Celebrating Christmas and the Festive Season in Luxury

Christmas and the holiday season is all about luxury at Neill Strain Floral Couture. Renowned throughout Belgravia, Knightsbridge, Kensington, Chelsea and Mayfair for Christmas decorations and decor of the utmost elegance and opulence, Neill shares with us his magnificent festive designs of the season with a focus on his exquisite door wreaths.

The run up to Christmas is starting earlier and getting busier every year at the Belgravia boutique. We've already done so many house installations with our festive home styling and the boutique is buzzing with clients choosing their door-wreath decorations, planning their Christmas table decor or a spectacular party while the Ooooo's, Ahhhh's and photos outside on the street continue to amaze me!

Although we pride ourselves on the luxury and opulence of our designs with exceptional flowers from the top growers throughout the year, it is at Christmas and the holiday season that we are able to indulge in the most lavish, most theatrical designs. Perhaps it's the spirit of Christmas that brings out the childlike, playful side of my clients who delight in decorations more profusive and palatial than at other times of the year. Whether it's a bolder colour scheme, more glitz and glamour, or a complete transformation of magic and enchantment, the month of December is a time for creativity and cheerfulness for me and my team that I absolutely adore !

One of my favourite things about our Christmas designs is that our brand name, Floral Couture, really comes into its own. I have a fetish for fashion and choosing the most stunning ribbons and fabric for the holiday season is a treat. We use our gorgeous ribbons not only in our wonderful door wreaths, but in almost everything from our floral arrangements, to garlands to Christmas Trees. It is the extreme textural blend of organic material, sparkling baubles and richly embroidered ribbon that gives our signature opulent look and really portrays our skills as floral couturiers.

In my last two blog posts I have described our festive Home Styling services (October) and our Christmas displays at the Belgravia boutique (November). In this post, I am focusing on the Door Wreath as it is such an important item for the holiday season.

Why do we hang a wreath on our front door, other than to decorate it and show our friends and families the style in which we wish to celebrate the season? This custom is an age-old tradition stemming from ancient Rome's New Year's celebrations. The Romans wished each other "good health" by exchanging branches of evergreen foliage such as laurel. They called these gifts strenae after Strenia, the goddess of health. Shaping the evergreens into a wreath also bears a symbolic meaning: it's circular form represents eternity as it has no beginning and no end and it represents the unending circle of life. The choice of evergreen foliage is not just for seasonal purposes, but also has the symbolic meaning of growth and everlasting life.

In most cases, when clients purchase a door wreath from us, we will create bespoke designs for their home. In this way, the style of the door wreath reflects the style and colour theme of the decorations inside. No two wreaths are ever alike as are no two homes ever alike.

Here are some more of our recent designs.

Of course the circular wreath is often created as a candle table decoration, hence here are a few of our seasonal candle wreaths and table centres.

The good news is that we can now deliver our wreaths and designs all over the U.K. and even abroad. Send one as a gift or order your own, and a package like this will be delivered to you...

All that is left for me to tell you now is that I send you my very best wishes for Christmas, the festive season and the New Year. Thank you for sharing a fabulous year with us and we look forward to many more.

Florally yours,

Neill x