When your worlds collide

January 14, 2019

On Thursday, July 26th I had a meeting with the owners of the Rockaway Beach Surf Club to talk about some upcoming weddings that they were going to be hosting in their space.  The NY Women’s Surf Film Festival was starting at RBSC the next day and one of the owner’s, an artist, decided right then and there that he wanted to do an install in the space.  Wait, what?  He wanted to do an install…the next day and have it ready by 6PM the same day…..um, sure!  The opportunity to combine surfing and flowers, two things that I love, made my heart race.  I quickly started plotting and planning right then and there.  What could we do in the space and what materials could I easily source the next morning?  What kind of things would survive 3 days in the middle of the summer?  I made some quick phone calls that night, wrangled a team and on Friday we got to it.

The install started at 9AM on Friday morning.  I was spray painting gypsophila red and pink (the colors for the festival) in the back while Alice and Margo began installing inside the space.  I was not able to do much of the ladder work because I had concussion from a jet ski accident just 12 days prior.  It was realllllllllly hot that day and we had to use materials that would survive both the heat and the weekend.  We used a ton of gypsophila, summer grasses and autumn eucalyptus.  Every single flower that we used had to be water tubed.  The ceiling of the space is filled with suspended surfboards and we used the boards to anchor our installs overhead.

I did have to go back on Saturday to spray everything down and replace some of the tubed flowers.  But considering temperatures were in the low 90s, everything held up pretty well and the entire weekend was a huge success!  PS - If you’re looking for a relaxed wedding or party vibe near the ocean, Rockaway Beach Surf Club hosts wedding and private events year round! Go to their website for pricing and more information.