A slice of the Florida Everglades came to the Boathouse in Central Park last week for the premiere party of Denzel Washington's new flick, Out of Time. Produced by MGM's vice president of special projects, Adam Keen, and Wendy Creed of Wendy Creed Productions (the duo behind last summer's Legally Blonde 2 premiere), the event transformed the restaurant into a dimly lit tropical haven reminiscent of an evening on the water in Banyan Key in the Florida Everglades, where the film is set.
An oasis of colorful foliage decorated the entrance to the Boathouse. Inspired by the waterside homes of Banyan Key residents, Creed created a romantic, living room-like setting inside the garden pavilion room. Raymond Thompson of Images by Lighting projected gobos of palm fronds onto long, gauzy white drapes that billowed from a breeze created by low-hanging ceiling fans. The white draping created intimate seating areas furnished with wicker chairs, wood tables and white couches draped with palm tree-patterned fabric. Floral Art's lush displays with ginger, orchids and birds of paradise set inside raw wood containers added color to the warmly lit space.
To ensure the authenticity of the party's decor, Creed ordered two tractor trailers of pygmy date, majesty, queen and fan palm plants—all native to the Everglades—from Amherst Greenhouses. (Some of the same plants were used at a similar event Creed produced for Out of Time at the Toronto Film Festival.) The plants were placed along the walls and behind the buffet tables throughout the restaurant. Buffet tables covered in bamboo mats and backlit by gold lighting overflowed with crawfish, oysters, shrimp and an assortment of foods provided by the Boathouse.
Guests—including the film's stars and producers—could lounge in the terrace room for a great view of the Central Park lake. Thompson washed the lake with high-wattage brown and amber lights and projected a gobo of the film's logo onto the surface of the water. Inside the terrace room, wicker chairs and overstuffed couches lined the space, set with wooden cocktail tables topped with candles set in colorful antique glass cups.
—Suzanne Ito & Jim Shi
An oasis of colorful foliage decorated the entrance to the Boathouse. Inspired by the waterside homes of Banyan Key residents, Creed created a romantic, living room-like setting inside the garden pavilion room. Raymond Thompson of Images by Lighting projected gobos of palm fronds onto long, gauzy white drapes that billowed from a breeze created by low-hanging ceiling fans. The white draping created intimate seating areas furnished with wicker chairs, wood tables and white couches draped with palm tree-patterned fabric. Floral Art's lush displays with ginger, orchids and birds of paradise set inside raw wood containers added color to the warmly lit space.
To ensure the authenticity of the party's decor, Creed ordered two tractor trailers of pygmy date, majesty, queen and fan palm plants—all native to the Everglades—from Amherst Greenhouses. (Some of the same plants were used at a similar event Creed produced for Out of Time at the Toronto Film Festival.) The plants were placed along the walls and behind the buffet tables throughout the restaurant. Buffet tables covered in bamboo mats and backlit by gold lighting overflowed with crawfish, oysters, shrimp and an assortment of foods provided by the Boathouse.
Guests—including the film's stars and producers—could lounge in the terrace room for a great view of the Central Park lake. Thompson washed the lake with high-wattage brown and amber lights and projected a gobo of the film's logo onto the surface of the water. Inside the terrace room, wicker chairs and overstuffed couches lined the space, set with wooden cocktail tables topped with candles set in colorful antique glass cups.
—Suzanne Ito & Jim Shi

For the Out of Time premiere party at the Boathouse in Central Park, lighting designer Raymond Thompson of Images by Lighting projected gobos of palm fronds onto long, sheer white drapes that billowed from a breeze created by low-hanging ceiling fans.

The terrace room was lined with palm plants, wicker chairs, overstuffed couches and wood cocktail tables decorated with colorful antique glass cups and small, lush flower arrangements.

Planners decorated buffet tables with bamboo mats backlit with gold lights and lots of palm plants.

Jennifer McGarigle of Floral Art created large, lush floral arrangements that included ginger, orchids and philodendron leaves.