A Wonderful Time

Since you've seen the pretty film-y shots from Florida, now we should get technical. Behind the scenes. Sneak peak into the process. Etcetera. Since the bride had already had her official wedding ceremony and it was dreamy and romantic and elegant and rustic and all of the good things that come with throwing a very fancy party in the middle of the woods (see photos here and here), we decided to have fun in Florida.

I have long been obsessed with Slim Aarons, a photographer famous for taking photos of socialites in hotbeds of preppy perfection- Palm Beach, Newport, New York and beyond. His poolside portraits from the 1960s and 70s were the first thing that jumped to mind when Ashley told me about the party her mother was hosting at a bath and tennis club outside West Palm.

Finding Slim's book A Wonderful Time in a free pile on the street years ago was a highlight of my days in the West Village and his interest in preserving prep really made sense as a jumping off point for the party. Citrus, obviously, and mix-matched milk glass, too. We embraced Florida instead of fighting it.

Sourcing local citrus still on the branch proved very tricky. All of the growers we spoke to wouldn't sell branches cut since they were more interesting in next year's crop. (Understandable.) Also, November is quite early in the season for fruit, since most trees hit peak production in January. 

We ended up shipping citrus from the West Coast that's grown especially for floral use, along with some other really beautiful California roses, ranunculus, celosia, camomile and tulips. The overnight fed-exing of flowers seems excessive even to me, but considering that nearly all flowers in your local grocery store were grown in Central America, buying from California is actually a more responsible solution.
The milk glass vases were sourced from antique shops and the internet in record time. Too scared to ship them down ahead of us, we bubble wrapped them individually and filled up our carry-on's to bring them on board. We lost a few and had to scramble for more when we arrived.

We ended up arranging the centerpieces in a spare room in the tennis club. We had a view of the ocean and kept spirits up with the cheapest of cheap mimosas around. André saves the day, always. The highlight of the job came after 10 hours of arranging, the executive chef brought us a surprise steak dinner on silver trays with silver covers. Food has never tasted so good.

Always desperate to get photos of arrangements, we dragged a few back to our house and took some snaps around the gardens. I shot most of a disposable camera roll which is what you saw last post. Getting photos is my favorite and also the most anxiety producing moment of any event. You always have a million other more important things to be doing but, oh, god, pics or it didn't happen. I will beg, borrow and steal to have a few moments alone with my camera.

The day after, with heaps of citrus still hanging around, I got a few more moments to snap away. I made a little bouquet with leftovers and had Micha change into a 1960s lemon yellow nightgown I bought at an antique store when we were searching for more milk glass. We took some shots and then packed up the car, cup holders filled with ranunculus, and headed down to Miami to relax.