Criminalists Set Sail Aboard the Queen Mary

Last week, we designed the flowers for the California Association of Criminalists (CAC) banquet to be held in the Queen's Salon, aboard the Queen Mary. The luxury liner is a historic stationary ship, permanently docked in Long Beach, California, and is a floating museum of the beautiful Art Deco style of the 1930's. The prolific wood paneling, sharp design lines, silver fixtures and Greek artwork transport visitors back in time to the ship’s heyday. Large photographs of famous passengers adorn the enclosed Promenade Deck—Bob Hope, Cary Grant, David Niven, Sir Winston Churchill, and the Duke and Duchess of Windsor.

To keep with the art deco style, we started with silver trumpet vases, and then chose flowers that would have been popular in the 1930s, including mums, orchids and carnations. These wonderful vases are made by Vacuum Orna-Metal. We started with green amaranthus, orchids, mums and curly willow. We then added our color using roses, callas, carnations and alstroemeria. Lastly, we filled in with hypericum (coffee bean), creating lush and colorful table arrangements.

The banquet was held in the Queen’s Salon—a beautiful art deco show piece of high ceilings, marble fireplaces, etched mirrors and hardwood floors. We also provided orchid and curly willow dried arrangements as a backdrop for the stage area. The flowers were lovely in this stunning room!