How do you decorate the White House for the holidays? Featuring 165,075 twinkling lights, 28,125 shiny baubles, 83 trees, 50 pounds of icing and a small army of 300 volunteers.

That’s what went into the decoration of 1600 Pennsylvania this year, which First Lady Jill Biden officially unveiled to the public this morning. The dazzling annual exhibition, themed “Season of Peace and Light,” transforms the mansion’s historic rooms into a veritable wonderland filled with pine forests, touching tributes and, yes, plenty of seasonal treats.

“As we celebrate our final holidays here at the White House, we are guided by the values ​​we hold sacred – faith, family and service to our country. Kindness to all our neighbors and the power of community,” the first lady said during the address in the East Room. “So that’s what inspired this holiday theme, what I think of this time of year – a time of peace of light.”

The first lady and her team hired Bryan Rafanelli — a star event producer who designed Christmas for the Obama White House and produced Naomi Biden’s White House wedding in 2022 — to help pull off the extravaganza, which is all includes a scale model of the White House gingerbread, a rotating carousel and a mini vintage Christmas pickup truck.

“When I work with the first lady, my goal has always been to make sure it’s a true reflection of her,” Rafanelli told ELLE DECOR as he stood in the White House’s dazzling Cross Hall, its ceiling filled with thousands was decorated with paper doves. “She loves classic Christmases and really wants to highlight them.”

Rafanelli and his team worked with about a dozen companies and hundreds of artisans to decorate the East Wing. Upon entering through the East Wing lobby, guests are enveloped in floor-to-ceiling garlands covered in gold baubles that frame the gleaming Gold Star Christmas tree honoring fallen or missing service members. From there, visitors stroll through the remaining rooms in the East Wing, where they’ll discover everything from a bevy of rotating vintage glass Christmas trees (which Rafanelli and his team tracked down by scouring thrift stores and church sales); a baker’s bench full of bread in the China room; and elaborate floral arrangements alongside portraits of Jacqueline Kennedy and Lady Bird Johnson in the Vermeil Room.

Working in such an important building comes with challenges, says Rafanelli: “You have to carefully process the ideas so that they harmonize with the architecture of the house.”

Nowhere is this more evident than in the soaring East Room, where shimmering confetti hangs like glittering snowflakes from a mirrored canopy and where a traditional Neapolitan crèche sits next to Gilbert Stuart’s stately painting of George Washington. In fact, the decor joins tens of thousands of treasures in the White House collection. “It’s about really figuring out how we can create something extraordinary from a design perspective without compromising the house,” adds Rafanelli.

A special cohort of National Guard families was invited to get their first public look at the celebration as part of the First Lady’s Joining Forces initiative. Starting this week, more than 100,000 guests are expected to enjoy the White House Wonderland.

The spectacle marks the latest for the Bidens and follows a divisive election cycle. But the first lady expressed optimism as she reflected on her time in the White House. “I remember the first time we crossed this threshold here on Inauguration Day, and the pull of history led us forward, enveloping us in the centuries-old stories that live here in this house,” said she.

“As volunteers decorating during the holidays over the four years, your laughter and ideas harmonized with the echoes of the past,” the First Lady continued. “And in those moments, this became more than just a historic home – you made it a home full of meaning and possibility…It has been the honor of a lifetime to serve as your First Family. May our nation be blessed with peace and light.” Merry Christmas.

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