Florist talks about Christmas decoration at Grand Hyatt

Florist Margie Lindsay has been in charge of the Grand Hyatt Seoul’s Christmas decorations for 26 years. / Courtesy of Grand Hyatt Seoul

By Kim Se-jeong

Grand Hyatt Seoul is renowned for both its luxury and warmth, but also among the elements that contribute to its success is the hotel’s attention to detail, a good example of which is how the hotel decorates its Christmas tree.

Margie Lindsay, a florist from Adelaide, Australia, has been flying to Seoul for the past 26 years to decorate the hotel’s Christmas tree.

She spent the last two weeks, decorating the 10-meter-high tree with glass baubles, glass and crystal snowflakes and stars crystal, porcelain reindeers, wooden Christmas birds and lights. Besides, she also adorned the hotel’s lobby, deli shop and flower shop with Christmas decorations, including tiny fresh trees, candles, seasonal ornaments made with dogwood branches and magnolia leaves.

“I try to have individuality to each place (hotel property),” Lindsay said during an interview, adding that “I take into account the environment (of the hotel and the city).”

Grand Hyatt Seoul’s Christmas tree

Her more than two decades of traveling to Seoul means she already knows the hotel’s and the city’s atmosphere very well, which enables her to start preparing for decorating projects as early as possible. “I start planning for Christmas nearly 10 months before.”

In decorating Grand Hyatt Seoul, for instance, she had taken into account the hotel’s new look post renovation. “The hotel is beautiful and warm. The new renovation was exquisite and we kept the old lovely feeling.”

Her preparation starts in Australia, where she selects ornaments and places orders for them with the suppliers. All the ornaments arrive with her at the Seoul hotel.

The first thing she does after she arrives at the hotel is to look for fresh flowers and trees. She goes to the flower markets in southern Seoul and turns to a regular supplier for the main tree at the lobby. The tree is delivered fresh and on time to the hotel, making her and her team’s jobs easier.

She works with Grand Hyatt Seoul’s permanent florist team for the decoration, supervising and directing the team members.

As an experienced and well-regarded florist, she supervises decorations for Hyatt hotels mainly in the Asia Pacific region. Her previous project was with Hyatt Regency Hangzhou in China. She said on average she travels to four cities a year to help clients with their Christmas decorations, but she also travels to decorate new properties or newly renovated properties.

Lindsay’s connection with Hyatt Hotels began in 1987 in Australia. At the time, she already had a reputation for successful restaurant and wine shop floral decoration projects, and the hotel contacted her for a collaboration. In 1990, the hotel asked her to work for it full-time.

The florist said she loves her job. “I meet new people and new friends,” she said, adding that through her job, she learned about different cultures and how to work with people from different backgrounds.

One downside of her job is being away from her family for a long time. “Sometimes, I spent six months away from my family in a year,” said Lindsay who is a mother to three grown-up daughters who now also have their own children.

She left for Australia on Wednesday to spend the Christmas season with her family. “I will decorate my Christmas tree with my grandchildren,” she said.