I know its weird to be talking about wreaths in summer (I mean, Wimbledon hasn’t even started yet…) but these feathery ones from Plucking Fabulous are too pretty to confine to Christmas. We talked to founder Venetia Phipps about her quirky profession and eclectic range that includes table centrepieces, feather-fringed lampshades and storm lanterns, too (did someone say summer alfresco BBQ?)
I was a corporate lawyer in London - a full-blown townie - and married a farmer in the country who has a family shoot. I found myself using a few tail feathers for table centrepieces and then one year I saw a few feathers in a wreath at a Christmas market on Southbank. That's when I got the idea for Plucking Fabulous.
After a shoot on a Saturday, the game dealer turns up on a Wednesday; I wondered about all those feathers getting burnt after the meat has been used. I thought if I used them to make a wreath then nothing would go to waste. I was taught to pluck a bird, and it took me 14 hours to make my first wreath. Now, it’s more like an hour for the smaller ones!
I get asked all the time if the feathers are real. I get all the partridge, duck, pheasant and guinea fowl from my husband’s family farm, and I get batches of peacock, grouse, ostrich and turkey feathers from other farms. I can do bespoke orders (though I try to keep it fairly local to me in Saffron Walden) and I hire my work out for weddings and events. My best selling wreath is the cock pheasant mix, but I do love the blues and greens of a peacock. And the guinea fowl ones are scrumptious!
To see the full Plucking Fabulous range, visit: www.pluckingfabulous.co.uk