Category Archives: Cakes

May 23, 2018

Can you tell how ready we are for summer and beach season over here? Today we are sharing this Sea Island wedding full of seagrass and shell details. Surprisingly, while we are located in Charleston, SC we are rarely able to do any beachside weddings as they aren’t allowed here. So, when we are working with a client hosting a beach wedding we do like to make use of the surroundings.

The ceremony itself took place at a local chapel before guests made their way to the Ocean Forrest Club at Sea Island. I love that this guest really got in the spirit with her woven and seashell motif Nantucket handbag.

Hearty flowers are a must for outdoor weddings. These bouquets included summer blooms such as tulips, roses, ranunculus, and cymbidium orchids.

Being held at a private beachside club afforded photographer, Liz Banfield, the chance to get some amazing shots of the wedding party on the beach. That light was so incredible!

And, I love the coastal groomsmen ensemble- white gabardine pants, navy blazer, crisp blue oxfords, and Vineyard Vines tie that coordinated with the girls’ dresses.

As a nod to the brides’ family’s Scottish heritage, a bagpiper greeted guests as they entered into the cocktail tent.

Woven seagrass beach bags with local food treats, and maagzine, waters, and emergency hangover kit, and koozies for guests to use on weekend boating and beach adventures.

Food and drink Collage

Using the local bounty available, we created a seafood ice bar with the catering team at Sea Island. Southsides (a favorite of the couple) were served beachside, head here for a recipe.

Each guest was seated at tables named after actual seashells and a coordinating shell was affixed to their card, giving guests a nice little take home memento.

This was easily one of the most difficult tent drapes we have ever done, but one of the most rewarding. The tent ceiling is made from woven sheets of seagrass, normally a hearty material, but in the blustery conditions of a tent about 100 feet off of the beach, it was beyond challenging. Guests couldn’t believe it when they saw it though (and it had an amazing natural scent).

In order for guests to have the best view of the ocean during dinner, we had the tent flooring raised up several feet, giving guests a literal beachside lounge.

One of the main design showcases of the evening were shadowboxes containing sand and shell displays. And, those are icing sand dollars and shells on the cake by Jim Smeal.

The bride and groom departed by a vintage car adorned with ribbon streamers and orchid blooms. Happy Wedding Wednesday!

5.23.18 | TARA GUÉRARD
Bridal Style, Cakes, Event Design, Flowers, Food and Drink, Photographers, Reception, Stationery, Invitations and Pretty Papers, The Lettered Olive, Weddings | Comments >>

May 09, 2018

Eyelet I Do

This bride’s Carolina Herrera eyelet ballgown inspired our entire wedding design… We had so much fun designing all of the details with an inspiration element that naturally lends itself to delicate and feminine notes perfect for a wedding!

We used the massive dropping branches of an old oak tree to create our “alter”… Tying orchid blooms to ribbon in the wedding’s feature color, and lanterns, it made a dreamy backdrop without being too distracting. The flower girls blanketed the aisle with thousands of white petals.

So Southern! An authentic horse and carriage greeted the couple after their “I do’s” and brought them to greet guests for cocktails.

My staff hand made these drink flags from eyelet fabric we sourced, which was also used to tailor the dinner linens.

Guests dined while overlooking the Ashley River. We used an array of different white flowers atop eyelet fabric runners down the long tables.

The place cards doubled as the favors which were contribution cards made towards he brides young cousin born with a genetic disorder. The seating cards were fashioned into magnets and as guests took those cards, there were encouraged to replace it with a little wish to the couple made on a blank magnet card.

Still one of my favorite cakes by Jim Smeal. We wondered how we could get away with “blue” icing on a cake, but it just turned out beyond lovely.

The backdrop at this venue is breathtaking on it’s own, so we didn’t need to many over the top details. We just went for cozy, warm, comfortable, and lovely.

A little retreat for guests wanting to enjoy a cocktail and conversation or a cigar away from the partying of the main reception tent.

We couldn’t believe our luck when shopping our sources for wedding design and stumbled across this eyelet lamps, couldn’t be more perfect!!!!!

A happy end to a beautiful evening! For as long as they’ve been around and as much as they’ve been done, those sparklers just make for pretty photos! All photos by Liz Banfield.

5.09.18 | TARA GUÉRARD
Bridal, Bridal Style, Cakes, Charleston, Dresses, Event Design, Event Planning, Reception, Stationery, Invitations and Pretty Papers, Uncategorized, Weddings | Comments >>

May 08, 2018

Menus For All

photo by Corbin Gurkin

Gluten Free, Dairy Free, food allergies, vegetarian- there are so many dietary restrictions that our clients are facing and trying to accommodate while planning their wedding menus… For today’s Tip Tuesday post, we decided to ask some of our tried and true vendors to weigh in on some requests they have had to work with and give us some ideas and solutions.

We tend to encourage our clients hosting a seated dinner to have a few courses or tasting menu where everyone gets a variety but is served the same dish for each course, and not have guests choose from entree selection weeks in advance on their RSVP’s. That being said, our caterers are always happy to please everyone. It is standard that we have several vegetarian options available at guests’ request, and the hosts are often aware of food allergies in advance so those are accommodated as well.

photo by Corbin Gurkin

We spoke with Cru Catering (one of our most favorite caterers) and they offered many tips for us. “We are seeing more allergies than ever these days. Many chefs, including our owner John Zucker, prefer cooking and frying with peanut oil due to its high quality and ability to handle high temperatures without burning. But, years ago we quit using peanut oil due to the high number of nut allergies, as it was important to us to adapt to whats happening with our guests. The other most common allergies we see are shellfish, and then of course gluten and dairy free requests. There seems to be a growing number of people eating plant based diets, so we get a lot of pescatarian and vegetarian requests- YES they are different. A pescatarian will eat seafood, but not land based animal proteins. Lastly, there are many vegan requests, a vegan diet does not incorporate any animal products at all. For instance we use Agave syrup (from a cactus) instead of Honey from Bee’s for vegan accommodated diets.”

photo by Adrienne Page

Try goat or sheep’s milks, yogurts and cheese out, many people find their dairy intollerances do not apply to milk from sheep or goats. They are so good!

Smoke your vegetables to add depth and substitute for meat. We serve an outstanding “chicken” fried cauliflower, it is the best, we smoke the cauliflower for added flavor. Serve some oven roasted for a healthier or gluten free option.

Make a dairy free shrimp and grits with coconut milk! for a shellfish allergy serve them a vegetarian ‘gravy’ or sauce with lots of veggies like tomatoes, peppers, mushrooms and onions.

photo by Corbin Gurkin

If you love tuna tartare on a crispy flatbread or wonton, serve some on cucumber slices too! Cucumber, endive, are great alternatives to bread along with the numerous gluten free brands of crackers now readily available.

Looking for added crunch in a salad but need to avoid nuts? Crispy Chickpeas are a wonderful option, and so are beet chips.

photo by Corbin Gurkin

For desserts, we use a variety of substitutions for dairy free cooking. Almond milks and other nut milks are wonderful substitutions and dairy free butter substitutions aren’t as scary as they might sound.

photo by Liz Banfield

Jim Smeal, the ever amazing cake and dessert baker has fortunately not had to toussle with too many of these requests. He uses the highest quality ingredients and fresh fruits in his baking to avoid added processed sugars. For a recent wedding with several Kosher guests, he made a true buttercream cake as he normally would, but baked a couple of kosher “paves” that the caterer was able to cut and serve from the back for those needing it. He also suggests dessert bars or displays if you have guests with lots of different requests like nut free or gluten free and serving items like fruit tarts or pies, meringues, or macaroon cookies.

photo by Elizabeth Messina

Matthew Morgenstern of Spike Bar Service says one thing that seems obvious that people often over look is to create drink ideas that many/most of their guests will enjoy. Brides often think of what they specifically like for specialty cocktails or passed drinks. I find it more cost effective to have on hand what the bride and groom specifically like but to serve items that tend to be more crowd pleasers for the passed and specialty items. Luckily, most wines and liquors are all gluten free, and they are some gluten free beer options out there.

5.08.18 | TARA GUÉRARD
Cakes, Entertaining, Event Planning, Food and Drink, Parties, Reception, Weddings | Comments >>