Category Archives: Bridal Style

photo by A Bryan Photo

Cartlton Rafield and Gael Gremaud married at the bride’s family home in Birmingham, Alabama.

photo by Lauren Bailey Photo 

Kendall Jolly and Cole Osborne married at Barnsley Gardens Resort in Adairsville, Georgia

photo by Christian Oth Studios/Christian Oth

Laura Rousey and Gianni Gibelli married at the Breakers Resort in Palm Beach, Florida.

photo by Liz Banfield

Sarah Schwarz and Colin Jenest married at a private Yacht club in Charleston, SC.

photo by Tec Petaja

Courtney Hill and Jamie Utt married at Runnymede Plantation in Charleston, SC

photo by Corbin Gurkin

Caroline Hull and Baker Hatcher married at the Bride’s family home in Augusta, GA

photo by Tec Petaja

Cat Ward and Brent Carothers married at Union Station in Kansas City, MI

photo by Sarah Kate Photo 

Sarah Hipp and David Hauptman married at Union Station in Dallas, TX

photo by Corbin Gurkin 

Erin McNaughton and Matthew Lewis married at Lowndes Grove Plantation, Charleston, SC.

 

 

 

12.10.18   |   TARA GUÉRARD
Bridal, Bridal Style, Dresses, Fashion, Photographers, Uncategorized, Weddings | Comments >>
Nov 28, 2018

I’m so excited to be able to finally share this gorgeous garden wedding we did for our former intern, Carleton. She married at her parents home in Birmingham, Alabama which featured the ceremony on the front lawn, and an alfresco style dinner overlooking the back. You know how much I love a home wedding.  Carleton is also the niece of Flower Magazine founder, Margot Shaw, who has always been such a great supporter of Soiree. See more of the gorgeous details over on Over the Moon. All photos courtesy of A Bryan PhotoLettered Olive worked closely with our client to make sure the simple and chic feel she wanted was delivered. 

Carleton chose the Greenhouse gown by another favorite friend, Lela Rose. For her it was the perfect mix of modern and classic…

While, the groom, Gael, wore a custom made Ralph Lauren tuxedo, the ladies were asked to chose their own dress within a color palette…. The look was so curated and worked perfectly with the “gathered greens” bouquet we did for each of the ladies.

The scenery, weather, etc was just so perfect for this garden ceremony. A simple arbor waited at the end of a blanketed aisle of rose petals. Greens attached to chairs acted as “pew markers”. Mini jute totes placed on each chair included blank note cards and pens asking guests to leave well wishes for the couple- in lieu of a traditional guest book. After a cocktail hour throughout the house and garden, guests make their way to the back lawn for dinner featuring family style tables and open air scenery.

Keeping in line with the simple at home feel, we wanted to do something different instead of an escort card display. Hatch Cove Designs and Lettered Olive worked together to create a watercolor illustration of the home and tables with the guests names in their places. This  also became a lovely piece of artwork for the couple’s new home.

The tablescapes married the French and Southern influences seen throughout the wedding.  Sweet garden roses and ranunculus were dotted with greens and fresh lavender peppered throughout. Handwritten and hand tied menus sat atop French lace patterened plates and 100 percent linen tablecloths.

After dinner guests enjoyed a lounge, bars, and dance tent with seating areas hidden throughout trees and secret spots.  To keep the intimate feel to the day, wedding cake was served inside the home’s dining room in petit comité. Before all guests finished their dinner, the couple gathered with their families in the dining room and cut the cake while a pianist played “La Vie en Rose,” a nod to the Groom’s French heritage. I think it’s so important for the couple to steal a few moments away from the larger crowds to soak in bits and pieces of the day here and there. After the cake cutting, a horn line (as a nod to the Southern heritage) came and lead the couple through the dining area to get guests up and out of their seats, and got them to the dance floor.  The first dance song, Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You by Frankie Valli was the perfect way to kick off the dancing.

The couple was sent off by biodegradable confetti and French “jut married” sign…

11.28.18   |   TARA GUÉRARD
Bridal Style, Event Design, Event Planning, Food and Drink, Photographers, Press, Reception, Uncategorized, Weddings | Comments >>

0489.9817.09.2015.53. © Liz Banfield

photo by Liz Banfield 

We had to deal with quite a bit of rain while setting up for a large outdoor wedding this weekend, so it got me thinking about how to avoid some of the unexpected disasters that we’ve experienced in our many years of doing weddings. At one wedding, during the pre ceremony family photos a bride was holding an infant who had a bit of a diaper disaster, leaving quite the mess on her dress!

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photo by Corbin Gurkin

 Katherine McDonald, dress maven of LulaKate and Kate McDonald Bridal, tells us that (appropriately) baby wipes are the BEST kept secret to getting stains out of dresses and they have them on hand at all times in the studio.  Dusting baby powder or going over the water stain with white chalk and a small bristle brush helps distract from the removal of the original stain.  Luckily we keep a bridal preparedness kit on hand at all times and being a mom of 3 I’ve learned the wonder of baby wipes, so we dabbed out the stain and had her photo ready walking down the aisle!

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photo by Corbin Gurkin

You are on weather.com everyday for two weeks leading up to your wedding. Planning, plotting, and praying for that sunshine and no rain report! Well, here in Charleston and the Lowcountry, outdoor weddings are one of the main reasons people choose to marry here.  But in our humid climate frequent showers are inevitable. We’ve had to hold a ceremony off for 45 mins, keeping guests under shelter and on buses until the rain stopped and we could dry off the seats. Here, large golf umbrellas helped shelter the guests and couple after a shower popped up at the end of the ceremony.

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photo by Elizabeth Messina 

We keep a fleet of solid white umbrellas on our trucks for all of our outdoor affairs just in case…

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photo by Elizabeth Messina

Here in Charleston, many couples elect to use vintage cars for their getaway. They obviously make for lovely photos, but can often be unreliable and finicky. We have had several situations where they simply didn’t start or had some complications and often we don’t know this until it’s time for the driver to arrive at the wedding to pick up the bride and groom!

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photo by Corbin Gurkin

 

 Several ideas to avoid being stranded at the end of the evening are to schedule the car for at least an hour minimum prior to your wanting to leave. That way if there is a problem your coordinator or whoever has been your point person can have plenty of time to problem solve (hopefully without you being the wiser!). Another option is to make sure to have a back up- several of our taxi companies here have different or unique vehicles, and since it’s a taxi are readily available and often can be cancelled with little or no penalty. Or, does a friend or family member attending the wedding, have a cool car that they would be willing to let you drive around the block in just for the send off photo opp? Then, you can hop in another vehicle out of sight from the guests! You can always hop on the trolley with the rest of the guests to get home.

10.21.18   |   TARA GUÉRARD
Bridal, Bridal Style, Charleston, Event Design, Event Planning, Uncategorized, Weddings | Comments >>