designed for you.
designed for you.
For the third year in a row, AFR’s Design Challenge was a highlight of the Event Solutions Idea Factory Trade Show. This year pitting Icon against Industry Rising Star proved to be a great match up between MGM’s Lenny Talarico, CSEP and A Joy Wallace Catering’s, Jessica Zeidler.
A couple hundred Idea Factory fans gathered to watch the Design Challenge as it unfolded. With clear favorites, the crowd cheered for their hopeful with chants of Team Lenny & Team Jessica. The energy was ramped up!
With professional MC, Andrew Larris of NYX Entertainment & Events guiding the way, the contestants were each given teams of two volunteers in addition to a free agent choice of their own. Both contestants stuck close to home with choices from their “home” teams.
When the clock started ticking, the Challengers had thirty minutes to share their vision with their team, collect the necessary elements and construct their design, consisting of a dining and lounge environment.
Contestants had a selection of different styled furnishings from AFR’s latest collections to choose from on the design stage, and additionally had to visit Classic Party Rentals and Mayesh Floral on the tradeshow floor to pick out floral choices, linen, china and glassware for their tabletops.
The pressure was on as Lenny and Jessica worked feverishly with their teams to get their designs installed when both challengers were pulled from the floor without notice for a five-minute time out to see how well they had communicated with their teams. While they had itchy fingers to get back onto the floor, both of them took the time out with grace and watched anxiously from the sideline as their teams continued working.
The designs and designers…
For his design, Lenny mixed and matched from the Crystal and Sophistication Collections and paired them with new cubed ottomans in fuchsia and an udder madness print. He used the Zanzibar and Mon accent tables and topped them with Black candlesticks topped with white candles and oversized crystal and silver etched goblets. Accents were pink and purple pillows for the final touch. He chose a Club Dining Table and surrounded it with a Ghost Chairs and dressed the table with patterned glass cylinders and filled them with floral in red, fuchsia, and lime green. White china with black trim, crystal glassware and purple napkins completed his edgy and modern club look.
For her design, Jessica mixed texture and style with pieces from the Chateau and Winston Collections to create her lounge area. Adding a zebra print rug and apple green pillows for accents she finished her design with Novel accent tables topped with glass and metal candle cages and white floral in glass containers. For her tabletop, she used a distressed wooden Vermont Table and surrounded it with metal Elio guest chairs and Midnight Stage chairs. She dressed the table with three apple green vases filled with creamy blooms and added low-lying silver miniature bowls filled with pops of purple and lime green. Her tabletop was finished with chargers topped with white china, crystal stemware and silverware. The resulting look was the homey living room trend that is becoming so popular.
A Personal Touch:
It is interesting to note that neither contestant had any qualms about using their personal accessories to finish their environments to perfection. Both stripped their belts off; Lenny using his for a pillow accent and Jessica using hers to create a color pop on the middle vase of her tabletop. It just goes to show that designers really do put a personal touch into their designs.
When the bell sounded at the end of the 30 minutes, both teams had to stop where they were and voting commenced. Both designs really showed the creativity these two top talents put into their work. Fans came up on stage to get a close up look and have pictures taken with Lenny and Jessica.
And the winner is…
Several hundred people voted for the designs and Jessica was announced the winner by David Tutera at the Closing General Session at the Mirage where she won a $1000 Gift Certificate as well as a Full Conference Package for the 2014 Event Solutions Idea Factory.
The best part of the whole event was seeing both Lenny and Jessica show the true hearts of competitors yet walk away having built a friendship out of the competition. Thank you BOTH for being such outstanding competitors! You made the competition SIZZLE.
And, last but not least…
We are sending out a very special thanks to our sponsors, as without them, there would not be a Design Challenge:
Las Vegas Floral & Plant Wholesale: Accent and Décor
Mayesh Wholesale Florist Inc.: Floral
Rentals Unlimited: Linens
Floral Couture by 2000: Accent and Décor
NYX Entertainment & Events: MC, Andrew Larris
Atomic Rentals: Stage Backdrop
Classic Party Rentals: China, Glass, and Silverware Provider
Truly, THANK YOU!
Now, it’s time to get back to the drawing board and figure out what we are going to do for next year’s Design Challenge. We hope to see you there.
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