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The Advent Wreath at St. Paul’s Cathedral A privilege and a joy For a number of years now the London Branch of CEFAA [The Church of England Flower Arrangement Association] have had the privilege and honour to provide the Advent wreath in St Paul’s Cathedral. This year saw Averill Lovatt organising it. I was pleased in early December when Averill asked if I would like to be one of the arrangers to do the wreath this year and I was both delighted and honoured to be asked. So, on Saturday 26 November 2016 Averill and I met at the tube station at 8:30am, armed with bags of foliage, our scissors and secateurs and headed off to the cathedral where we met up with three other CEFAA members, Frances Alger [St Paul’s Hadley Wood], Dixie Locke [St Andrew’s Totteridge] and Pat Marshall [St. Thomas, Oakwood]. Arriving at the Cathedral we had to collect our security passes and from that moment where treated as staff. I was rather taken by surprise at the size of what we were about to create—the wreath is staged on a huge old wooden bell wheel, probably around 7ft in Diameter—I began to wonder if we would there all day! It was also standing on the main dais under the dome of St. Paul’s and adjacent to their forward altar so we were on full view to the thousands of visitor’s thronging around the cathedral. Hopefully this picture with me next to the wreath gives you some idea of the size. The mechanics included sixteen blocks of floral foam which we had to soak, a lot of chicken wire and other wires with which we attached the former to the bell wheel, plus a small floral foam wreath base to place around the central candle. We had each brought bags of foliage so once the mechanics were in place we unpacked the foliage and laid it out. But before we began we had to protect the polished wood dais with sheets and towels to catch the water etc. Around 10am and we were ready to begin. We were lucky that between us we had just about enough foliage to fully cover the wheel. Well, with a bit of judicious pruning of shrubs in St Paul’s Churchyard and thanks to neighbours and friends! We worked well as a team, with plenty of light banter as 10
we climbed in and out of the wheel, bumping heads and tripping on the base and of course being trickled on by the water cascading from the floral foam—the joys of flower arranging. Fortified by a short break for coffee in the cathedral crypt, we returned and finished and cleared up in time for Averill and me to attend the midday Eucharist. The responsibilities did not stop there and it was Averill’s job to ensure that the wreath was kept watered and replenished throughout the whole of Advent—this she achieved with a rota of CEFAA members and friends who managed to go to the Cathedral on almost every day before Advent Sunday – no mean feat. It was both a privilege and joy to be part of the team and so nice having so many of the cathedral staff and visitors stop to talk about the wreath, it’s creation and its purpose and to say how nice it looked. Hopefully she might ask me again this year? Laurie Little 11
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