Floral designer Antonio “Tony” Rodriguez is a busy bee every Christmas since he is saddled with commissions for décor projects for hotels.
Among his favorite clients is Bellevue Hotel in Muntinlupa. Its public spaces, with its marble flooring and sweeping staircases, complement Tony’s classic style.
This year, he played up the traditional Christmas red and green, and added a new visual dimension using LED lights. The cool bluish-white lights create elegance and magic, perhaps more than the yellow incandescence he used in the past.
In the lobby is a Christmas centerpiece of beaded velvet poinsettias crowned with crystal hearts. It serves as a literal statement of his message: Give love on Christmas. The chandeliers are decked with dangling crystal hearts.
“These are chandeliers of love,” says Rodriguez.
Amid the drug wars and other issues causing much public anxiety, Rodriguez hopes that his Christmas décor will be a subtle reminder of the message of Christmas: life, love and hope.
He creates the classic look by recycling baubles and trimmings, faux fir wreaths and trees from last year’s materials. They are freshened up with additional decor and rearranged in new ways. He varies the shapes and sizes of the baubles.
The main entrance is festooned with faux fir leaves encrusted with large red, green and gold Christmas baubles, which Rodriguez describes as little bombs.
Clusters of dangling golden icicles add variety. Giant wreaths on the windows are trimmed with red and gold baubles, the colors believed to attract prosperity.
Giant wreaths with oversized red, green and gold baubles dominate the reception area. The table centerpieces are adorned with silk gold amaryllis flowers and poinsettias on flat boxes.
Along the hallway, lighting sconces are wrapped in large red ribbons shimmering with gold and green metallic threads.
In the hotel’s main wing, Rodriguez varies the decor theme by using deep red baubles and teardrop crystals.
Veering away from the conventional swags and jabots on the stairways, the decorator covers up the wrought iron railing with faux fir tree garlands made to look like crawling vines. He loads them with silver, gold and red baubles and LED lights for shimmer.
The piece de resistance is a 15-ft tall Christmas tree with a thousand glowing LED lights and sequined baubles as huge as basketballs. Its tree topper is a classic star made of cut glass.
In the other wing, an 18-ft-tall Christmas tree is decked with giant snowflakes, bows and glistening LED lights.
In the dining outlets, the décor is understated; the food is the main draw. Christmas faux pine tree garlands twirl around the hanging lamps in the cake shop.
Around the hotels, the corners come alive with Christmas bouquets of red velvet amaryllis and bows and glass bowls bursting with red silk poinsettias.
Three-foot-tall faux fir trees shine with bold red stars and baubles—a contrast to the cool bluish-white LED lights.
A crystal-and-metal sculpted candleholder serves as table centerpiece in the restaurants. The votive is symbol of the season of enlightenment.
Rodriguez says that conversations dwell on the political, often negative, as people seem to have lost the season’s spirit. “Where there is negativity, it’s time to sow love. That’s why I’ve put on many hearts.” —CONTRIBUTED
