Increase Holiday Sales with Advent Wreaths
Families often gather in the holiday season to celebrate religious or cultural beliefs. In many areas, Advent wreaths are a highlight of this celebratory season.
Are you offering the seasonal wreaths, DIY materials, children’s calendars, and accessories your customer can use to celebrate the Advent season of light?
If not, now is the time to prepare for selling traditional and non-traditional designs and do-it-yourself materials to your clientele this holiday season.
Advent wreaths are an element of informal celebrations; not all designs are the same. Experiment with different looks.
- Wrap around outside and inside of wreath with gold or silver wire or bullion.
- Hang an advent wreath from the ceiling as a candelabra.
- Use shapes like stars, trees or angels as the focal point of your design.
- Base your design with unexpected material like cinnamon sticks, tree bark or cones.
- Use varied heights of candles – votives, pillars, or candle tapers for different looks.
- Be sure to offer candle stakes of various sizes to aid with fire protection.
- Offer a variety of ring holders, wreath bases and design rings for different sized designs.
Promoting design materials that assist clients with decorating in the Advent season can dramatically increase sales. Try these tips for boosting your profits.
Why Advent wreaths?
People have used Advent wreaths since ancient times to represent the coming of Christ on Christmas Day. The word Advent means ‘coming’ in Latin.
In the sixteenth century, Eastern European Christians were making Advent wreaths much like the ones we use today.
Natural greens available from the outdoors were often used. Some favorites still popular today include evergreens, ivy, holly, boxwood, magnolia, nandina, etc.
A wreath of fresh evergreens brought a seasonal look and fragrance into the home. In time, candles were added. Candlelight offered comfort during the dark months, while they waited for the longer, lighter days of spring.
In the 1920s, a resurgence Advent Wreaths popularity took place in Germany. Many German-speaking families in Europe still celebrate the first Advent Sunday with an Adventskranz (Advent wreath).
In the 1930s, the religious concept came to North America with German Lutheran immigrants. While still not as popular here as they are in Europe, the wreaths are rapidly becoming a tradition.
Some families remove the four colored-candles after the passing of Advent and replace them with four white candles. These candles are then lit every evening during the remainder of the holiday season.
Creating the sale
How can you create a demand for Advent wreaths in your floral business?
- Use an Advent sales vignette as your ‘silent salesperson’. A vignette actively merchandises – openly displays products and drives sales by showcasing how the products can be used.
- Use old doors or wooden partitions covered in fabric or other materials to serve as a backdrop for the vignette. Placing the backdrop on a sturdy base and adding wheels beneath allows for the display to be moved easily.
- Display a stack of ‘how-to’ handouts in the sales area. Feature a picture of the DIY wreath, step-by-step instructions, and a list of the products needed. This encourages your customer to purchase the materials and reproduce the design at home.
- Offer a variety of color, style, or theme suggestions. Customers love it when you help them to be creative with a basic product.
- Set up a separate ‘grab & go’ candle display. Include varied sizes of candles needed for other holiday décor as well.
- Add a note of caution to wreaths that you sell, with a reminder not to leave burning candles unattended.
- Offer in-store classes for creating an Advent wreath. Along with the cost of the materials, be sure to charge for the instructor’s time.
Following tradition
A traditional Advent wreath contains four candles. Three of the candles are purple and lit on the first, second, and fourth Sundays of Advent. They symbolize hope, peace, and love.
One candle is rose or pink to symbolizes joy. It’s usually lit on the third Sunday.
Sometimes a fifth candle is used. This candle is white and placed inside the Advent wreath.
It is lit on Christmas Day for arrival of the Christ child.
See this blog for more ideas - Five Designs Steps and Seven Ways to sell Advent Wreaths
Often the focus of today’s decor is nature.
The age-old use of freshly gathered natural materials from the outdoors has survived for generations and is on-trend once again.
A material-gathering trip to the backyard, park or nearest woods for wreath-making projects at home can be fun for a family.
Designs inspired by nature help recreate sustainable lifestyles. This is not a trend, it is an evolution of thought. This voluntary simplicity movement encourages a return to ‘back to basics’ lifestyles and celebrations.
Celebrating the Advent season
The Advent season varies in length from 22 to 28 days. It begins on the first Advent Sunday (the fourth before Christmas) and continues the next three Sundays, ending on Christmas Day.
During the Advent Season, one candle on the wreath is lit each Sunday to represent the spiritual preparation for the coming of Christ on Christmas Day.
Depending on the spiritual tradition of the family, participants may read scripture, sing Christmas carols, or recite spiritual meditations.
Older children can take turns lighting the candles, while younger ones can help blow them out at the end of the meal.
Some families incorporate a using a daily Advent children’s calendar in their celebration of light.
Celebrating at church
During this special liturgical season, many churches perform Advent services. They often attach themes to each candle, most often 'hope', 'faith', 'joy', and 'love'.
- Reach out to your local churches with marketing materials about Advent wreaths and the materials your shop has to offer.
- Print small brochures with photos and text about Advent wreaths. Include your shop’s contact information for people placing orders.
- Offer a free wreath to the church in exchange for the opportunity to teach a class to interested congregation members.
Planning your sales season? Want a Holiday boost? Try this 6-step floral Advent Wreath.
Regardless of what formula you use to develop Advent sales in your floral business, the key is to get started early in the season.
Introduce the eye-catching designs to your clientele with enough support materials (handouts, vignettes, social media posts, etc.) to encourage them to celebrate the Advent season.
How do you promote Advent wreaths and materials in your floral business?