It was late morning and Annie Seddington was standing near Strawberry Fields in Central Park setting up a picture perfect (or at least Instagram-ready) picnic. Artificial flowers and battery-operated (no fire, please) candles adorned small tables near cushions as she surveyed her work.
All the pillows and the picnic were set up beautifully, but in the sun. No need to worry. By noon when people arrived, they would be in the shade.
Seddington is a pro when it comes to picnics as the founder and president of PikNYC Luxury Events, a Manhattan-based luxury picnic company that sets up picnics, typically in parks and sometimes on rooftops.
While the pandemic gave birth, or at least gave energy, to many industries, professional picnics is certainly one. In addition to PIKNYC, companies like Posh Picnics NYC, Perfect Picnic NYC and Centralpark.com are upping the picnic game.
“The inspiration for Perfect Picnic came while traveling in Italy,” Wendy Weston, who founded Perfect Picnic in 2011, says. “Everywhere I looked people were enjoying picnics. ‘Why don’t more people in the United States eat like this?’ I wondered and immediately saw an opportunity.”
Each company has a slightly, or drastically, different approach. Centralpark.com gives people the option to reserve online and pick up ready-to-go picnic bags and baskets at their store block across from the park’s entrance at W. 100th Street.
Seddington, who started her company amid the pandemic’s affection for the outdoors, sets up picnics, but picnickers typically use a caterer or bring their own food. Rules vary, but she said Central Park requires permits for 20 or more people.
Customers hire her for high-end picnics for all sorts of reasons from birthdays to anniversaries, team building to wedding proposals and girlfriend proposals these days. And picnic proposals seem to be catching on.
Posh Picnics NYC has various packages, including its “Posh Proposal,” as well as standard, Boho Blast and Picnic Partea.
“We’ve seen girlfriend proposals when someone asks someone else to be their girlfriend,” Seddington said. “They’re making it a big deal like for a marriage proposal. I see that as a growing trend.”
A landscape architect in Arizona, Seddington came to New York City when her husband got a job here. “I followed him here,” she said.
She got her MBA and started doing picnics in the parks as people sought the safety of open air. “This was kind of a side business that wasn’t intended to be my full-time job,” she said. “It became popular and it became my full-time job.”
In business since 2021, PikNYC sometimes does as many as 10 a day and up to 40 a week in busy season with spring as peak and summer and fall also busy.
They do picnics all over the tri-state area with the majority in Manhattan. While Central Park is one favorite, prime park locations include Cherry Hill, near the Plaza Hotel and near the Gapstow Bridge.
Other common choices include Madison Square Park and “anywhere along Hudson River Park,” as well as Battery Park (in an area she says is known as Rockefeller Battery Park) in Tribeca.
They’ve done picnics on Long Island beaches from Long Beach to Sag Harbor, from the Hamptons to the Rockaways.
Their picnic prices (food not included) start at $199 for them to set up (and clean up) for two, including tables, décor, battery-operated candles, pillows and faux florals.
“You can choose the colors, a custom message on a letter board,” she said. “You can upgrade to glassware, clothe napkins, fresh floral arrangements and floral arches.”
She says they can “accommodate various budgets from a more affordable price to a much more high-end price,” including corporate picnics with more than 20, requiring permits.
Food is typically not the focus, or not the only focus for PikNYC, although they sometimes pick up and deliver food from caterers.
People who just want food rather than style can find that through other means. You can pick up picnic food from Perfect Picnic NYC’s store at set hours at 405 Central Park West if you want food more than fashion.
Charcuterie boards are popular, Seddington said, displayed beautifully at luxury picnics designed to make “everything very Instagram photo worthy.”
“We have a caterer that does beautiful grazing tables where you can try different types of foods,” she added.
Seddington has done high-end picnics for celebrities where an NDA is a common part of the process.
“We’ve done events at 620 Loft & Garden at the top of Rockefeller Center with a gorgeous, beautifully landscaped garden available for rental,” she said. “We’ve done high profile proposals up there.”
They also set up at places that customers pick, even if those require traveling. “Wherever our customer needs us,” Seddington said. “Depending in the distance, we may need to require a travel fee.”
She checks the weather a few days in advance, trying to avoid inclement weather. In the event of bad weather, Posh Picnics NYC says they can move the picnic to an indoor area or reschedule.
While winter is hardly peak picnic season, where there’s a will, there can still be a picnic. PikNYC, Seddington said, can still do five a week even during winter with snow, which can be beautifully spread like a white blanket across parks.
“We have heated, transparent igloos,” she said. “We can set up a heated igloo and set up their picnic inside that. So they can still enjoy a picnic when it’s snowing or freezing.”
