The New York Botanical Garden’s Annual Orchid Dinner was a Love Letter to the City

Emily Wheeler and Anne VyalitsynaBryan Bedder/Getty Images

“There is no more beautiful room in New York in the winter, or anywhere,” a delighted J. Barclay Collins II, chairman of the board of NYBG, declared to an audience of resplendent guests on Thursday evening. During the cold snap, when the temperature drops and the florals have yet to really bloom, The New York Botanical Garden reroutes its celebrations from The Bronx to The Plaza Hotel for a special night of horticultural opulence: the beloved Orchid Dinner.

The evening’s soiree celebrates the annual exhibition, which is held at the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory and displays a striking variety of orchids. For this year’s show, New York-based artist Mr. Flower Fantastic recreates the urban spirit and iconography of New York City with Mr. Flower Fantastic’s Concrete Jungle—on view until April 26th.

“Mr. Flower Fantastic has a particular creative twist that he brings to the space,” Marc Hachadorian, NYBG’s senior curator of orchids, told Vogue. “You have this immersive journey where people step into a glass house conservatory, but they’re somehow transported to someplace else and they become lost in their own imaginative world.”

At cocktail hour, between greetings and exchanges, attendees including Martha Stewart and supermodel Anne V were welcomed to shop unique and rare orchids—with all proceeds directly supporting NYBG’s mission and commitment to research, education, and outreach. Also on display, jeweler Emily P. Wheeler’s latest collection of Bouquet Studs and Flower Bolos looked as if they had been tailor made for the event.

Later, guests made their way through decadent tablescapes to take their seats below the Grand Ballroom’s shimmering chandeliers. This year, inspired by Mr. Flower Fantastic’s exhibition, NYBG had collaborated with an arrray of creatives from across the country to recreate décor that brought to life New York City iconography like The Statue of Liberty, glossy red apples, and a tower of Tiffany Co. gift bags. “The exhibition essentially became the catalyst for the arrangements seen here tonight,” Hachadorian noted. “The artists we worked with really infused a level of creativity that is very impressive.”

DJ Runna closed out the evening with a celebratory performance, leaving the dance floor looking like, what you could say, was a floral-laced Concrete Jungle.