‘Blood, sweat and tears’ behind Wellpark’s magical Xmas display

The countdown to Christmas officially began for Orkney shoppers last Friday night, as Wellpark Garden Centre launched its annual festive display. 

The Kirkwall premises was mobbed, as those eager to fill stockings sooner rather than later enjoyed a 15 per cent discount on a colourful array of decor, festive treats and preserves. Many also stopped for a bite and a cuppa in the cafe in-between filling baskets full of Christmas goodies. 

For the business itself, the countdown to the festivities begins much earlier. 

“It kind of all starts in January, really,” said garden centre manager Kirsten Ward, who makes a trip to the Netherlands at the start of each year alongside Christmas co-conspirator Michael Sutherland to pick out stock for the coming season.

“It’s such a large showroom that it’s really hard to cherry-pick things out that you think are going to be popular. So that in itself is a bit of a feat. 

“We spend a day and a bit out there, selecting some of the stuff, and then we come home and then we cherry-pick more out of it. Then we get our final quotes back in by about February. We also go to another show in Harrogate as well. 

“Behind the scenes, Christmas never leaves our minds, really, because you don’t want to turn your eye away from it. You’ve got to put the thought into what you’re going to do and how you’re going to display it.”

By July, stock is starting to arrive — at a time when the garden centre is very much caught up in the hustle and bustle of summer.

Kirsten says that “blood, sweat and tears” quite literally went into getting the final display put together.

“We did it in record time this year,” she said.

“We did it in about 16 days, which is pretty much unheard of. But it was pretty much 11-hour, if not 12-hour, days. The staff were in at 9am, and some of them only got home at 9pm.”

The core group of Christmas elves involved in sorting the stock and planning out how it would be displayed comprise Kirsten, Michael, Kerry Manson, and Isla Rushbrook. They were joined by all hands, including cafe staff, in a mission akin to putting up the tree and decorations at home — 50-fold.

Indeed, much like families indulging in the annual tradition — the experience can have joy and stress in equal measure. 

“It was lovely to have the help, because we needed it,” said Kirsten.

“There were fraught times, I must say!

“It definitely wasn’t without its blood, sweat and tears, and literally there was a bit of blood, because people were cutting themselves on bits and pieces. I was stabbing myself with a stapler at the end. It was just things like that — and a few fallouts brought a few tears as well.”

But it’s all worth it when the team sees the looks on shoppers’ faces as they enter the winter wonderland they have created. 

“There’s something magical about it,” said Kirsten of the festive season.

“Now that I’ve got a young one as well, it’s even more magical. 

“It’s definitely just the look on people’s faces. We’re hoping to recreate that nostalgic feeling around Christmas as well. Everyone wants to capture that in their own lives and in their own homes. So, hopefully we give that to people when they come in and see  our displays.”

Christmas can’t start too soon at Wellpark, with shoppers tending to get their decorations sorted out before its time to get the tree up. There’s still more to come from the garden centre, with real trees due to arrive at the end of next month, and Santa set to make an appearance at the start of December. 

“I think there might be another something special coming as well, but I don’t want to let the cat out of the bag yet,” hinted Kirsten, eager to give customers something special this season.