An elegant church on Park Avenue wasn’t the only thing undergoing a renovation this January. Seeking to update consumers’ perception of its wedding registry, J.C. Penney set up shop at 583 Park Avenue, a former house of worship that’s undergoing the process of being transformed into an event space. The venue provided divine inspiration (and appropriate surroundings) for an event dubbed “Happily Ever After.” Staged with the goal of informing consumers that J.C. Penney’s wedding registry contains high-end brand names and gift ideas, the promotion was open to the public.
J.C. Penney director of brand marketing Merianne Roth selected the renovated church as a venue for a variety of reasons. “It’s not a space that’s been overly used. That’s difficult to come by,” she explains. “It had a crisp, modern feel and wasn’t overly traditional … but we were playing off the church theme.”
To showcase both new and established items from the store’s registry—such as fine jewelry, linens, modern furniture from Studio Collection, and intimate apparel by Flora Nikrooz—wedding and event designer Preston Bailey created several vignettes in what was once the nave of the church. Delineating each vignette was an enormous picture frame, gauzy white fabric, and a brightly patterned back panel. In each space stood a willowy attendant, clipboard in hand, who was eager to describe her window’s items to curious guests.
Aisle runners and copious floral arrangements in cream, white, and violet complemented the newly secular space, and a podium, installed where the church’s altar once stood, provided a platform for a Q&A with Bailey and a presentation by representatives from the Knot.
—Jenny Sherman
Posted 01.31.07
Photos: Lyn Hughes (overview, vignettes, lingerie vignette)
