Royal Occasion Mixes Corporate Motifs

The decor for the Royal Conservatory of Music’s annual fund-raiser, the Royal Occasion Gala, combined the dark orange colour associated with conservatory’s new Telus Centre for Performance and Learning with butterfly imagery linked to presenting sponsor Telus’ nature-friendly corporate identity. Orange lighting and orange accent fabric on the chairs laid the foundation for the decorative theme, while the butterfly images, appearing on print communications materials, the chocolate mousse dessert, and a dress worn by a conservatory student playing a violin at the venue entrance, served as accents. For the fifth year running, the benefit was held at the Windsor Arms Hotel. “We tried for a dramatic look to transform the Windsor Arms… we wanted the room to look completely different from previous years,” said Cathy Landolt, Telus Centre’s director of client services. Landolt worked with an ensemble cast of designers from Forget Me Not Flowers and design firm 43 Degrees, which includes Peter Carruthers of Presidential Gourmet catering.Windsor Arms catered the party for 220 mostly corporate guests. The menu included spring morel-procini broth with asparagus, grape tomato, and truffle essence soup; pan seared beef filet with purple potato and grilled white asparagus spears; and the aforementioned chocolate mousse. The butterfly atop the mousse was edible, naturally.

Tall, clear ghost candelabras with flickering candles jazzed up the dinner tables, which were covered in white linens. Students of the conservatory and the rock group Blue Rodeo—which received an honourary fellowship from the conservatory—provided the evening’s entertainment.