The wake for the bride killed in a Hudson River boating crash will be held Wednesday, and the florist who was to design her bridal bouquet is now making arrangements for her funeral.
Chris Kormusis, the owner of Schweitzer Florist in Pearl River, N.J., is designing Lindsey Stewart's flowers for her funeral with white lisanthus, the same flower she wanted for her bridal bouquet.
Kormusis was still stunned as he prepared the flowers at his shop.
"I'm speechless. I don't know what to say," he said.
Stewart and fiance Brian Bond met with Kormusis just a few weeks ago to finalize their flowers for their Aug. 10 wedding.
"They were happy, of course," Kormusis recalled. "It was just the best time in their lives, right then."
The flower shop owner was working Saturday morning when Stewart's mother came into the store with news there had been a terrible boat accident. Stewart hadn't been found yet, and Bond was injured.
"She took a couple of roses and told me it was Lindsey," he said. "I was floored. I just couldn't believe it."
Stewart's body was found later that day. She was killed in the crash Friday night, along with her groom's best man, Mark Lennon.
On Tuesday, Stewart's mother was back at the florist, selecting flowers for her daughter's wake at Wyman Fisher Funeral Home and for her funeral at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church -- the same church where Stewart and Bond were to be married.
"It's never an easy thing. I've been doing this for a long time," Kormusis said of preparing for funerals. "You never get used to it. Never."
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The Rockland County medical examiner's office found Stewart had died from drowning and head injuries and that Lennon also drowned but had minor injuries.
They were on a speedboat that collided with a moored construction barge near the Tappan Zee Bridge Friday night.
The pilot of the boat, Jojo John, has been charged with vehicular manslaughter in Stewart's death, and other charges. He is described as an acquaintance of the couple and authorities say there was probable cause he was intoxicated. His lawyer has not returned a call.
John remains in the hospital, while at least two of the other survivors of the boat crash are home recovering. Bond was expected to be released from the hospital Tuesday.
