After months of preparation, everything was set: the wedding would be on Saturday, August 27 at the Bronx Zoo. The ceremony and cocktails would be outdoors, and the party would move inside for dinner and dancing. But, no one had planned for a hurricane.
All day Friday while arranging the 80+ centerpieces, Ruth and I were getting frantic updates about Hurricane Irene. Despite the news, we continued to work, in hopes that the wedding would happen as planned.
Around 3pm on Friday, Leslie, owner of Sage Events, called
to give us the bad news-- the Zoo canceled, deciding to closes its doors for
the weekend. Before we could wrap
our minds around the fact that the wedding itself could be canceled, Leslie,
the amazing event planner she is, had a Plan B. The wedding would now take place a day later and at a
different venue; the Metropolitan Building in Long Island City.
As weather updates rolled in, we learned the worst of the
storm was supposed to hit on Sunday. We were suddenly faced with the question,
“How would we delivery the centerpieces, bouquets and chuppah in middle of a
hurricane?” We decided our best
option was to deliver the flowers to the venue on Saturday, a day before the
wedding.
Saturday morning was cloudy, humid and eerie as we packed
the van amidst the rain and wind. Thanks
to Rob the Mover and the accommodating staff at the Metropolitan Building, the
delivery went smoothly, and the flowers were left safely in the cool basement
awaiting Sunday’s wedding. We then
went home and braced for the storm.
Having grown up on the plains of Wyoming, I am no stranger to severe weather-- fierce winds, blinding blizzards, deadly tornados, and damaging hail storms were all a part of my childhood. But, storms in NYC take on a different nature altogether— the hysteria surrounding this storm was infectious and the uncertainty of how the city would react made me uneasy. Even though I was exhausted, I hardly slept Saturday night. I kept having the horrible vision that the centerpieces might be washed away in a flood.
Early Sunday morning I looked out my window and expected to
see the worst, but thank goodness the storm did not hit Brooklyn as hard as predicted. And then there was more good news; I
called the venue to get a report from LIC, and there was no flooding or power
outages. But then I got some bad
news when I called Ruth. The streets in her neighborhood had flooded, and it
was impossible for her to get out of her apartment. She was so disappointed to miss seeing this wedding through
to completion.
On top of Ruth being stuck, the staff we hired for the
wedding could not make it. I knew
I couldn’t set up this entire wedding by myself, so I asked my husband to come
and help. He graciously became my
assistant, and along with Leslie’s team and the help of the staff at the
Metropolitan Building the wedding turned out lovely.
I am so glad that the bride and groom, despite Irene, were
able to have their wedding with over 100 of their family and friends. Even with ever-changing plans and weather forecasts, Leslie never doubted this
wedding was going to happen, and QuatreCoeur is happy to be a part of such a
memorable wedding story.
Congratulations, Lilya and Daniel!
