Category Archives: Books

Jan 17, 2017

When I first heard of Jen Glantz and her role as a “professional bridesmaid” I was instantly intrigued. But with several appearances on television shows like Rachael Ray and an upcoming memoir about her experiences I figured who better to offer up some tips to ladies who will be performing the bridesmaid role themselves this year!

There are a lot of rules that come along with being a bridesmaid, whether those rules around what dress you have to wear to the wedding or what color nail polish the bride wants you to wear on her big day. It can feel, at times, that being a bridesmaid, is the same if you’ve done it once or thirteen times.

But being a bridesmaid can be a lot of fun and can feel different every single time that you do it. Before I became a professional bridesmaid, I was a bridesmaid for my own friends over a half a dozen times. To keep it from feeling mundane and generic each time, here are three ways you can spice up being a bridesmaid if you’ve find yourself walking down the aisle a couple of times a year.

1. Take the Lead With Planning

If you’ve been a bridesmaid quite a few times, chances are you have a long list of do’s and don’ts when it comes to planning some of the pre-wedding events. Even if you’re not the maid-of-honor you should still share some of that advice to optimize the wedding experience. If you’ve been to Vegas thee times already for a bachelorette party, perhaps you can recommend some other fun and cool spots to make the bachelorette party an unique experience for everyone.

2. Convince the Bride to Pick Unique Bridesmaid Dresses

When the bride is starting to go through the dress picking process, perhaps shed some insight on cool bridesmaid dress trends you’ve seen before or worn before as a bridesmaid. Slowly, yet surely, the trend is moving away from matching bridesmaid dresses to having the bridesmaids find a dress that makes them feel awesome instead.

3. Find New Ways to Save Money

For now on, whenever you are a bridesmaid, make it a goal to find different ways to save money. Whether it’s finding the bridesmaid dress for a discounted price or hunting for great travel deals online, make it a bridal party challenge to see who can find the best deals when it comes to buying whatever the bride or the maid-of-honor wants you to buy.

Jen Glantz is the world’s first professional bridesmaid and founder of Bridesmaid for Hire and the author of the new book, Always a Bridesmaid (For Hire). She’s the heartbeat behind the website The Things I Learned From, and the author of the Amazon-bestselling ebook, All My Friends are Engaged. She can be found in New York City wearing old bridesmaid dresses to the grocery store, on first dates, or double-fisting slices of one-dollar pizza.

1.17.17 | TARA GUÉRARD
Books, Bridal, Event Planning, Press, Weddings | Comments >>

Nov 14, 2016

Celebrate Everything!

If you haven’t seen the new book from Martha Stewart Wedding editor, Darcy Miller, you should get your copy right away! Darcy is not only a huge talent in the wedding and publishing industry, but her knack for crafting details and personal touches in her own entertaining world is fabulous. There are tons of DIY’s (“Darcy” it yourself) tips and tricks and so many fun details… buy it here on Amazon.

There are party tips on everything from birthday parties, to baby and bridal showers, and simple dinner parties.. I loved going through all of her clever details.

Lucky for us, Darcy will be coming down for Charleston Wedding Week doing a book signing. She will also be joining Mindy Weiss and me for cocktails, dinner, and conversation as we discuss all things weddings! See below for details and tickets.

See more of the schedule of events, and ticket information at Charlestonweddingweek.com.

11.14.16 | TARA GUÉRARD
Announcements, Books, Charleston, Entertaining, Event Design, Event Planning, Events, Parties, Weddings | Comments >>

May 04, 2016

Wedding Wednesday on the Farm

As we are looking forward to our upcoming wedding in Newport, Rhode Island, it reminded me of this splendid affair we did at the family farm of the bride in Martha’s Vineyard. The property was breathtaking, and the father of the bride had a century old barn moved to the farm from Canada. They host guests every fourth of July for dinner in the barn and festivities on site, so what a better way to celebrate than by hosting the wedding there as well. Adrienne Page captured all of the images.

Bridal Collage

The bride had all of the women in her family’s initials embroidered onto her bouquet ribbon. The groom gifted his bride an enamel Hermes bracelet on the wedding day along with words to his future bride.

The guest welcome bags contained locally bottled waters, vintage Vineyards postcards, snacks included homemade caramel bars, and custom printed playing cards (the couple and their families enjoying playing several card games) all in a Martha’s Vineyard maptote.

Ceremony Collage

The baby’s breath en masse made a statement for the ceremony aisle. The natural beauty of the land was the best backdrop.

Flower girl Collage

All of the flowers used at the wedding were purchased in town at the farm stand based on what was available. Bridesmaids wore dresses by Lela Rose, a friend of the bride and groom who attended the wedding.

Cocktail hour Collage

Natural wood was a design element the bride really wanted incorporated, so we painted many wooden signs placed throughout the party. And, the seating chart was fashioned from calligraphied wooden paint stirrers.

The bride and her mother work in the interior design field, so they selected many of their favorite design coffee table books and had guests pen notes to the couple in lieu of a guest book.

Dinner was held inside the vintage barn that was moved to the property from Canada.

Dinner Collage

All of the wooden flooring, beams, etc inside the barn were all original. We printed the menu on large wooden signs to match the rustic feel of the barn.

Placesetting Collage dinner

Lounge Collage Cake table

Nighttime Collage

Guests enjoyed a cheese cart that was served after dinner in the “Boogie Tent”, full of local cheeses, fruit spreads, and honeys guests could select what they want and servers plated cocktail plates for them.

Getaway Collage

In order to keep foreign grasses or plants at bay, guests tossed bird seed to the couple as they departed by a vintage “woody” owned by a fellow islander.

5.04.16 | TARA GUÉRARD
Books, Bridal, Bridal Style, Event Design, Event Planning, Flowers, Food and Drink, Parties, Photographers, Reception, Travel, Uncategorized, Weddings | Comments >>