Wow how time flies! Good to see you again, you look great! Did you do something new with your hair? Have you been working out? Whatever you’ve been doing it works for you! I can’t believe a whole year has passed since we’ve last met. What have you been up to? We’ve been busy getting our Halloween display ready. Are you ready?

Here we go!

Welcome to Rogers Gardens Halloween Spooktacular: Grimm Tales!

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We’ve been working really hard on getting everything ready and today is the big reveal. We can’t wait for you to see it!

I won’t give away too much…yet. But I am going to give you an exclusive peek into what goes on behind the scenes of our, or at least my, favorite holiday display at Rogers Gardens.

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Let’s start at the beginning. About a year ago (maybe even earlier), our Creative Director had a vision. It was creepy. It was dark. It was the thing of childhood nightmares! It was Grimm Tales.

Based on that vision, an immersive Halloween experience was developed.  The buyers held this vision as they chose specific items and decor to fill it. Movie industry auctions were shopped for furniture and potential props, or interesting items to be reimagined. Ideas were discussed and turned into projects for the visual merchandising team to create.

As spring turned into summer, the team worked on bringing these projects to life (or death! mwahahaha!) Here’s a few examples:

 

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First up, our very own Dr Frankenstein fiendishly creates a wicked (yet still charming) fairy!

 

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Here a newer member of our team jumps right into the deep end with some mad calligraphy skills…

 

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…and then demonstrates a villainous makeup application!

 

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This is a Grandfather Clock being transformed into a more gruesome version of itself by yet another evil genius…

 

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….whose super power is to destroy perfectly good pieces of furniture.

 

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We at Rogers are proud to develop ground-breaking techniques transforming the ordinary into something of nightmares. Here we demonstrate our secret method for making things look old, ragged and, well, as if it had been dragged around from behind a cart.

We’re all about transparency here. You won’t see this glamorous side of decorating on ‘Flip or Flop’!

All these activities occur back of house during the work week up until we can move into the room. That day the curtains go up (the ones that everyone peeks through to see what’s happening), and then it’s on! Furniture is moved out, different furniture is moved in, walls are covered with fabric, and new walls are installed. At this point we start layering in the “bones” of the setup. It’s very woodsy this year so there’s a lot of vines to wind around cabinets along with branches that go up and around hutches stretching out to the ceiling.

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New rooms come to life with doors to creepy forest cottages being installed…

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This is how we suspended displays that wrap up the wall to the roof, requiring the dexterity of some team members that also moonlight as contortionists…

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Also, no self-respecting team of magicians would go anywhere without their bag of tricks. We have carts of tricks, two of them to help us get things done and to keep…erm…organized?

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This is just the beginning. Next week I’ll show you all the details as they’re layered in and how they completely transform the space. There’s a lot of work involved but we still have tons of fun. I hope you’ve enjoyed this exclusive tour and will join me for the next segment of ‘Behind the Curtain’. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go remove hot-glue strands from my hair.