Carmine’s “Old-Fashioned” Holiday Décor
In classic holiday fashion, In Bloom brought out the reds and the greens to decorate Carmine’s Restaurant located in NYC’s Theatre District for another holiday season. Each December the legendary family style Italian restaurant dresses up in traditional holiday garb to reflect their “old fashioned” atmosphere and service. The style preferred by the restaurant called for an abundance of green garlands, white lights and red ribbons.
-Parker Voss
Holiday Transformation of a Chic Soho Residence, 2010
Now that the holiday season is fully upon us, we wanted to give you a taste of In Bloom New York’s own favorite holiday décor for Winter 2010. First in line is the transformation of chic Soho apartment we decorated from corner to cornice in colors, textures and combinations we find unexpected yet steadily in line with the holiday spirit.
The grand loft-style apartment combines living, bar, kitchen and dining areas into a single space. As such, our designers tailored every installation to its individual environment, giving special effects to each while seamlessly combining the various designs into a cohesive whole.
The display on the main entrance table featured an antiqued urn spilling over with red grapes, fresh pomegranates and freeze-dried red & black roses. As the first look of the party, the feeling was festive without making a blatant holiday statement.
Looking ahead to the centrally located bar, guests approached a lit wreath embellished with freeze-dried roses, dried pomegranates & lotus pods, pheasant feathers and eucalyptus. The richly decorated wreath hung as an appropriate alternative to the standard holiday tree.
The environment immediately to the right of the bar became the DJ both whose set-up we framed with a snaking, partially-gilded magnolia leaf garland and fresh red roses. The asymmetrical line of the garland moved the eye along and around the impressive cabinets de curiosités and down towards the decadent food station.
The food station became another focal point looking down the length of the room past the bar and DJ booth -- the grand statement being a 4 foot tall arrangement of rose hips, ruby red roses, tall ilex berries & red dogwood branches in a sterling silver bowl. We served up mixed florals in smaller silver containers combining magnolia leaves, purple & red anemones, hot pink peonies and dried pomegranates. A twisting, handmade white pine & redwood branch garland completed the table design.
Complimentary arrangements for the kitchen combined elements from the table such as redwood branches, purple & red anemones, hot pink peonies and ruby red roses.
In an area nearest the kitchen and entrance, we draped a life-size Grecian marble figure with gilded laurel & holly strung with ruby, black, and two-toned red roses. The result not only embraced but transcended the holiday spirit, allowing the owner the choice of keeping the garland on display for as long as desired.
Reaching far across the space to where guests could lounge, the seating area incorporated timeless and seasonal elements such as red poinsettias and a mantelpiece garland. Instead of obscuring the fireplace with florals we sought to accentuate its design elements by wrapping the columns with more white pine & redwood branch garland. The mantel's cornice of magnolia branches, red dyed eucalyptus, dried pomegranates, lotus pods and hundreds of freeze dried rose came together by the hands-on efforts of Eric, Roshy and Parker. We added glittered birds with exotic plumes as the finishing touches.
And finally, exotic orchids with red dogwood branches paired nicely with ilex bunches in the guest bathroom.
-Parker Voss
Winter Holiday Party at Celsius, Bryant Park
In Bloom kicked off the holiday season with a string of events at one of our favorite venues for winter holiday parties, Celsius at Bryant Park. We dressed up this ‘glass house’-style restaurant, bar and event space – an ideal winter wonderland – for a festive and memorable client appreciation party on December 2, a date which coincided with the tree lighting at the Pond at Bryant Park.
In order to transform the pop-up venue for our client, we remodeled the environment by using floral and winter branch arrangements, renting furniture, custom ordering monogrammed pillows, arranging for gobo lighting, as well as staging an ice sculpture showcasing the exact company logo.
Plant partitions, which normally demarcate the open upstairs area with views of the big tree and skating rink, became attractive dividers between the lounge and cocktail areas. We draped the partitions in custom-cut white linens with mirrored surfaces on top of which we placed white manzanita branch structures with hanging mercury glass votive candles.
In addition to the larger installations and standing birch branch arrangements, the table arrangements incorporated more branches than straight florals, contributing to the “winter woodsy” effect imagined by the client. The design included white birch branches and white-dipped thistles in glass cylinders with realistic wet “snow.” The smaller arrangements for the seven cocktail tables evoked snowflake clusters of the same white thistles in metallic towers.
For the bar, we delivered an orchid trio: the largest arrangement being white birch branches with white cymbidiums in a birch-wrapped container, the next a submerged phalaenopsis with pale river rocks, and finally a bunch of spraying dendrobium orchids.
We were just as pleased as the client with the overall transformation and thank everyone for the rave reviews!
-Parker Voss
Holiday Party in Soho
This past December, In Bloom New York had the pleasure of working on an exciting holiday party at a Soho Residence. The gracious host had requested a decorated tree, a large table display and a few arrangements throughout the apartment. To our delight, his only specification was to use all white.
Our team of designers began sketching ideas for the tree. We knew that we we wanted something different, monochromatic and avant garde to keep consistent with the design of the apartment. These beautiful birds found at Bergdorf Good inspired us all and lead the design of the event.
We decked the tree with all silver, white and mercury ornaments of different sizes and design to bring texture to the tree. To make the tree appear full, we added silk silver magnolia flowers as well as over fifty stems of fresh white hydrangeas (use green tubes filled with water to keep flowers hydrated or allow to dry naturally). For a touch of elegance and a small pop of color, we added small gold Fabrege eggs with ruby colored crystals.
To complete, we created a "birds nest" at the top of the tree using white birch branches. Instead of the traditional tree topper, we placed a large bird perched in his nest and used silver lame fabric purchased at Mood Fabrics as the tree skirt.
The idea for the main table installation was to separate the all white arrangements by using various types of flowers and vases to create texture and depth. The table was anchored by a centered tall white birch arrangement with numerous arrangements on both sides. Pussy willow served as the "runner" for the table and broke up the vases nicely. White hydrangeas, tulips, lisianthus, vanda orchids, peonies, calla lilies, ranunculus, hyacinths, and amaryllis were arranged in different sizes of glass and mercury vases.
Small silver birds were topped the arrangements and tied the theme together.
The use of a single type of flower in each vase accentuated the difference between the blooms and was very dramatic.
We completed our Lush Winter Wonderland with a few arrangements of peonies, amaryllis, and tulips scattered throughout the apartment and bathrooms.
For additional photos of the event, please check our Gallery.
