COUNTDOWN TO OSCARS
The countdown has begun! With less than one week to go, Florabundance is busy gathering the flowers and foliages that will be used to welcome the stars for this year’s Oscar Awards!
The attendees this year will be surrounded with flowers from the time they step out of their limousine to the time they enter the Kodak Theater. Transforming Hollywood Blvd. and Hollywood and Highland complex into one of the most photographed backgrounds is no simple task.
The staff of Charisma Design is no stranger to this venue. For the past 17 years, the design team of 10 AIFD designers descends on Hollywood for an intense week of designing and staging the beautiful floral components. Unlike many venues, this area is open to the public throughout most of the week; often are created off site and then installed at the last minute prior to the stars arrival. Many areas are transformed where cameras are not allowed to reveal the creative expressions until right before show time. The statement is often heard that we do not see many of the flowers. The reason for this is that the flowers serve as background and are not in competition with the stars. Florals are kept below the knee level of the Oscar statue so that there are no flowers protruding from behind the people in photographs. No one wants to see Ginger antennae!
This year’s look will be a clean architectural display featuring the colors of red yellow and white. The look and color harmony are determined by the Art Director and then given to Charisma’s Floral directors to interpret. Rich Salvaggio AIFD and Tom Bowling AIFD spend hours and hours coming up with creative solutions that not only look great for the evening of the Awards Ceremony, but also must be long lasting, easy to transport, and of course be executed within budget parameters set by the Academy.
From the time they step foot on the Red Carpet, the members of the Academy will be greeted with red Roses, yellow Roses, Bells of Ireland, Snapdragons, and Lilies to name a few. Vibrant Forsythia will give strong impact of color as will Oncidium Orchids. The dressing rooms will also have floral stylings to greet the presenters while they prepare for stage.
Everyone will be dazzled by the floral displays with the flowers and foliages from Florabundance! Be sure and watch the pre-show and magazines in the weeks to come to see one of California’s finest floral suppliers in action.
