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From Reed’s home to yours

Whether for a casual or elegant affair, Reed says you can always go back to the basics to create a memorable look for a dinner soiree. Let his tried-and-true tips inspire your next get-together.

1. Don’t over think. Before you start panicking or buying more than you need, look at what’s already at hand. Most people have a variety of containers that are different shapes and sizes. Whether they’re china, glass, or terracotta, spread them around at different heights.
2. Keep it simple. Sticking with one or two flower types and monochromatic tones is always going to work well and look pretty. You’re going to get more momentum out of your look if you stick with a certain flower throughout the entire party. People are more prone to remember clouds of hydrangeas as opposed to little mixed arrangements here and there.
3. Remember to light. More than anything, lighting is crucial. At home, candlelight is a sure-fire way to get that extra glow. Also, placing a single, floating candle in a water-filled container is a safe, chic, and a simple way to add impact.

Spring '09 :: ReedGeneration

Some people know in an instant. Some need a little nudge. And others find their raison d’etre by chance. For Reed McIlvaine, it was "just one of those things."

The nephew and godson of Renny Reynolds, the premiere event and floral designer on the New York party scene in the ‘70s, had flowers in his blood, so to speak, but had no intention of making them his livelihood. Renny—a man worthy of one-name status—had already built a reputation for himself and his business, planning parties for Manhattan’s glamorous set. Parties at Studio 54 would not have been, or at least looked, the same without his perennial touch. As a young boy, Reed remembers buzzing from party to party in the Big Apple with his mom to watch Renny setup and flipping through major magazines and seeing none other than his uncle in an Absolut "Renny" ad. Though he grew up aware of the glitz and glam and even lent a hand at weddings here and there, Reed says that a career in flowers was "never a part of the grand plan necessarily—if there even was a grand plan." Little did he know.

After working as a creative director in the dot-com industry for several years post-college, Reed decided to spend some more time with Renny in 2000. Reed brought his producing capabilities from the Web world to the flower industry and enjoyed getting to know his uncle on a business and creative level. The more time he put in, the more Reed began to prove his newfound talent to family members, who knew Renny as the flower man who could make dream celebrations a reality, but had no idea how Reed (who went to school in Oregon and once worked at a microbrewery) would fit into the floral scene.

While Reed learned from the best, he did have his fair share of false starts and cringing moments. He recalls setting up for a big party in Greenwich, Connecticut, during his first summer with Renny when he "didn’t know what the [heck he] was doing." As Reed carefully placed individual vines into a huge glass vase, Renny came over, jamming bunches of vines into the containers, and said, "Come on, Reed—more, more, more! This needs scale, impact, wow." Reed says moments like that quickly whipped him into shape and taught him how to work efficiently and effectively.

After seeing his collaborations with Renny, the family realized "that somewhere in there, there was a hidden similarity to the uncle," Reed says. The first event where Reed actually took notice of those inherent similarities was an elaborate bar mitzvah at the American Museum of Natural History shortly following 9/11. Working closely with the client, floral designers, and production crew, Reed recognized that he had, in fact, caught the flower bug.

"To go through a production at that level from start to finish was where it really sunk in," he says. "In the end, it was like putting on a show—the lights, camera, action type thing. It was a big party and a big success."

Shortly thereafter, Renny realized that Renny and Reed had a nice ring to it and asked his nephew to join and eventually run the team. Renny slowly faded out of the party scene to dig in the dirt and enjoy his original passion in landscape and garden design at his farm in Pennsylvania and new home in Florida. Though Renny occasionally drops into the store for special clients, Reed has stepped into the spotlight.

Whereas his uncle’s one-name moniker was "Renny," Reed earned the nickname "Mr. Worry" around the office. Like with any career change, his responsibilities were overwhelming at first. Planning multi-million dollar parties isn’t exactly a slap-something-together-at-the-last-minute job, and Reed has become the guy in the middle of the spokes—ultimately responsible for the look of every arrangement that goes out the door and every party that is planned.

"It’s the sort of business where you can do everything exactly right and put so much work and preparation into an event and one tiny, little thing can throw things off," Reed says. "You have to be careful and can’t miss a single, single detail."

That meticulous nature has paid off, catching the eye of both established and new clients, including four New York-based luxury hotels—The Four Seasons, St. Regis, Sofitel, and Jumeirah Essex House. Whether designing for a hotel, a red carpet event, or a walk-in customer at the Park Avenue retail store, Reed says he most often looks to the client for inspiration. Anything from an abstract image to a swatch of a dress to an awe-inspiring venue helps the creative wheels turn. A retractable ceiling, for instance, at the Everglades Club in Palm Beach, Florida, transformed what could have been your run-of-the-mill wedding into a night of dancing under the stars and dramatically lit, 14-foot weather balloons.

"You learn over the years that certain elements, no matter how many times you use them, put a smile on people’s faces when they walk in," he says.

But don’t think the success and scale has gone to Reed’s head. He’s the first to admit that he still gets a healthy dose of butterflies before events.

"It’s good to be scared," he says. "As soon as you stop having those moments, it means you’re too confident and you better watch out." The rich and famous aren’t his only clients—he designs "all kinds of looks for all kinds of parties for all kinds of people." One day it’s an over-the-top affair at a private residence in Beverly Hills and the next it’s a budget-minded party for The Drawing School, a non-profit organization in New York’s West Village. Traditional or contemporary, low-key or no-expense-spared, Reed creates a memorable look. And after years of practice, he’s slowly coming out of that "Mr. Worry" stage.

At the end of the day, "we’re making parties, so we don’t take ourselves too seriously," he says. "We enjoy what we do, and we have fun."

"He’s not ‘Mr. Worry’ anymore, because I’m ‘Mrs. Worry,’" jokes Sarah Hobden, Renny & Reed’s creative director. "Seriously, the longer he’s been doing this, the easier it’s gotten for him. Now, he’s a calming force in the office."

That force is apparent immediately upon entering the retail store, where all the magic begins. Besides the sea of fragrant flowers arranged beguilingly by color, the people on Reed’s team dazzle. They make hard work look effortless, even enjoyable. As music plays, peonies and lotus pods and calla lilies and cymbidiums seem to dance into arrangements, offering urbanites a place of beauty in the middle of a concrete jungle. Reed’s presence can be sensed, but he allows the designers to do what they do best—design.

"We’re allowed to be creative and don’t have to follow a certain recipe," says Elizabeth Burrell, who has managed and designed for Renny & Reed for almost three years. "Now that Renny has taken much more of a backseat, I think Reed’s really come into his own stride. It’s his now."

Reed’s work speaks for itself, but he is the first to give credit where credit is due— to Uncle Renny, who paved the way for the past 30 years. An innate sense of respect and tradition permeates the store, and even Reed’s home. In an old farmhouse in Bedford, New York, that he shares with his wife, Kelly, and two sons, Cole, five, and Sloan, two, Reed is constantly surprised by his eldest son’s early enthusiasm in finding shiny centerpieces for the dinner table and writing nametags for guests.

"I see that little guy in the future," he laughs. "He seems destined."

Spring 2009 | By Lenora Jane Estes | Photos courtesy of Renny & Reed