St. Mary the Virgin, Wivenhoe
The wonderful flower arrangements at the church, particularly for special occasions and on liturgical high days, are the committed work of Sylvia Usher and her team of helpers. Here Sylvia explains what is involved.
Enjoy the pictures. If this kind of creative work appeals to your sense of beauty and inspires you with a desire to be 'hands-on', Sylvia will be pleased to help you express your gift. What's more, her professional expertise is available for free to the volunteers.
You don't need to be a member of the congregation to be eligible to join the flower arranging team.
The Rainbow Flower Festival
I have been organising the flower arrangements in St Mary's church for several years. Until recently we worked with a flower rota, whereby several people gave their time and effort to arrange flowers week by week. Over the years, we were able to stage three flower festivals, open to the public (though the children from both local schools always had a preview!).
The captioned picture was taken during the Rainbow Flower Festival, when the church was magnificently decked out in all the colours of the spectrum.
We fully decorate the church for the main festivals such as Easter and a lot of thought and preparation go into these events. This involves not just the joy of putting together, but the chore of dismantling afterwards too and the efforts of the team, as well as those of the coffee makers(!), are greatly appreciated.
After many years of professional devotion to beautifying and enhancing numerous wedding services, Sylvia has now retired from providing this service. Sylvia's successor, also a professional florist, is continuing this service and can be contacted through the Rector at the time of making the wedding booking if the couple wish.
Requests for special funeral arrangements can also still be made. [Ed.]
In recent times the flower arranging team has suffered a decrease in numbers through natural causes such as illness and age. The remaining volunteers manfully (now, there's a thought: men?) continue to enhance the appearance of the church on high days and feast days, but the team would love to have more members.
If you are interested, you are very welcome to come along and watch when we decorate the church. Indeed, being on the team includes free lessons in flower arranging!
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