Wedding Florist in Rye, NY · Castle, Yacht Club & Sound-Side Wedding Décor

The rooms at Whitby Castle, Wainwright House and the yacht and shore clubs were booked for the water, so the first rule of a Rye reception is that the decor stays out of its way. An arch set against the glass turns the couple into two dark shapes. So the ceremony turns, with the Sound to the side where it shows up in every wide shot, or the arch becomes two grounded pieces low enough to leave the horizon clear. The seating chart never goes in the window, since a mirror facing the water reflects the water and nobody finds table six. The Sound's evening light is soft and blue, so the palette runs warm, peach and cream and coral, with amber uplights putting the color back after eight.

The Sound always has wind. Ceremony pieces are grounded, weighted and built airy enough to let the breeze through instead of catching it. No tall arch on a single frame, no shepherd hooks swinging, no petals, since petals on a seawall are in the water before the flower girl reaches the front. Every candle outdoors sits in a hurricane. Salt air dries flowers faster than you'd think, so terrace pieces get watered twice and misted before guests arrive. And on a beach club lawn in late September the sunset is behind the couple's shoulder, not their heads, which is exactly where you want it.

Christ's Church on Rectory Street and the other old sanctuaries in town are tall, dark and lit through colored glass. Altar pieces need real mass, white and green read best, pew markers go on ribbon every third row, and in several parishes the altar flowers stay for the weekend. That makes a Rye church-and-club wedding two designs with one bouquet between them, and we hand the maid of honor a vase of water for the drive.