two weddings, two weeks of whirlwind

Here are some pictures from my phone of the last few weeks of flowering for two very big weddings. I can say honestly I've had my fill of fedex, uhaul, and dare I even say it - peonies - for a while.

Every wedding we do I always think about how we could have done it better. For our Bridgehampton event, we ended up spending a lot of money going out there early in the week to source some plants and flowers, and have the luxury of making everything on site. I suppose we could have made everything in the studio and trucked in all out the morning of the wedding, but it wouldn't have been as much fun. There wouldn't have been as much love put into the flowers, as many talented women working on each and every arrangement...

Cheap party trick I pull out every June: unripened strawberries. Buy the plants, clip the blushing green berries, and then take the plants home for more berries in a few weeks. 

One lesson we learned on this job was to count your linens before you go home. We're missing lots of LaTavola which could really cost us...

I had someone email me about seasonality and call out the fact (very sweetly and politely) that there are out of season flowers in some of my portfolio images. As is the case here (above) you'll find some hyacinth and tulips in the bouquets -- because of the 90+ degree heat we brought in some fail-proof flowers. 

The ranunculus, believe it or not are from Jersey. Turns out our beloved Hautau has a sister!

Mazel Tov Sarah and Evan!!

I couldn't resist another trip to Atlantic Nursery for some flowers for the following week's event... I scoured these iris which I cut and now am planting at the farm. I also bought some blueberry bushes and more nine bark to cut from and then plant. My favorite two birds one stone trick of late...also...Deanna is cut:

It rained miserably in NYC all last week and we all had several wet-rat moments. 

Then the sun came out in time for the rehearsal dinner and wedding. Look at these two fine apprentices of ours; Bianca and Nicole. 

Eric, from the farm called to say we should put our chuppa together the day before to check if it got warped in the flood, thank god we did...we miss his smarts on these events, but I don't miss his arguing with me when we're on the job!!! (He has to stay at the farm now because of the chickens.)

Across the street Clyde's house suffered much damage from the hurricane, so instead of buying our ivy at the market, we made a donation to the repairs, and cut his ivy down. Everyone wins, ivy like this can be really destructive to a house (but it does look pretty).

Rehearsal dinner load in

Michael our newest intern overwhelmed by some peonies. He did such a good job - styling this doorframe all by himself...

Hey that's me!

As ever, I feel Saipua is the sum of all the people who pass through and ultimately power this flower machine. When I was nervous about our biggest event this past weekend I thought to myself: even if I just crawl back into bed clutching my tarot cards (which were not even tarot cards - but playing cards) those guys will make it happen without me. 

That feeling; to know you are surrounded and supported by thoughtful, hardworking people is priceless. And hands down, the best part of my job.