Luxury picnic companies contend with Tucson heat to make magical memories | Entertainment

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Guadalupe Zepeda, the owner of Palafox Projects, encourages her customers to book picnics between 5.30pm and 6.30pm or at 8am due to the extreme heat in the summer months.

“I call the customers and say, ‘Are you sure you want to do it at 12 noon? Because it’s very, very, very hot. ‘ Then I offer a big umbrella and more water or look for shade (in the park) for the picnic, ”said Zepeda.

For local picnic planners, the occasional unpredictable Tucson weather is the toughest part of running a picnic business. Some of Washburn’s picnics are scheduled at least a month in advance, which they think makes it difficult to predict the weather on the day of the event.

Zepeda faced unpredictable weather last spring when she organized a large luxury picnic for about 30 people and a storm raged and “destroyed everything,” she said. In the storm, she lost two large umbrellas and some wicker furniture.

Instead of packing the rest of the setup together, Zepeda told her client to give her 30 minutes and she would start over and rearrange the arrangements for the event. Zepeda says she lost money that day because of the destroyed items and although she is not rich, she feels rich with the opportunity to have nice picnics.

After leaving her hometown of Agua Prieta, Sonora, Mexico 20 years ago, Zepeda moved to Tucson and became a beautician, a profession she still works in today. Last September she started Palafox Projects and started making tablescapes with the help of her daughters.

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