After months of planning and dreaming about the Mead Center full of flowers, it all became a reality this past weekend. We could not have imagined a more beautiful display! Every single florist brought in an impressive and unique arrangement, wowwing us with their creativity and attention to detail. Our judges had an incredibly difficult time selecting the winners, but after much deliberation on Friday afternoon, they arrived at a decision. Here are the results with photos of the winning designs:
Grand Prize: A tie between the design for Velma (Crowns) by Patty Stimmel...
...and the design for Mama Nadi (Ruined) by Marianne Raub of Helen Olivia Flowers
First Runner Up: The design for Nellie (South Pacific) by Liza Bourkard of DBI Events
Second Runner Up: The design for Aunt Eller (Oklahoma!) by Philippa Tarrant of Philippa Tarrant Custom Florals
Between loading in 15 designs starting at 7:00 AM, doing some exciting interviews with the press, and judging all the displays in limited time, we had a very busy day on Friday! But around sunset -just before guests began arriving for dinner and the evening performances -we had a few moments to sit in a calm Catwalk Cafe and take in the sight.
I found myself not only admiring the florists' artisanship, but also, thinking over all the Arena Stage production history on display in the form of flowers and dresses. What a celebration of these shows and, more broadly, of our dynamic space here at the Mead Center!
Though the floral arrangements were loaded out after only few days, I know everyone who got to see the display will remember it fondly. Given the success of Isn't She Loverly: Design in Bloom, we are already looking forward to another floral design contest. Check back for details! In the meantime, check out this video about the contest as well as pictures from the weekend by Teresa Wood.
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