Campari & SKYY Spirits Event at the Empire Hotel Rooftop
Now that a year has passed since Campari’s 150th Anniversary Party at the Bowery Hotel (part 1 part 2), the liquor’s parent company SKYY Spirits came back to us to design another branded party - this time at the Empire Hotel Rooftop. Hosted by SKYY Spirits for Impact Magazine, the industry event welcomed executives for all major spirit companies including Campari’s top management from Milan. Given the in-the-spotlight spirit of the evening, the design called for luxe and very beautiful flowers, so we chose none other than orchids and lilies.
Our front bar arrangements consisted of red lilies with plum cymbidium orchids, red mocara and James Story orchids. Our team styled the bar with cymbidium heads, Campari and SKYY Infusions bottles along with custom menus offering the famed Negroni and Aperol Spritz cocktails.
We carried the cymbidium orchids up to the gold wire lighting fixtures as decoration above the bar. The six balls studded with white cymbidium and lemon leaves exceeded our expectations based on a trial on a single fixture – almost butterfly-like, the dozens of orchids appeared to flutter with the lights on!
The smaller arrangements for the low cocktail tables combined various types of red and golden-hued orchid stems in line with Campari's signature coloring.
The choice of florals worked well in the outdoor terrace whose tropical greenery suits the exotic appeal of orchids & lilies.
For the terrace bar, we kept the same combination of flowers but altered the hues. Here a detail of white lilies, white cymbidium orchids, red mocara and James Story orchids is a great example of how lilies and orchids share complimenting texture and lines.
Overall, we were happy to please the party’s host and surprise the venue itself by the transformation of the space. The success of the design can be attributed to an elegant & consistent visual scheme without over-branding a label familiar to all in attendance. We're always grateful to work along that fine line between the obvious and the unexpected when it comes to flowers.
-Parker Voss
Rouge Arrangements
A week before Valentine’s Day, In Bloom executed the centerpieces for an annual hospital fundraiser held by The Society of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center here in New York City. Hosted at Rouge Tomate and sponsored by the fashion brand Milly, the luncheon featured an upstairs area where guests enjoyed a showcase of the Milly collection in addition to a downstairs seated lunch for 160 people including an honorary Pediatric specialist.
The florals provided for the upstairs “World of Milly” made use of the brand’s signature pink using roses, spray roses, and ranunculus.
The design for the banquet table arrangements evolved from an anemone motif found in a fabric sample from the season’s collection. The final red arrangements incorporated open roses, spray roses, hypericum berries, alstromeria and anemones in black glass cubes.
The overall tablescape combined not only well with the Milly aesthetic but also with the restaurant interior.
We very much enjoyed the planning process for this special event, and give our thanks to the MSKCC event chairs & coordinators for their thoughtful compliments.
-Parker
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
Campari 150th Anniversary Party: Design & Planning
Negroni? Campari & Soda? Campari & orange juice? Which is your favorite Campari drink? I am a sucker for a Campari on the rocks with a splash of soda and orange...always delightful on a hot summer day like today...
I'm regressing now! Back to the topic at hand - Campari! Dating back to 1860, this aperitif is one of the most recognizable in the world, primarily due to the brand's beautiful advertisements that have been captivating consumers and art collectors alike for over a century now. This past May, Campari celebrated their 150th Anniversary at The Bowery Hotel and In Bloom New York was asked to create the flower displays as well as the environmental decor for the fete.
The evening was produced by the Art Production Fund, with a special musical performance and never-before-seen works of art by Kalup Linzy. Co-hosting the event were mixologists Tony Abou-Ganim, Jacques Bezuidenhout, Marco Dionysos, Francesco Lafranconi, Lynnette Marrero, Eric Alperin & Allen Katz as well as Manhattan Cocktail Classic and United States Bartenders' Guild.
There were a many elements that we needed to design for this event including bar displays, floral decorations for their vintage advertisements, a large-scale logo for stage backdrop, a photo booth display, one significant entry table design as well as several table centerpieces. We knew we wanted to create something entirely new and fresh while still maintaining Campari's classic brand and image.
Our immediate inspiration came from an antique birdcage at our hands as well as Alexander Mcqueen's 2008 Spring/Summer Butterfly headdress. We wanted there to be whimsy and also an element of darkness in this Campari garden.
First, we began brainstorming for the main installaion that would set the mood for the additional design elements. Envisioning the large antique birdcage coupled with a mannequin on display, we quickly put together a mock-up to get a feel of the layout. We conceived this display based on the image of a beautiful woman who lives in a garden with hair of butterflies and dresses in a bodice of flowers. Reaching out, she embodies an eternal desitre for this bottle housed behind the overgrowth of the antique birdcage.
As for producing this imagination, we first needed to create the bodice for the mannequin. After mapping out the pattern in pencil, we individually hot-glued every petal and ruscus leaf onto the heart shape-leotard. We simply used two elements to keep the design clean and fresh: dark green Italian Ruscus and red rose petals.
We built the boddice from the bottom upward with Italian Ruscus to achieve the effect of organic growth. Ruscus ended up being the perfect plant to achieve this goal.
Next, we added the rose petals one by one. Since the hot glue changed the color of the petal, we needed to ensure that we covered these areas by an overlapping petal. We initially thought to use silk flowers instead of fresh florals but decided against it, keeping in mind that we would have to house the mannequin in our floral refrigerator until the following day to keep the petals fresh.
The last element that we were able to prep in advance was the wisteria and branch design on the antique birdcage. We used branches varying in width, choosing the most twisted and interesting pieces.
Part 2 to follow with photos of the event!
DINNER AT DE SANTOS FOR DAN RAGONE
This past March, Interview Magazine hosted a special fete in honor of their new president Dan Ragone at De Santos restaurant in the West Village. Interview approached us looking for simple yet elegant arrangements for their intimate dinner. Inspired by both the rustic, Tuscan menu and décor of the restaurant, we put together an ensemble of small,white arrangements for the dinner tables as well as flowering branches for the bar and entranceway.
For the entrance table, guests entered the dinner greeted by a tall arrangement of white cherry blossoms. Additional flowering pear branch arrangements decorated each corner of the bar.
Small arrangements of white Ranunuclus, Hydrangeas, Lisianthus, Ginestra and Bouvardia were placed on the dinner tables in alternating heights and sizes. Each arrangement used only one type of white flower to give a clean, chic look. See below for more photos and a link to Interview Magazine's write up. Enjoy!
Wisteria Vines
Last October, In Bloom New York did the floral set up for a private party in Soho and our client asked us to come up with a way to decorate the fireplace since it was still under construction. We had the pleasure of working with Brian Reilly on this project. Brian is an interior design genius and is currently in Milan working for Ralph Lauren. While brainstorming the ideas for the event, Brian suggested covering the fireplace with Wisteria Vines.
With the ideas mapped out in our head, we moved forward and ordered three bundles of Wisteria Vines and 100 stems of deep burgundy Antique Hydrangeas. When the vines arrived, we were pleased to see many pieces of intricately twisted branches. We knew we had our job cut out for us since the vines were dried and not as malleable as they once were and we had to position the installation in a way that we wouldn't damage the walls or the antique fireplace.
Our landscape designer Anthony Dessiprius spearheaded the project and within a couple hours he had the structure up and secured with no more than fishing wire and two nails. Anthony used the best pieces of the bundles and created a natural and organic installation that looked as if it has grown up the fireplace on its own. Once the foundation was complete, we added the stems of the Antique Hydrangeas starting heavier at the bottom and sprinkling more at the top. These stems remained on the structure for a few months and dried naturally and beautifully on it's own.
In Bloom Spotlight on the Ostrich Egg
We've set a mission for ourselves to always include an unexpected and memorable element in our designs. Last October, we used ostrich eggs purchased at Dry Nature and used them for small touches of flowers and placed them around the main table display. We filled the eggs with flowers used throughout the display, including black calla lilies, black baccara roses, deep burgundy dahlias, thistle, and amaranth. The eggs were a chic addition to the party and were extremely well received. Check out additional pictures in our Gallery
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.
