This past week some of the fabulous friends that Martha and I made while visiting Turkey last summer were in New York. It was the perfect opportunity to have my first sit-down dinner party at home. I have had many cocktail parties but this was going to be my first formal sit-down dinner. I was a little nervous especially since our Turkish friends were such fantastic hosts. I can honestly say that Turkish people must have graciousness, generosity, and hospitality encoded in their DNA.
In order to make sure that I provided them with the best evening possible, I called upon all the resources that I have available to me at Martha Stewart -- in other words, I pulled out the big guns...
Chef Pierre Schaedelin prepared a meal that was delicious beyond measure. Martha and Pierre came up with a delectable menu. Tom Borgese -- floral stylist extraordinaire worked his magic and every room in my apartment had his masterpieces displayed to great effect. Tom and I spent the morning of the appointed day at the flower markets on 28th Street and visited all of our favorite vendors. Then last but not least I hired a few waiters from Mint Management to serve and I put in my ipod with a playlist compiled by Kerstin Czarra -- who has the best taste in music of anyone I know and I was off to what was a fantastic evening.
Here's a look at some of the preparations for my dinner party. Tom was kind enough to share some clever and useful tips for preparing flower arrangements...
1 Martha Stewart Living's Stylist Tom Borgese has an order of gorgeous autumn branches and leaves soaking in water on my balcony.
2 A cloudy, but comfortable day in the city to be doing a project on a balcony.
3 The bunch of leaves and branches before being prepped for an arrangement.
4 Here, Tom is taking a look at which branches he wants to use for one of the arrangements for my dinner parties.
5 Tom needs to use loppers to easily cut through the branches.
6 Tom cuts multiple pieces so he can work little by little for the arrangement.
7 Here he is deciding the length of the branch he needs to cut off.
8 A rule of thumb (or finger) is if what you are cutting, like a branch, is thicker than your index finger -- then you need to use a lopper tool.
9 The branches are cut and ready to be used for the arrangement.
10 The colors of the leaves will be the perfect touch to my home to create an ambience of the season.
11 Tom will cut the branch so the leaves will begin at the top of the jar he will be using to place the arrangement in.
12 Because the branches are so heavy, an antique Ginger Jar is used for this project to keep the arrangement from falling over.
13 Tom prepares the bottom of the branches to help the plant receive plenty of drinking water.
14 This cutting of the bottom of the branch is called scoring.
15 Now the arrangement is large enough to make its way to the location it will be at for the the parties.
16 The arrangement is just at the start of being put together.
17 It is relocated to another room in my apartment.
18 Tom begins to trim a few branches.
19 Tom carries a few branches to the room where the arrangement is being set up.
20 When deciding where to place such a large arrangement, be sure to think of where your guests are most going to be. This piece may not be the best to put on a dining room table because people will not be able to see over it (unless you did a smaller version of this arrangement).
21 The small extra pieces from this project were simply thrown-out.
22 New arrangements have arrived from Folage Garden!
23 This Odontocidium "Solar Flare" orchids last about a month.
24 These arrangements are tall and will be perfectly displayed later in the evening on one of my longer tables in my living room.
25 These orchids touch my dining room chandeliers.
26 On to the next flower arrangement project, in my kitchen there are 200 roses sitting in different vases in water.
27 There are multiple types and colors of roses that I will be using in my rose arrangement that will grace my dining room table for my dinner parties.
28 Here is a close-up of two different types of roses: Capriccio and Metallina.
29 More roses wait to be used for table arrangements.
30 Here are two tools that will be used to create the rose arrangements: to the left is a pruner and to the right is a stem stripper. Tom placed red tape on the stem stripper because he said he has lost is several times in a pile of leaves -- so it is easier for him to spot with the red tape.
31 Julep cups will be used to place the flowers in once they are cut.
32 Here, Tom uses the stem stripper to take off several extra leaves. This rose is a Sahara.Using the stem stripper makes the job quick and easy and you won't have to come in contact with any nasty thorns.
33 Here you can see how the stem stripper easily wraps around the stem of the rose.
34 Leaving a few of the rose leaves is okay. It is best to keep them up top by the rose so the leaves do not go below the water level.
35 Here is a Capriccio rose.
36 I wanted to highlight the different style of roses so we cut them longer. I didn't want them tucked in together -- it keeps guests from seeing the different forms of the roses.
37 Here is a Metallina rose.
38 Using clean vases is very important for the flowers, also the warmer the water the faster the roses will open.
39 Use as much water as possible for most flowers (like roses) in a vase -- for soft-stem flowers use less water. A tip for tulips: the more water used the more the tulips will droop.
40 I picked different roses because they all have a unique look to them.
41 Tom picks off of a few petals to freshen up the look of the Silverstone rose.
42 Here is a Juliet rose -- it has a form of a garden rose and has very dense layers inside.
43 A close up of a few of the gorgeous roses.
44 See how each rose is able to slope outwardly? This is what you want in order for your flowers to be seen -- the Julep cups are perfect to let the flowers be seen.
45 If you put your roses in a cylender vase, they would stand up straight and it wouldn't show off the roses' faces.
46 A few tips to help your roses live longer: keep roses out of the sun as much as possible, change the water as often as you can and give fresh cuts to the bottom of the stems when you change the water.
47 Here is one of the arrangements, there will be many on the table for the dinner parties.
48 A gorgeous view from the top.
49 When you first cut roses, be sure to cut them under running water, that way they won't suck in air. If they suck in air it will block the water from reaching the actual bloom.
50 Be sure to cut the stems on an angle, the more surface there is the rose will be able to absorb more water. When the rose sits in the vase with a stem cut on an angle then it will be exposed to more water and not sitting flat on the bottom of the vase.
51 Roses have such a classic look, you really can't go wrong using them as a centerpiece arrangement for any event.
52 The colors look beautiful under the light.
53 here I am making sure the flowers are arranged in the best way on my dining room table.
54 In my living room is where I placed the orchids, their relection in the mirrors are gorgeous!
55 How stunning does this dining room look?!
56 I moved my Bromeliads from my living room to the dining room where I will be placing extra cocktail and champagne glasses.
57 Different size plates have also been set out and are ready to be placed on the dining room table.
58 I had to decide with which color linen I would use for napkins. I decided to go to with a more neutral tone.
59 Chef Pierre takes a look at what I will be using to set the table.
60 I love having a beautifully set table for a dinner party. Here I am about to begin setting the table.
61 Laying out the silverware needs to be done the correct way.
62 Look how gorgeous the table looks!
63 Making sure everything that needs to be on the table has been set in place.
64 Setting up a tray of extra cocktail glasses and champagne glasses in the back of the dining room.
65 Extra glasses are placed behind the dining room table -- in a location that is easy to get to if someone needs something during dinner.
66 Making the vases into a straight line.
67 The table is set and ready for dinner!
68 Chef Pierre making sure everything is where it needs to be.
69 Food is prepared and ready to be cooked!
70 Chef Pierre goes in to my pull-out-pantry to find a few items he needs to cook dinner.
71 The champagne is chilling in the kitchen.
72 So I tucked away the candles in their proper place before my guests arrived.
My trip with Tom Borgese to the Flower District on 28th Street led us to three exquisite vendors: Foliage Garden, 28th Street Wholesale, and A Rose By Harvest.
1 For my dinner party, I bought my orchids at Foliage Garden on 28th Street.
2 There is a wide selection of greenery set up outside of the store.
3 I love the tall spiral bushes -- perfect for balconies.
4 Before you even enter the store there is a large selection to pick from.
5 The white flowers are beautiful hydrangeas.
6 Here is a current window display.
7 The reindeers will be the perfect touch for the upcoming Christmas holiday.
8 Making my way to the orchid selection.
9 The orchids are gorgeous and perfectly displayed.
10 I love the details of the two colors on this orchid.
11 Here is a close-up of the beautiful phalaenopsis!
12 Look familiar? This plant is an ornamental cabbage.
13 These are paper whites -- when they bloom they are little white flowers.
14 Bamboo can be found in the back of the store.
15 Hard at work in the back of the store working on different arrangements.
16 There are also small potted plants that can be found throughout the store.
17 The pattern on these hawthornias is very alluring.
18 You will be amazed at the size of many plants around the store!
19 You may not be able to tell from this photo, but these red poinsettia plants are massive!
20 A variety of pots are stacked throughout the store.
21 Here is a view from the back of the shop.
22 White poinsettias are so elegant looking.
23 There are many exotic plants!
24 A line of different plants and flowers.
25 I love the pattern and texture of the the large leaves in the center of this photograph.
26 Another photograph of several orchids.
27 Another beautiful photo in the front of the the Foliage Garden store.
28 Beautiful dendrobium orchids... I love the bright green color!
29 Jeff helped me with my order of orchids for my dinner party.
30 Another stop was made at A Rose By Harvest -- they just recently opened their store this month!
31 The entire store is a walk-in refridgerator and there are hundreds of varieties of roses.
32 The company has been open since 1997 and originally had 5 different refridgerated trucks that went to several locations including Connecticut, New Jersey, and The Hamptons.
33
34 98 percent of the roses in the shop are from Ecuador, other roses are brought in from Japan.
35 Here is Natan Alpert, managing director of Wholesale Floral, Inc. He is a flower expert and was full of interesting facts about roses.
36 Dozens of colors of roses are in the store, but look closely at other details -- like the way the petals lay and the way the flower opens.
37 Here is the rarest rose in the shop (the yellow roses in the center). Brought from Ecuador, this is a rare mutation of a Judy rose. Natan said the color and the way the flower opens are the rare characteristics of this specific rose.
38 The different colors are so bright and breathtaking.
39 You can find many bicolor roses throughout the store -- a rose that has more than one color.
40 The price of the roses range from 65 cents to $3 a stem.
41 Pictured here are freeze-dried roses.
42 You can wire freeze-dried roses into your arrangements and they last a few weeks!
43 The roses in the store are organized by height and color.
44 You can see how dense the inside of these roses are by the way the petals lay.
45 The color of these roses is so captivating.
46 This store really is the place to go if you are in search for the perfect rose.
47 A bright and beautiful selection!
48 You can buy the roses and arrange them yourself or they will make arrangements for you.
49 There are colors to go with every decorating palette.
50 You can see a difference in the different styles of roses in this photograph.
51 My final stop was for the maple branches -- 28th Street Wholesale shop is located right next to A Rose By Harvest. Pictured here are not maple branches but you can see pear branches and magnolia branches.
52 More plants are aligned outside of the store.
53 Here are some bright colored Ilex.
54 A closer look at the Ilex -- the red will be beautiful to mix in to make a Christmas arrangement next month!
55 The orange round-shaped plant at the top right is called Rose-Hips.
56 A look inside the shop from the front door.
57 A selection of flowers can be found inside of the store.
58 Throughout the store you can find different greenery.
59 The tulip selection was gorgeous for this time of year.
60 Boxes of tulips lay displayed.
61 I love the colors of these branches.
62 A lovely way to display these would be to lay them flat in a bowl for a simple centerpiece.
63 A view from the back of the store.
64 In the back of the store you can find busy work spaces.
65 A selection of cacti are available for simple house plants.
66 Other small plants to pot for around your home.
67 Bamboo is a cut flower that lasts forever.
Kevin Sharkey 
From: Sarah Gidick | 11/22/10 at 5:50 am
Looks amazing. Every time I see your dining room chandeliers I am so impressed with them. You deserve a huge pat on the back for being so innovative by putting two of the same next to each other. They are truly beautiful! I hope you had a wonderful party.
From: Perfecting Pru | 11/22/10 at 9:43 am
Kevin,
This must be one of your best posts ever! I loved it. I hope you had a great evening after all the preparation!
From: Rowaida Flayhan | 11/22/10 at 11:15 am
Dear Kevin,
Beauitful photos of your apt and the preparation! Wonderful I am sure your guest were overwhelmed and so happy! Middle Eastern people have these qualities of graciousness, generosity, and great hospitality
Gorgeous gorgeous flowers love love the roses and orchids. I want to wish you Happy Thanksgiving Kevin! I am going tomorrow to London to visit my kids and spend thanksgiving with them so excited.
Best Regards,
Rowaida
From: Marilyn in TX | 11/22/10 at 11:59 am
Loved all the cocktails you mixed today on Martha's show! The "French 75" was invented at Harry's New York Bar in 1915, named after the French artillery howitzer cannon 75 because it packed such a kick! Sounded yummy! Hope you enjoy all your parties!
From: Wanda | 11/22/10 at 11:59 am
Lovely post, Kevin.
Quite an eye full. I couldn't help but notice the giraffes. Any explanation?
From: Annie | 11/22/10 at 1:48 pm
Thank you for sharing the pics of your exquisite apartment, and also, loved loved loved the pics of the flower markets. The roses especially - so beautiful! I wish I could have 3 to 5 fresh roses in a simple vase by my bedside at all times. To me, that is luxury! Also, the clear glass ginger jar ---simple and beautiful...source, please?
From: Alexis | 11/23/10 at 3:22 pm
Wow! As always:Great advice, beautiful apartment (I am especially fond of your dining chairs!) and the arrangements are to die for!!! I actually just wrote a post for last minute considerations on my blog (North On Harper).... but clearly your prep requires a bit more forethought!!!!
From: Jeanne | 11/26/10 at 5:22 pm
Wow the flowers and foliage were just a treat for the eye. I thought I couldn't get enough of the greenery and then all of a sudden came the orchids. And still yet were the best of all, those amazing roses with the most unusual colors and shapes. Thanks so much Kevin!
From: Libby | 11/30/10 at 12:17 am
Tres luxe! Thanks for posting the wonderful photos and for the captions, too.