Grand designs

Festive Decorators + Lighting Specialists has a reputation for creating memorable scenery, landscapes and dramatic animations and lights

Festive Decorators + Lighting Specialists (FDLS), one of the premiere companies behind the region’s most prestigious event spaces for celebrations, has a deserved reputation for creating memorable scenery, dynamic landscapes and dramatic animations and lights.

FDLS, a three-year old company based in Dubai Investment Park (DIP), has two main arms to its business, allowing it to transform residences, hotel lobbies, restaurants, malls, parks and airports, and many other spaces.

Speaking from the company’s DIP offices, the team explains how they create spaces for top-tier clients, including Dubai International Airport, Virgin Megastore and Ferrari World Abu Dhabi.

“We love the challenge of turning a typical space into something stunning. Our business puts smiles on people’s faces and provides happy memories,” says Vishal Bhatia – Sales and Marketing Manager for FDLS – who can often be found looking for inspiration in d3 and downtown.

There are two arms to the business: decorations and light, and artificial landscaping. Using these two tenets, FDLS can create anything its clients desire, transforming residences, hotel lobbies, restaurants, malls, parks and airports into sites for dream events. And because the company handles everything from procurement and installation to maintenance and storage, its clients don’t have to dedicate more of their budgets for additional services.

“The UAE is a melting pot of nationalities and cultures where we celebrate UAE National Day, Ramadan, Eid, Diwali and Christmas – to name but a few. Our designs cater to each of these festivals, while others we create incorporate elements of fusion that reflect the diversity around us. We aim to create the right feeling and deliver a unique design for each client – whether a commercial entity or private individual. Modern or classic, we make sure the final product is relevant,” he continues.

FDLS also exclusively represents The Christmas Decorators, one of the largest and most successful operators of its kind, with 17 offices world-wide.

Some of its top outdoor projects have included seasonal celebrations. “Our Christmas and New Year’s installation in Fujairah 2017 [is one example]. We received the call on Christmas Day and what would normally take a week to install we executed in two days. As you drove on this beautiful stretch of road our products and decorations had to tell a story. Therefore, we had to select products where there was synergy for what we were trying to create. Once approved, all the product was transported to Fujairah and installed,” explains Bhatia.

But the company’s design strategy and creative services extend far beyond holiday celebrations and include a variety of residential services as well.

“Give The Festive Decorators and Lighting Specialists a call for outdoor projects of all sizes,” says Rob Fairservice, General Manager. “We work continuously on commercial and residential projects large and small. With the harsh weather throughout the summer, you cannot compromise on quality, especially in our industry. We can offer cost-effective solutions for your space.”

FDLS is also the exclusive distribution of International TreeScapes for the MENA region, and so clients large and small have access to foliage and landscaping accessories that help ensure their event will create memories that will last a lifetime. Homeowners, designers and architects can also select from other outdoor services by working with FDLS to create roof-line lighting that accentuates the architecture of a home, as well as lit garlands and other green exterior accessories that speak to any individual styles and preferences.

To ensure the company can do the most for its clients, Katrina Ryabova, FDLS’s Creative Manager, oversees an intricate creative process.

“First, we establish a budget, as it influences how we can extract the most from the entire creative process. Then we sit down and ask the client questions. The more we know, the better! We have a site visit with the client and create mood boards, mock-ups and samples. A visit to our warehouse in DIP 2 also generates a lot of ideas and discussion points. Then, of course, we discuss the timelines and deadlines, [to make sure] we can ensure delivery on the brief. We embrace their ideas and needs but always look to make suggestions, to create an element that will enhance those ideas and settle on something everyone likes at the end. We propose a feeling rather than a product,” Ryabova says.

Of course, there are many hidden, behind-the-scenes activities that create these enchanting events. The installations often happen throughout the night, and multiple adaptations of the work may have happened before experiencing a spectacular end result.

But what’s key to this magical process is bringing people together in a way that highlights the spirit of an event.

“Our work, whether decorative or landscaping, evokes different emotional responses – ‘surprise!’, ‘wow!’ – and feelings of happiness or fun! We don’t receive a brief and just execute. We understand the client’s needs, analyse the space, and make suggestions to make it better and interactive. Our designs become magnets that people want to experience again and again with family and friends,” Ryabova says.

While many of FDLS’s events are for private clients, the company is already looking forward to the soothing escape it will create with fabricated Mediterranean Olive trees for a five-star hotel and, later in the year, a Winter Wonderland Christmas spectacular.