"Given Holland's own Anne Frank Museum and the country's place in the Holocaust history, it was fitting that flowers from Holland featured so prominently at the Holocaust Memorial Museum's luncheon," says John Hensel, senior designer and managing partner of Heffernan & Morgan, who designed the floral arrangements for this important fund-raising event held in Chicago. "Most Holocaust survivors are now very old, so the funds raised are very important for ensuring that all the survivors' testimonies are recorded before they pass away."

Design
John created a series of lush, colorful floral centerpieces to adorn the tables of the Chicago Hilton's two grand ballrooms. "These ballrooms are very elegant, with a traditional decor," John explains, "so we wanted the centerpieces to reflect this - elegant and tasteful, nothing too ostentatious. Yet we also wanted to feature the European flowers' natural beauty and wonderful colors." With this in mind, John and his team set to work creating 120 centerpieces for the tables of the 3,000 guests in attendance.

Perfect
"This assignment arrived on fairly short notice," John recalls, "so we chose the seasonal flowers that we hoped would be readily available." His choice was hydrangeas and roses. "The Flower Council said to us, 'whatever you need, we'll make it happen', and they sure did! I've never opened so many boxes to find every blossom just perfect," John says, adding that during the luncheon a message thanking the European Union and Flower Council for their kind donation was displayed on the video screen above the stage.

Oprah
John based the designs for the lush, low centerpieces on four different color blocks: hot pink hydrangeas and roses; dark burgundy hydrangeas and black magic roses; green hydrangeas and yellow roses; and shades of blue." Oprah Winfrey was the luncheon's keynote speaker. "In addition to the centerpieces, we created a floral hedge that mirrored the table centerpieces and ran the entire length of the Grand Ballroom's stage – at Oprah's feet as it were."

Lushness
Although the luncheon was held in late October, the impact the flowers had still lingers today. "We've received so many complimentary calls," John says proudly. "Everyone on the organizing committee was simple blown away by the lushness and quality of the flowers." The centerpieces were also given to the guests as they left the luncheon. "I happen to live in the same neighborhood as some of the guests, and even now when I'm out walking with my kids they'll stop me and thank me for the beautiful flowers."