Category Archives: Event Design

Jun 13, 2018

Martha’s Vineyard is one of our favorite spots out of town for weddings. We can’t wait to be up there again at the end of the summer! But for today’s wedding Wednesday, we’re sharing this July wedding from 2010. Blue and white ikat was the design inspiration along with wooden and natural elements playing off of the family barn where the reception was held. Photos by Adrienne Page.

We love incorporating local flavor in the wedding guest welcome bags. The oh so perfect Martha’s Vineyard bags from Maptote; also included were custom printed playing cards with the wedding emblem, locally sourced and bottled waters, vintage island post cards, Cape Cod chips, and homemade sea salt caramel bars.

A gift from the groom- a vintage Hermes enamel bracelet perfectly finished the bride’s ensemble.

Martha’s Vineyard has so many glorious roadside flower stands, for all of the bridal party flowers, we ordered nothing ahead of time and shopped these stands for all of the personal flowers that day. For the brides’ something blue, all of the mother’s and grandmother’s monograms were embroidered on her bouquet ribbon.

The ceremony took place up on a bluff overlooking the farm, so guests were able to take in the property on their stroll to the ceremony.

The bridesmaids wore Lela Rose bridesmaids dresses (Lela, also in attendance is friends with the groom and his family in Dallas). All white bouquets from roadside farmstands were a contrast to the bride’s colorful bouquet.

Massive clusters of baby’s breath created a natural and whimsical feel for the simply elegant ceremony.

The father of the bride had an affinity for vintage barns, and had this one moved down piece by piece from Canada. It was the perfect spot for the wedding dinner.

Cocktail hour took place below in the stable area below the barn with seating throughout. Individual wooden signs let guests know where they were seating for dinner.

Menus were printing on large wooden signs, much like the one we made for the stone wall entrance.

Little wooden stirrers tied to the napkins with blue baker’s twine were sweet place cards.

After dinner, guests partied in the “boogie tent” and lounge for the rest of the evening. A stylish blue lounge provided a serene place for guests to enjoy cake, a cheese cart, cocktails and a reprieve from dancing.

After a birdseed toss (friendly for the environment of the farm), the bride and groom departed by a vintage Woody and spent the night in town before heading off for their honeymoon.

6.13.18 | TARA GUÉRARD
Event Design, Event Planning, Flowers, Parties, Reception, Travel, Weddings | Comments >>

Jun 06, 2018

Love in the Lowcountry

Today, we are celebrating Wedding Wednesday down at Palmetto Bluff Resort. This is one of our favorite wedding venues and luckily we find ourselves here a few times per year. As you can tell from the scenery alone, it’s a pretty special place. One of the many draws are the accommodation options for guests to all stay on property where the events take place(individual adorable cottages, and now a full service inn)… so it truly feels like a destination wedding. All photos are courtesy of Perry Vaile.

On the wedding day, guests woke up to a homemade breakfast delivery of biscuits, jam, yogurt, and granola, with custom tags and packaging to match the rest of the wedding printing by Lettered Olive.

Our gorgeous bride, Caroline-blogger of Stay the Bomb, wore an intricate applique gown by Kate McDonald. For the ceremony and photos she wore an added skirt for more glamour, which was then removed for dinner and dancing.

Lettered Olive created a watercolor image of the chapel at Palmetto Bluff where the couple would marry to use on the save the dates. We found the most amazing marble paper that the bride fell in love with, so we were able to use it in many place throughout the wedding design. The first of which being as the backing on the invitations. A die cut lace belly band (mimicking the bride’s dress design) completed the invite suite.

After the bride dressed in her cottage with her mother and maid of honor, she met her groom in one of the many green spaces for their “first look”.

The bride’s non plus yet refined bouquet was hand tied with vintage ribbon that we sourced on one of our office trips to New York. The ribbon’s colors actually changed in different lights!

Kate McDonald also did a hand painted gown for the mother of the bride, and lavender grey silk dresses for the bridesmaids.

Shades of pinks, purples, and creams adorned the wedding chapel. We added a floral arch to mimic the existing architectural landscape of the chapel window. A watercolor image of the arch was also included in the miniature ceremony programs by Lettered Olive.

A stunning moment in the ceremony was when a member of the gospel choir sang The Lord’s Prayer a capella.

After the ceremony, guests enjoyed a lounge on the lawn overlooking the river. Fluffy lemon leaf was a simple but statement piece for the front of the cocktail bar. The Plantation Singers gospel choir sang a joyful playlist – love this concept for cocktail hour music.

Caligraphied escort tags with the marbelized paper backing were displayed on decorative cork boards.

The sailcloth dinner tent was simply decorated with wrought iron cage lights woven with greenery, and a mix of long dinner tables with rounds.

I loved, loved. loved the clipboard menus we made for dinner. The marble paper served as the backing to caligraphy printed vellum menus and name tags. We wrapped glass candle vases in the marble paper with gold painted table numbers.

We like to do nice little adornments for the bride and groom chairs, and the greenery and rose garland was just perfect for this decor scheme.

After dinner, guests moved into the ballroom for an after dinner dancing lounge. Greenery garlands hung from the ceiling helped bring the natural elements the bride loved so much into the otherwise basic space.

The wedding cake was displayed under a cascade of flowers, and for the music loving groom a rock and roll cake was showcased in front of the decorative mantle.

After a quick change into a romper that this bride could perfectly pull off, guests sent them off to sparklers by way of tandem bicycle.

This wedding was also featured on the Southern Weddings blog, seen here…

6.06.18 | TARA GUÉRARD
Bridal, Bridal Style, Dresses, Event Design, Event Planning, Fashion, Flowers, Photographers, Reception, Stationery, Invitations and Pretty Papers, The Lettered Olive, Uncategorized, Weddings | Comments >>

Jun 04, 2018

The Great Outdoors

photo by Liz Banfield

Now that summer is officially here, the outdoor wedding ceremonies are in full swing. Today is our roundup of some of our favorite outdoor ceremony set ups. We have everything from the beach to the mountains as a backdrop. Of course, the biggest tip I can offer is ALWAYS have a good rain backup (if you do, then you’ll never need it!). We’ll have baskets of white umbrellas in case of rain or shine, and once we even had guests wait on the buses until a brief shower passed and we could wipe down all of the seating!

Bennett ceremony 2

photo by Corbin Gurkin

We’ll feature more from this Aspen, Colorado wedding tomorrow on the blog, but here is a little sneak peek.

Bratton outdoor ceremony

photo by Liz Banfield

This wedding took place at a secluded resort and community atop a mountain Alabama. We positioned the ceremony in the amphitheater which overlooked a river gorge and allowed for a really lovely and long bridal processional.

Kassen ceremony

photo by Corbin Gurkin

To dress up a more natural beach ceremony, we cut a plush white carpet aisle runner.

photo by Liz Banfield

Linen ottoman poufs provided the seating for this affair on the banks of the Ashley River outside of Charleston. The peaceful ceremony was highlighted by the natural sounds of birds and frogs.

photo by Adrienne Page

We love being able to take advantage of what the site may have to offer without having to over create. These two palm trees were perfectly positioned for framing a lovely ceremony with a view of the ocean.

photo by Liz Banfield

For this ceremony at the bride’s home, one of my favorite features was the colorful rose petal aisle. Tara’s Tip: we had boxwood garland lining both sides of the aisle, so guests entered from the outside in to protect the petals for the bride’s processional.

Sobiloff ceremony

photo by Liz Banfield

Vintage church pews provided an elevated rustic feel to this fall ceremony.

ceremony view final

photo by Liz Banfield

The breeze coming in off of the ocean was nice to keep the guests cool and the bugs away, but could be detrimental to your flower arrangements. These cement urns were instrumental in anchoring the arrangements.

Woodburn ceremony

photo by Adrienne Page

For a summer wedding in a meadow on Martha’s Vineyard, market umbrellas helped guests feel relief from the sun’s rays. Wrought iron urns full of baby’s breath made for a stunning aisle for the bride.

Vickers ceremony

photo by Adrienne Page

Ford Plantation is a picturesque venue for weddings… for this Sunday brunch wedding we tucked the chuppa under some live oaks on the riverbanks for this couple’s intimate ceremony.

6.04.18 | TARA GUÉRARD
Charleston, Event Design, Event Planning, Flowers, Photographers, Reception, Weddings | Comments >>