celebration of Christmas. The wreath is a staple of Christmas decor, just as much a mainstay as Christmas lights or the Christmas tree itself. A holiday wreath is a must-have on your front door, welcoming guests and putting all who enter in the Christmas spirit.
Wreath Options
There are two main options when it comes to choosing a wreath:
- Fresh Christmas wreaths are made with fresh evergreen branches and leaves, usually fir, holly or cedar, and decorated with berries, pinecones, bells and ribbons. These traditional wreaths are gorgeous and smell great, but they can be expensive and they last only one season.
- Artificial Christmas wreaths come in every style imaginable, from traditional to contemporary to modern art. Choose an artificial evergreen wreath for a traditional-looking wreath that can be used year after year, or express your style with a unique wreath made of cut aluminum, cellophane or faux feathers.
While most modern Christmas wreaths are intended to hang on a door or a wall, the traditional Advent wreath lies flat on a table or counter. Advent wreaths are used by Christians to mark the passage of the four weeks of Advent. The wreath is composed of evergreen and contains four candles, a candle representing each week. One candle is lit for each Sunday in Advent, with a fifth candle in the center being lit on Christmas Eve.
Wreath Traditions
The first recorded Christmas wreaths were made by a German man named Johann Hinrich Wichern, of Hamburg. He studied theology, and was also a highly-regarded teacher in the town of Hamburg. During Advent, many of his students would ask when Christmas came. After a while, Wichern came up with an idea to mark the passage of time. Johann acquired a wooden ring, bored holes into this ring, and adorned it with 19 red candles and four white ones. Every day, Johann Wichern lit a red candle, and on the Sabbath a white candle was lit. Once the tradition carried on into America, strips of evergreen were entwined into the wooden ring to make a wreath. Both the evergreen bows and the circular form symbolize the continuity of life. These particular wreaths were also adorned with more festive bows and bells to accommodate the contemporary idea of Christmas. The trend that popularized the Advent wreath was born.
These days, many families carry on the tradition of counting down the days till Christmas with an Advent calendar. Most Christmas wreaths and Christmas flowers are used merely as decorative ornaments, but they still add to the festive mood of the holiday season. They remind us of the longstanding traditions of Christmastime and the joy and bounty of the season.
