Meet Me Under the Mistletoe: Brisbane Arcade Dresses Up for Christmas

Look up in Brisbane Arcade this Christmas and you will find layers of lights, gold and greenery overhead. The arcade, which calls itself the City's oldest shopping destination, has dressed up for the season with more than 100,000 LED lights, 3,500 metres of fairy lighting and over 15,000 baubles, all installed by a team of 12 in a single 14-hour stretch.

The theme is The Art of Giving, drawn from the arcade's stained-glass windows, so the palette runs to jewel tones, gilded details and festive foliage, with more than 100 gold bows and wreaths. Creative director Sharon Penny, working with L.I.L.Y. Management, wanted the result to be "somewhere people could step away from the rush, look up and feel that nostalgic sense of wonder".

The 2.4-metre wreath photo spot. Photo: Leah Desborough.

The star of the show is the photo spot, a 2.4-metre wreath trimmed with more than 1,500 baubles and 2,200 twinkling lights, built for couples, friends and families to pose beneath the mistletoe and steal a kiss.

Meet me under the mistletoe. Photo: Leah Desborough.

Beyond the decorations, the arcade is pitching itself as an alternative to the usual Christmas shopping trip: more than 40 independent retailers selling jewellery, fashion, millinery, footwear, chocolate and high tea, along with handcrafted pieces made inside the arcade and the chance to meet the designers behind them. On the lower level, Keri Craig Emporium brings fashion, gifts and a coffee lounge together.

Baubled Christmas trees and gifts. Photo: Leah Desborough.

The arcade has a giving story of its own. It was built for philanthropists the late Dr James O'Neil Mayne and his sister, Mary Emelia Mayne, and its net proceeds still go to the University of Queensland's Medical School and to medical research through the Mayne estate trusts.

Brisbane Arcade

• Where: 160 Queen Street Mall, between Queen Street Mall and Adelaide Street
• When: through the Christmas season
• Usual hours: Monday to Thursday 9am to 5pm, Friday 9am to 9pm, Saturday 9am to 5pm, Sunday 10am to 4pm (hours vary between retailers)
• More: brisbanearcade.com.au