A Woodland Ceremony at New York Botanical
There are some venues where the surroundings already give you so much to work with that the florals shouldn’t compete with them. For Arissa and Zach’s wedding at the New York Botanical Gardens: Stone Mill, we kept the palette almost entirely white and green, allowing the flowers to feel like an extension of the landscape rather than something placed on top of it.
The ceremony sat beside the water, surrounded by stone, trees and the natural landscape of the property. Instead of creating one heavy floral focal point, Monica carried the design throughout the space. Tall floral pieces framed the ceremony while lower garden-style arrangements lined the aisle, giving the entire area movement without blocking the view.
That balance is something that matters when designing an outdoor ceremony. The flowers still need enough presence to photograph beautifully from a distance, but the setting should remain part of the design.
A white floral palette sounds simple until you actually start designing with it.
The interest has to come from somewhere else — different flower shapes, heights, greenery, texture and the way individual stems move within the arrangement. Arissa’s bouquet followed that same approach: soft white blooms layered with greenery rather than one tightly packed variety of flower.
It kept the palette clean while still giving it dimension.
Moving from ceremony to reception didn’t mean starting over.
Inside the Stone Mill, the same whites and greens were brought into a completely different environment. Against the stone walls and warmer lighting, the palette immediately became softer and more intimate. Low floral arrangements allowed the tables to stay open for conversation, while glass candlelight added height without adding visual weight.
That is one of the easiest ways to make a wedding feel cohesive: the design doesn’t have to look identical from one space to the next. It just needs to speak the same language.
Not every table needs to be overflowing with flowers.
When a venue already has texture and character, restraint can actually make the floral work stand out more. Here, white roses, soft greenery, glass and candlelight worked against the Stone Mill’s architecture instead of covering it.
The result was romantic, but still very clean.
Arissa and Zach’s wedding is a good example of what Monica often means when she talks about designing for the space.
The ceremony had height and movement because it needed to hold its own outdoors. The reception became lower, warmer and more intimate because the room already had a strong personality. Same wedding. Same palette. Two completely different environments — connected through the floral design.
Florals & Event Design: Monica Chimes Floral & X-Quisite Events
Venue: New York Botanical Garden — Stone Mill
Photography: Katherine Budny Photography
Planning your wedding at New York Botanical Gardens?