First Lady Jill Biden unveiled this year’s holiday theme of a “Season of Peace and Light” with an abundance of white lights, green Christmas trees and garland.
More than 300 volunteers pitched in over the past week with the installation and 100,000 people are expected to walk through the historic site admiring the decor. FLOTUS welcomed members of the National Guard to be among the first take in the holiday cheer, as part of her “Joining Forces” initiative, which supports military families.
Bryan Rafanelli, who orchestrated Naomi Biden’s wedding last year on the South Lawn of the White House, served as the lead creative for this year’s holiday set-up. This was his first holiday assignment from Jill Biden, but he had designed December decor for former First Lady Michelle Obama twice during her husband’s presidency. The end result amounted to 83 Christmas trees, approximately 9,810 feet of ribbon, more than 28,125 ornaments and a few thousand decorative doves. Visitors on the public tours will also find more than 165,075 holiday lights shimmering on the trees, garlands, wreaths and displays. WWD reached out to 10 established event planners to size up this year’s regalia, but only few were game to share their insights.
Designated a historic site in 1960 by Congress, the White House reels in thousands of visitors each day in December, which is said to be its busiest month of the year. The respective party of each administration pays for such things as Christmas parties and receptions, but not for the decorations, according to Matthew Costello, the White House Historical Association’s chief education officer. “There is a small budget for that,” but administrations generally try to reuse past holiday decorations. A media request to the White House public relations team was not responded to last week.
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Bronson van Wyck, cofounder of Van Wyck & Van Wyck, said, “On the one hand I hear ‘Peace and Light’ for the holidays, and I think, ‘groundbreaking.’ It’s a ‘florals for spring?’ moment. But guess what? The holidays are all about comfort, warmth, tradition and familiarity. The point here is joy and celebration and graciousness, and that point is made beautifully. This theme — and these decorations — bring us together, and what could be better than that?”
One event designer and producer, who has worked with previous administrations and would like to do so again, declined to comment or to be identified, feeling that it would not be fair to do so.
Another high-profile event planner Preston Bailey spoke approvingly of this year’s decor — to a point. “Classic Christmas always works. With red and green Christmas trees, you can’t go wrong. It’s certainly beautiful. But also, it’s a pity that there wasn’t something a little bit different that one can interpret in so many ways for Christmas,” he said.
The candy-inspired room that was featured in last year’s holiday decor at the White House earned his praise. He also liked the all-red topiaries that former First Lady Melania Trump, who is a former client, chose for the East Colonnade in 2018. Trump had faced criticism for that unconventional choice, which some compared to the landscape in the 1961 film “The Last Year at Marienband.” Referring to Trump’s red conical trees. Bailey, who has never done any holiday decor at the White House, said, “That was beautiful.”
His company has done holiday-themed public installations with a personal favorite being one of 20-foot figures of Mr. and Mrs. Claus kissing that was placed in the Landmark shopping center in Hong Kong in 2010. “That was really wonderful especially because we used ‘Mrs. Claus’ in the installation — nobody ever talks about her. I don’t even know if many people know that she exists.”
Such endeavors take six months due to the necessary permits and approvals from area businesses, or in the case of the Landmark from the high-end shops. Production got started a month before with the team working from 7 p.m. until the early morning, since the shopping center is a public place.
Holiday decorators can stick to red and green, and a lot of people prefer all-white decorations. But Bailey suggested unexpected colors like fuchsia, hot pink, deep red, light blue or light turquoise. He will be going with solely hot pink for Christmas. “It’s important that we play with it a little bit more so that it always doesn’t have to be the traditional red and green,” he said.
As someone who takes a pass on any New Year’s projects, Bailey prefers to spend Christmas on the beach. He also likes to keep New Year’s Eve “really low-key,” spending it with his husband and meditating. “And I don’t drink or do drugs. It’s not like I’m out drinking Champagne. I prefer doing the opposite and keeping it really quiet.”
A Perfect Event’s “chief eventeur” Debi Lilly said she “absolutely loved” the theme of peace and light, and hopes the message will carry “far and wide outside of the lacquered walls of the White House.”
She said, “‘Tis the season for joyful happy everything — and the maximalist pink and red ribboned lush, vibrant holiday floral displays in the Vermeil Room [where portraits of Mamie Eisenhower, Lady Bird Johnson, Jacqueline Kennedy and other former first ladies cover the walls] really bring a smile.”
Lilly also liked that the China Room, [which was first introduced as a display room for porcelain, glass and silver by Edith Wilson in 1917] has been reimagined as a boulangerie with a baker’s bench and artisanal breads. “Brilliant,” she said.
Ditto for the “true Carousel Tree” that has been set up in the Blue Room and is a “child’s dream. Pinch me,” she said.
