When I was dreaming up my projects for the Preppy Wedding Inspiration series, I was super inspired by the beautiful faux boxwood garlands! I wanted to create a unique and beautiful project that would have a big impact on your wedding decor. I decided to turn this lovely garland into a chic and stylish wreath, perfect for a preppy wedding or even to hang in your home! I would love to see this wreath on the front door of your church or even hung at the altar where you exchange your vows. And I absolutely love that it’s customizable for whatever your wedding monogram is!
Start by painting your styrofoam wreath. I recommend using shades of green, or even mixing in some brown paint to give a base for your wreath. This helps fill in any gaps and makes them less noticeable.
Once your painted styrofoam wreath is dry, start wrapping your boxwood garlands around the wreath, using hot glue to secure. Start off by hot-gluing the end of your garland to the wreath, and then slowly and carefully wrap the garland through and around the wreath until covered. Two garlands should completely cover the full wreath.
As you can see, the painted surface really helps to disguise any gaps in the wreath!
After your wreath is completed, you’ll move on to creating your pearl monogram. Choose the letter you’d like to use for your monogram and start by using floral wire to mimic the shape and style of your monogram. You’ll want to make sure to double up the wire, and fold it back on itself. Use your pliers to make a loop at the end of your letter so you can easily attach it to your wreath, and to keep the pearls from falling off your wire.
Think of your letters the same way you would write them. If you’d lift your pen or pencil to make another stroke, you’ll probably need another strip of floral wire to shape your letter. Wrap your floral wire through existing “strokes” of your letters to attach them.
To create my “B”, I wrapped my floral wire through the center of the downstroke of the B, then looped and threaded it back through half of the pearls on the top half of the B. The result was great and helped the letter form more naturally. You’ll just want to make sure you pull your wire taught and tight for the best results. Using pliers really helps!
Finish off your letter by wrapping the wire through the connecting strokes of the letter, or by looping off and trimming your wire to keep the beads on the wire shape.
The wire can be pretty forgiving, so feel free to play around until you get the result you desire! Once your letter is done, you can attach it to your wreath using more floral wire. I love using the dark green floral wire because it blends in so well against the boxwood!
I placed my letter where I wanted it, then cut pieces of floral wire around 6 inches long, and used them to invisibly attach the letter to the wreath by wrapping it through the garlands on the wreath.
Once your letter is secure, your wreath is ready to hang! You can hang the wreath using a method of your choice, but we used floral wire to hang it from a bar on the ceiling as pictured below. So chic, right?
I hope this project inspires you to create something outside of the box for your wedding!
See the other posts in this series: Preppy Wedding Inspiration, DIY Printable Wedding Program Fan, and Skinny Mojito Recipe.