A few designs in Kandi's shop light up. The Cardinal Church Lighted Grapevine Wreath has a white church that glows softly with battery-powered lights. The Whimsical Witch and Spider Light-Up Halloween Wreath lights for October. Lights are one of the most requested features and one of the most often done badly, so here is how they are built into a wreath properly, and what to know if you own one.
The rule: it has to look finished with the lights off
A lighted wreath spends most of its life in daylight. If the lights are strung across the front of the design, the wreath looks like a wreath with a cord on it for sixteen hours a day. The lights have to be part of the build, not an addition.
That means:
- Lights go inside, not on top. They are woven through the greenery at the base of the florals, so what shows in daylight is greenery and what shows at night is a glow through it.
- Focal pieces get lit from within. The church on the cardinal wreath lights from inside, so the windows glow. That is a different effect from a string of bulbs around a church.
- The battery pack is hidden. Tucked behind the base, secured, and reachable without unhanging the wreath.
Battery, always
A front door has no outlet. Every lighted design Kandi builds runs on a battery pack, and the good ones have a timer: set it once, and it comes on at dusk for six hours and off for eighteen, every day, until the batteries run down. A timer means you never touch the wreath again for the season.
Warm white is the default for winter and Christmas designs, because cool white reads blue against greenery. Colored lights belong on a design built for them, like a Halloween piece with purple.
How the lights are attached
Inside the workshop, lights go on early, right after the greenery and before the florals, so the strand is buried by everything that follows. Each section of the strand is wired to the base rather than left to hang, and the run is planned so the battery pack ends up at the back, near the hanging loop, where a hand can reach it. Attaching lights last, over a finished design, is how you end up with visible cord.
Krew members learn this in the holiday design sessions, and the attachment techniques in the vault cover securing a strand so it does not shift when the wreath is boxed. Dereka Danciu's attachment sessions inside the Kreative Krew are the place to learn built-in elements like a lit church.
Owning a lighted wreath
Hanging it. Hang it as you would any wreath, from its loop. Turn the lights on before you step back, so you can check the glow is even and adjust any strand that has shifted in the box. How to hang a wreath without damaging your door covers the hardware.
Batteries. Fresh batteries at the start of the season. A timer pack running six hours a day generally gets through a season, but keep a spare set inside the house.
Weather. A covered porch. Battery packs are not built for rain, and neither is the rest of the wreath.
Storage. Take the batteries out before boxing the wreath. A battery that leaks over a hot summer takes the pack with it and can stain the greenery. Tape a fresh set to the inside of the box lid. How to store seasonal wreaths has the rest.
Should every wreath have lights?
No. Lights suit a winter or Christmas design, a Halloween design, or a specific focal piece that wants to glow. An everyday wreath or a spring design with a string of lights on it looks like it is trying too hard. When Kandi adds lights, it is because the design has a reason for them.
If you want one
Lighted designs are one of a kind like everything else in the shop, so if the cardinal church wreath is showing as available, that is the piece in the photos. If it has sold, the Christmas and Winter collection shows what is currently on the bench, and cardinal wreaths and winter décor explains why a winter design is worth considering over a strictly Christmas one.
Frequently asked questions
Can I replace the battery pack if it dies?
Yes. Packs are secured but not glued into the design, so a replacement pack of the same type can be wired in.
Do the lights get hot?
No. They are low-voltage LED strands and are safe against faux greenery and ribbon.
Can I add lights to a wreath I already own?
Yes, but weave them into the greenery from the back rather than laying them over the front, and secure the pack behind the base. It is easier on the easel than on a table.
Are the lights on all night?
Only if you leave them. A timer pack runs six hours on and eighteen off, which is the setting most buyers use.
