Flower Show Dinner Dance

The Hort held its 17th annual Flower Show Dinner Dance at the Pierre Hotel on East 61st Street in Manhattan about 10 days ago.

(For the uninitiated, the Hort is the Horticultural Society of New York.)

I wasn't invited -- again -- but a friend of mine did attend.  She returned with reports of fabulous over-the-top table decorations, and so I looked on the internet.  She was so right.

A few examples are pictured below.  Where possible, I have noted the names of designers to enable my readers to consult their firms if they require gorgeously staged arrangements.

Renny & reed

Tantawan Bloom

FlowerSchool New York

I have attended many social gatherings that included floral table decorations, but usually these have been on a much smaller scale; the idea, I think, is to enable speech among guests sitting across the table from each other.  At the nicest events, there often is a chance to win one of the arrangements to take home to enjoy for the next week or so.

The centerpieces above are far more ambitious.  The designers have gone up, up, up with their displays, perching the grandest parts above the chit-chat level so as to allow for conversation as well as dramatic impact.

My guess is that these were not shared with guests at the end of the evening.  I cannot picture a couple in gown and black tie wrangling one of these monsters home, even in the ample back seat of large town car.

Later in the week, I checked out Bill Cunningham's "Evening Hours" photo spreads in the society section of the New York Times, but I did not find a picture of my friend.  I'm sure she looked fabulous, by the way.

There is a part of me that would like to appear in one of the famous Mr. Cunningham's columns, but my personal preference would be to be featured in his "On the Street" fashion review, which appears each Sunday.

For those who missed it, last week's photos noted that the spring coat, a must-have wardrobe item the last several years, has been replaced this season by short jackets.  For what it's worth.