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CAFA returns to flower up the Junos |
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Written by Joel-Marc Frappier
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A CAFA contingent converged on the West Coast at the end of March to
create designs for annual Canadian Juno Awards. Armed with more than
15,000 blooms and vegetation product, the group provided flowers for
four events leading up to the Juno awards as well as the show itself.
Here's a re-telling of the experience from CAFA president, Joel-Marc Frappier:
The setting is beautiful Vancouver in late March where all is starting to blossom and you can smell spring in the air. It is the weekend of March 26 and the who’s who of the Canadian music industry is gathering here for the Annual Juno Awards. This will be a weekend to remember for those honored and inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame and the Canadian Academy of Floral Arts has been given the mandate for the third consecutive year to flower this celebration.
This type of event required long hours and tons of planning. Special Events Director Rada Ristich and I worked on this file since they closed last year's event which was held in Calgary. The preplanning included preparing numerous prototypes, ordering the product and ensuring that the dried goods travel to the event destination more than 2718 miles away. When we landed in Vancouver, everything was in place. The delegation included CAFA Ambassador Inta Taurins, Rada Ristich, Shawna McLachlan, Sabine Calame and Vancouver resident and CAFA member Kevin Young, who would all have their work cut out for them.
We arrived on the Monday prior and work immediately started. The Cowichan Room at the Vancouver Congress Center in the Westin Waterfront would serve as the official design centre. Each member of this power pack team would be assigned a file and the responsibility of an event. The week would see four events to flower with over 15,000 blooms and vegetation product and a work plan that will keep the members of the Academy working right through to the time of the events.
The first event was the Chairman’s Reception at the lavish Fairmont Waterfront followed on the same evening by the Welcome Cocktail at the world renowned Commodore Room - two wonderful events that set the pace for the entire weekend. A panoply of glass vases filled with calla lilies, anthuriums, cymbidium orchids, vandela and jade roses and tailored foliage were sure impress the masses. The next day, 1,500 guests were to attend the Gala and all guest table centerpieces, cocktail conceptions and the red carpet mass conceptions would be prepared reflecting the weekend theme: West Coast Zen. Over 125 large rose spheres were prepared with over 3,700 vandela roses; a second sphere completed with lime green pinnochios, black bamboo, stones and candles would complete the look of the guest table conceptions. Everything from installation to late night teardown needed to be perfect and perfect it was.
Over the years the Academy has set the standard and left its signature on the men’s and ladies washrooms and such would be the case again this year. More than 125 vases filled with candies galore, and an array of exotic and amazing blooms lined the counters and floors of these powder areas - a statement of pomp and pageantry with a twist of pizzazz signed by the floral artists of the Academy.
Sunday would be see the members of the Academy prepare all the floral conceptions for the artists dressing rooms at the GM Centre. From Sarah McLaughlin to Nickelback, all would be flowered to perfection as well as the VIP lounge, the Green Room and Riverrock Lounge.
CAFA also incorporated a new endeavour this year: the JUNOBlooms Floral Competition. Open to all local florists, this would be an opportunity for the floral industry as a whole to be part of the 2009 Junos. The floral sculptures prepared would be placed throughout the various events during the three days, to be appreciated by all those attending the Juno Awards.
Congratulations to the 2009 firstp place winner Stephen Kuo, AIFD of Interior Flori from Vancouver, BC. Second prize went to Marianne Cichowski, from Awesome Blossoms, in Langley, B.C. and third prize to Cecilia Roa, CPFD from Roa Floral Event Design in Vancouver, B.C. Hats off for the wonderful work. Prizes were given at the Florists Supply Show where members of the Academy also presented the CAFA Steps to Membership.
One cannot imagine the work that goes into an event of this magnitude: six floral artists, a volunteer group of 12 local students and florists, more than 700 floral conceptions and over 120 hours per designer all resulted in a week to remember in Vancouver. The Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences Executive Director Melanie Berry summed it up best: "These are the most glamorous floral Juno Awards ever. You are the real stars of the events and we have been privy to floral art the entire weekend. We are proud to be partners with the Canadian Academy of Floral Art."
Click here to view photos, courtesy of CAFA, from the Juno week.
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