As prices climb and some budgets shrink, flowers are often one of the first things to be scaled back, or cut completely. Here are designers who planners say get more bloom for the buck.
Kathleen Somers, manager of special events for Catholic Charities Brooklyn and Queens, turned to Georgewood Florist for the organization’s annual gala, held in June at the Pierre Hotel. Somers says owner Antonio Diorio maximized her $15,000 decor budget, creating 60 tall centerpieces with white lilies and burgundy peonies, plus additional arrangements for the cocktail reception and the registration and silent auction tables. “[Antonio] was a calming force for me during a crazy, hectic time, and on top of that, his flowers were gorgeous,” she says. The florist also donated a year’s worth of arrangements to the silent auction—one of the evening’s most profitable items.
“We are always on a tight budget,” says Jenny Powers, vice president of special events for the New York chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. “When it was time for our annual black-tie gala [in October], we spent more than we anticipated on other aspects of the event, which left us in a bind when it came to doing floral arrangements.” Powers enlisted Jerry Sibal of Design Fusion to hand-carve table numbers into pumpkins. For $75 per centerpiece, Sibal topped each table with a lit jack-o-lantern surrounded by mini gourds. “They were a tremendous hit. Many guests took them home for Halloween,” says Powers. She adds that Sibel is also budget-friendly when it comes to more traditional floral arrangements—for the organization’s annual Women Against MS Luncheon he created centerpieces of tulips and roses for $50 apiece.
Sharon Becker, special events manager for the Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation, recommends VSF Flowers after working with the full-service florist on the foundation’s annual gala in May. “We have one gala per year, which takes place at Sotheby’s on the night they hang the modern and impressionist art sale,” she says. “Because of the art, we don’t need a lot of decoration. [Co-owner Todd Rigby] understood that the flowers were a centerpiece, not the centerpiece of the event,” she says. Rigby worked with board president Nancy Corzine to design 25 centerpieces in three different colors meant to complement the masterpieces on display. Although Becker describes the arrangements as rich and elegant, she says Rigby worked well within the foundation’s budget, even breaking down the cost per stem.
