The Wedding

By Janet MankoFor anyone who makes weddings their business, there has to be a certain level of love, caring and understanding for the participants in the celebrations. For the wedding couple, getting married is daunting enough, but planning the wedding can create a challenge for any relationship, no matter how strong. So it helps to have professionals advising on the arrangements who are an integral and calming part of the process.The flowers may not always be the first thing considered when plans for a wedding begin, but they are an important part of the visual and sensory impact of the day. Who usually thinks about and takes care of this part of the planning?“Most brides do the decision-making on the flowers,” said JoAnne Scasso, owner of Country Gardeners in Millerton. “Though, a couple of times I’ve had the men do it, and they’ve come out great. It’s important to include the groom in the plans, too.” Scasso has been in the floral business for 27 years, and before that worked at a range of different flower shops.“I started out at Flowers by Lee in Amenia when I was 15 years old,” she said. “I also worked at Kent Greenhouse and other places.” At some of those other shops, there was a $2,500 minimum on flowers for weddings, but in Scasso’s own flower shop, there is no minimum. “No wedding is too small. I would never want a bride to be hurt” because her wedding was deemed too small by a wedding business such as the floral shop. “We always deliver the flowers to the site,” Scasso said. “And we pin on the boutonnieres and corsages, light the torches, hang the lanterns,” and stay for the duration just to make sure everything is happening as it should. One thing that Scasso was clear about is that no two weddings are quite the same.“They are all a bit different, no one wants their wedding to be exactly like anyone else’s.”So there is no typical approach any more, and couples are very aware that it’s possible to personalize their weddings. She did a wedding recently where one side of the happy couple was a scientist, and the flowers were put out in test tubes and beakers. “They do go online to find inspiration. While at one time Martha Stewart’s website was the place to go, now the more popular site is www.theknot.com,” Scasso said.Stewart’s suggestions became a bit too predictable, and couples want new and original ideas for their special day, she said. There are many different aspects of the wedding day that might be handled now by the florist, in addition to the expected flowers, from the linens to rented plants to the presentation of the cake to rented Mason jars for flowers or even signature cocktails.“Brides and grooms have to work too hard as it is, and it only adds to that if they can find just one item at each vendor. It is a big help to them to have one-stop shopping,” she said. The average size of the weddings she does is about 150 guests at a cost per wedding in the $2,500 range. Many of the weddings Scasso works on are at the Interlaken Inn in Lakeville, where she was married 23 years ago. It is clear in speaking with her that such continuity and understanding of the venue and the region is part of what makes the wedding planning side of her business so enjoyable for her.“This is a beautiful area to live in, and a beautiful one in which to get married,” she said.For more on Country Gardeners, go to www.countrygardenersflorist.com, or call JoAnne Scasso at 518-789-6440.