To answer your questions, the wreath has a wooden base, with metal candle holders.
To this I added small leaf Ivy, Holly and some sort of large leaf ivy that has an interesting star shaped berry/flower head.
You light one candle on the first Sunday of Advent (30th November this year) and then another candle on each of the remaining Sundays leading up to Christmas (four Sundays in Advent).
I have added a white candle in the center to represent the Christ, as a symbol of the Light illuminating the earth.
One could interpret the wreath in a pagan context: the four red candles could be associated with the four corners of the earth, the four elements, and the sun, the Light, returning to the earth at Winter Solstice represented by the center candle.
