Behind the Scenes at The Magnolia Company: How We Make Our Signature Wreaths

Magnolias, Wreaths, and Busy Season

At The Magnolia Company, we’re really known for two things: our expertise in growing luscious, magnificent magnolia trees, and our (literally) top of the line magnolia wreaths.

After 20 years in the industry, we’ve got to admit we’re pretty proud of our process. With recognition from critically acclaimed magazines like Southern Living and Oprah, we’re among the best of the best.

October marks the start of our annual busy season.  We bring on extra growers for the farms and artisans for our production team.   We wouldn’t be able to keep up with the demand for our products otherwise!

Our busy season kicked off a couple weeks ago, so in honor of another great year, we’re going into a behind the scenes look (how-it’s-made style) at our wreaths.  We hope you enjoy!

Step One: Grow the Highest Quality Magnolia Trees

We pour blood, sweat, and tears into our environmental stewardship.  It’s far better to grow sturdy trees that last a lifetime than to plant and replant year after year.  We put every ounce of our being into sustainable growing, so that our groves flourish year round.

And the trees thank us for it, with abundant bounties of gorgeous glossy green leaves.  No matter how much we prune and harvest, our groves just keep giving.

Next, Have the World’s Best Team of Growers

When harvesting time rolls around, our growers go into our groves, pruning each tree by hand. 

Our growers look for a few things before they harvest a branch from one of our trees. 

The first consideration is size: is the branch mature enough to be harvested?  Is it too big (too central) to the body of the tree to be harvested?  Does it meet the right length and width measurements?

Our growers also consider the quality of the foliage on the branch.  Does it look healthy?  Are the leaves the right color, size, and shape?  Essentially, do the leaves look like they’re the right quality for our wreaths?

When a branch checks all the right boxes, our team harvests it.  They spend hours, day in and day out, until the groves have given all they can.  For the trees, it’s now time to rest and recover – just in time for winter.  

Come spring, they’ll be bursting at the seams with new life, and the beautiful cycle repeats.

Let the Sorting Begin!

Our growers deliver their harvested boughs to our first team of artisans, who go over each branch with a fine toothed comb. 

This team specializes in making sure each leaf truly meets our exacting standards of quality, before they get passed along to our second team of artisans for crafting.

These artisans also go in, branch by branch, completely by hand, and bundle boughs together.  Based on their measurements, some bundles are dedicated to wreaths.  Others are reserved for bouquets, garlands, or centerpieces. 

Some of our wreaths have special bases – bases that preserve the leaves for years to come.  Our formulas are fade proof and streak free, so they’re exceedingly durable. 

When you place an order for one of our lacquered wreaths, the bunches go to another workbench, and one of our team members tints each leaf and branch to your order’s specifications. 

The coating needs plenty of time to set, undisturbed.  We leave the lacquered leaves to dry at this station before our production team can work with them.

This is Where the Magic Happens

Whether you selected a wreath with a fresh, natural base, or an impeccable lacquered design that will hold its color for years, every wreath is fabricated by hand. (Are you noticing a theme here?)

Every artisan has the recipe for each wreath at their workbench, and branch by branch, they weave our magnolia boughs into your wreath.

Some designs incorporate fresh branches from other plants.  Cedar, spruce, salal, eucalyptus, boxwood – we work with so many botanicals in our collections.  These are woven into the wreath, too.

We also love using dried botanicals, like yarrow and millet, in our designs.  Pine cones, magnolia pods, berries, flowers… the list goes on.

Finally, if there’s a bow or ribbon in the wreath’s design, our artisans visit a special workbench one of our craftsmen engineered specifically for tying the perfect bow.  We’re big on the little details. 

On Its Way to You

Every single wreath is – you guessed it – packaged by hand.

We custom designed our boxes to fit two purposes: durability and gift-ability.

Our wreaths are works of art, so it’s extremely important to protect them during shipping.  We secure every wreath in its box, which we make from thick cardboard.  Sustainability is extremely important to our business, so these boxes were created in the hopes that you will use them to store your wreath between seasons for years.

Gift-ability is a less tangible quality.  If you’re gifting one of our products, we want it to arrive on their doorstep as if you had wrapped it yourself.  So, instead of a plain, dingy, cardboard box, we print our gorgeous floral logo (another thing we’re quite proud of) on the front. 

It’s our “seal of approval.” 

Each box also includes our signature care cards, so you or the person you’re giving a wreath to gets the most out of nature’s finest. 

There you have it!

Our beloved company wouldn’t be possible without folks like you.  Year after year and season after season, you support us in droves.  Your support grows our trees and makes a difference in the lives of our teams. In a way, you helped make your wreath.  It’s a beautiful circle.  Thank you for being part of it!

What should we do a deep dive behind the scenes on next? 

Reach us any time, from anywhere, via phone call, email, or social media message.  Hearing from you is the highlight of every single work day.  Yes, we actually read your emails and messages, and you will get a response from a real person.  We care!

Happy Busy Season to all, and to all a blessed time!