Category Archives: Event Design

Nov 05, 2018

Tara Guerard Soiree by Liz Banfield

This wedding was too fun and perfect for a fall wedding Wednesday, that we just had to pull it out of the archives. The weather could not have been more perfect for this warm fall afternoon ceremony overlooking the Kiawah River at the River Course on Kiawah Island, SC. Thank you to Liz Banfield for the images.

Tara Guerard Soiree by Liz Banfield

The perfect golf course green grass was the perfect backdrop for the green, orange, and brown harvest color palette we used for the wedding decor all based on graphic designer bride’s paper suite.

Tara Guerard Soiree by Liz Banfield

Fluffy Dahlias, snowberries, and star of bethlehem make up the bride’s bouquet.

Tara Guerard Soiree by Liz Banfield

To designate an “alter” in such an expansive setting we took an ordinary brown linen and adorned it with orange mums. Orange mums were also secured into the grass as pew markers. Hand blown glass vases full of green peas topped with flowers offered a colorful and wind resistant design element.

Tara Guerard Soiree by Liz Banfield

Tara Guerard Soiree by Liz Banfield

Tara Guerard Soiree by Liz Banfield

Golden mums and olive greenery make up the wedding party flowers. The little girls carried posies that complimented their fab floral crowns. The ring bearer carried a miniature bird’s nest full of moss.

Tara Guerard Soiree by Liz Banfield

The bride, owner of  Oscar and Emma Designs designed all of the paper pieces. Wood paper liners encased the letterpressed ceremony programs.

Tara Guerard Soiree by Liz Banfield

Lowcountry Lemonade served with drink flags embellished with button mums in the color palette.

Tara Guerard Soiree by Liz Banfield

Dinner seating cards designed by Oscar and Emma had a precious copper leaf for each guest. We created a tree for the cards to hang from, creating a focal point for decor.

Tara Guerard Soiree by Liz Banfield

Moss green crushed velvet linens made the brightly hued florals and menus really pop but also allowed for the candles to create a warmth later into the evening.

Tara Guerard Soiree by Liz Banfield

Roasted pumpkin soup was served in hollowed mini pumpkins.

Tara Guerard Soiree by Liz Banfield

The cake by Jim Smeal featured all of the designs found on the wedding papers.

Tara Guerard Soiree by Liz Banfield

The couple, from Ohio, had to have a Grater’s ice cream station, couldn’t be a more perfect accompaniment to the cake.

Tara Guerard Soiree by Liz Banfield

The guest welcome favors served in a fall orchard basket featured all gourmet treats from their hometown.

Tara Guerard Soiree by Liz Banfield

Oscar and Emma designed tags topped off the caramel popcorn favors guests received at the end of the evening.

Tara Guerard Soiree by Liz Banfield

Guests enjoying cocktail hour by the warm glow of the sun setting over the Kiawah River.

Tara Guerard Soiree by Liz Banfield

The cozy after dinner lounge flanked by the espresso leather furniture and seagrass carpeting made the perfect spot to curl up with some bourbon and enjoy the festivities.

11.05.18   |   TARA GUÉRARD
Charleston, Event Design, Event Planning, Flowers, Food and Drink, Reception, Stationery, Invitations and Pretty Papers, Uncategorized, Weddings | Comments >>


Tara Guerard Soiree by Liz Banfield

Flashing back this Friday to US Women’s Soccer Team alumni, Kate Sobrero’s Halloween wedding.  This intimate affair took place at Hibernian Hall, a historic venue in downtown Charleston, SC. Since it was over Halloween weekend, we wanted to offer a fun yet still sophisticated and special evening for the guests. Escort cards for dinner were placed on individual mini pumpkins, and surrounded what would later become a take home candy bar.

Tara Guerard Soiree by Liz Banfield

Guests dined at 12 top rectangle tables, I like the set up of those as it makes it much easier than round tables to fit more into a space. And much easier for guests to enjoy conversations with multiple people.  Candles were everywhere filling the room with warmth.

Tara Guerard Soiree by Liz Banfield

The tables were dressed in deep red crushed velvet linens with simple pillar candles, and rustic wrought iron candlesticks topped with rose balls of Black Magic and Gospel Dark red roses.  The glow bouncing off the deep hues made you want to sidle up with your glass of red wine and settle in.

Tara Guerard Soiree by Liz Banfield

Since calla lilies were the main flower used for the wedding party, a burgundy calla lily adorned each guests place setting.

Tara Guerard Soiree by Liz Banfield

Again, dark burgundy calla lilies filled the bridesmaids’ bouquets and were perfect against their black dresses.

Tara Guerard Soiree by Liz Banfield

Calla lilies provided a deep red pop of color to the all white wedding cake.

Tara Guerard Soiree by Liz Banfield

A scoop your own candy bar made for a fun send off at the end of the evening.

Tara Guerard Soiree by Liz Banfield

Fragrant seeded eucalyptus paired with the dark red roses gave a festive look to the horse drawn carriage the bride and groom took from their church ceremony to the reception venue.

10.29.18   |   TARA GUÉRARD
Charleston, Entertaining, Event Design, Event Planning, Reception, 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 >>