Category Archives: Event Design

bride and girls

This pretty bride and her pretty plantation party make for a perfect Wedding Wednesday post. She and her groom celebrated with a ceremony downtown at First Baptist Church, and dinner and dancing afterwards at Runnymede Plantation outside of Charleston. The navy and white set a formal yet fun tone and Corbin Gurkin was on hand to capture all of the beautiful images. Here, I do love that the bride and her girls had such a lovely backdrop for the day while getting ready. It does make for photos that help set the tone for the day…

Bride and groom Collage

A bride in all white and a groom in a classic tuxedo is pure perfection.

wedding party Collage

Flowing navy dresses were accented with cream and peach garden rose bouquets. The bride worked in fashion at Ralph Lauren, so the groomsmen all sported custom loafers with their tuxes.

Bridesmaids on bus

The bride and her ladies ride a Classic Charleston trolley to the church, luckily Corbin is right behind to capture this sweet moment

Ceremony Collage

Simple ceremony decor like floral wreathes and a custom aisle runner give a sweet touch without overshadowing the meaning of why everyone is there.

ceremony programs

A custom monogram designed by Lettered Olive is used throughout the wedding papers and design.

guest box Collage

Guest welcome boxes contain a mixture of the couple’s favorite treats and local goodies. Custom printed cups are perfect for the morning bloody mary’s using Charleston’s Fat and Juicy mix.

Cocktail hour Collage

Once at Runnymede, guests enjoyed cocktail hour on the lawn… We customized the wedding everywhere we could, down to the blue and white striped bow ties, and printed papers lining the trays serving the food.

Escort cards

Caligraphied escort tags on papers printed in the different colors and patterns were pinned to a board for guests to find during cocktail hour.

Dinner tent Collage

I’ve been really into designing the outside of a tent as much as the inside lately. I mean, really you see that first and foremost, so why wouldn’t it be lovely as well, instead of some big white rigid structure. To enter the carpeted and greenery draped dinner tent, guests walked down a boxwood lined pathway and under a custom fabric awning.

tent garland

The head table’s centerpiece was a garland adorned with flowers running the length of the table and spilling over onto the floor.

Table Collage

Graced with perfect weather that day, the tent opened up onto the plantation grounds overlooking the river and the ruins of the old plantation house.  A crisp blue and white palette allowed the soft pastels in the flowers to pop.

Cake Collage

Jim Smeal’s pastel and metallic gold cake with simple florals was a centerpiece of the dinner tent. We like finding a way to have a captive audience for the cake cutting without having to interrupt the flow of the party. So, if you can cut it and have the servers pass out as the dessert course without delaying the dancing, that’s a good way we have found to do it.

lounge tent

Guests retreated after dinner into a lounge full of conversation nooks and dim lighting, draped with glowing golden fabric.

Late night Collage

A late night food bar of sweet treats even included Charleston’s cult favorite donut truck, Diggity Doughnuts.

Getaway Collage

The bride and groom said farewell to guests with sparklers,  and drove off into the night in a classic convertible car as fireworks made for a grand finale.

8.03.16   |   TARA GUÉRARD
Cakes, Charleston, Event Design, Event Planning, Flowers, Food and Drink, Reception, Stationery, Invitations and Pretty Papers, The Lettered Olive, Weddings | Comments >>
Aug 02, 2016

Kerr flower girls

photo by Liz Banfield

They may not make it down the aisle or toss the petals, but they sure are cute, and fun to style for weddings! Today, we’re showing different ways to accessorize and style the littlest members of your wedding party..  Flower crowns for the girls still reign supreme, and when they turn out full and lush like above you can see why.

Jordan flower girl:ring bearer

photo by Liz Banfield

This Southern brother and sister duo sported custom made ensembles and matching ring bearer pillow made from family members’ vintage handkerchiefs and fabrics.

Butterfly Collage

photos by Liz Banfield

For a wedding featuring butterflies, items from the craft store are turned into a whimsical headband. Fabric used in the wedding decor was used to create the ring bearer pillow with a butterfly accent.

photo by Liz Banfield

This little cutie carries a wooden peach basket with wedding blooms affixed to it- tie some of your favorite ribbon to opposing corners and it becomes a petal basket, SO EASY. You can paint any color to match if needed too. A store bought headband becomes a flower crown when matching petals are glued. This is a trick we do often when we have smaller girls not knowing what will fit their heads…

Hooper flower girls

photo by Adrienne Page

This bride took the custom monogram that Lettered Olive created for her wedding and had sashes embroidered to match.

Barrett Collage

photos by Liz Banfield

For this beach themed wedding, the flower girl carried a basket (from the local craft store) that overflowed with flowers- more for decoration than for tossing. A store bought headband was transformed with local shells.

flower girl- greenberg

photo by Adrienne Page

Ginn flower girls

photo by Liz Banfield

For a glowing golf fall wedding, craft baskets were painted gold and painted leaves and fresh flowers adorned the handles. Store bought headbands are painted gold and receive a fresh bloom becoming “designer” creations.

Rich Collage

Photos by Liz Banfield

A floral covered oasis brick with a ribbon handle becomes a “bouquet” this little girl couldn’t have been more proud to carry!

unspecified

photo by Liz Banfield

For a woodland themed fall affair, miniature birdnests with moss “pillows” are a precious way to carry the rings.

8.02.16   |   TARA GUÉRARD
Accessories, Bridal Style, Event Design, Fashion, Flowers, Reception, Uncategorized, Weddings | Comments >>

bouquet

Today, we’re taking a walk down memory lane with this beautiful affair at Palmetto Bluff. This bride wanted a traditional feel for her intimate wedding. A classic monogram was created by Lettered Olive and became a staple in the wedding decor. Creams, whites, and golds were the color palette of choice. Delicate and feminine florals like catalya and phalenopsis orchids, peonies and sweet peas were lush and lovely. All of the pretty images are from Liz Banfield.

Ceremony Collage

The quaint chapel on property is pretty hard to beat. And with a smaller wedding, it’s the perfect size. We’ve transformed the space in many different ways, but for this wedding, a simple carpeted aisle runner and strands of orchids dress up this ceremony.

Champagne Collage

centerpiece and candles Escort card Collage

A table covered in hand blown glass candlesticks and candles provided the decor for the caligraphied escort cards.

place setting

Each place setting was dressed with a monogrammed linen napkin,that the couple could later have for their home collection. Engraved wine tools were wrapped in custom printed paper and doubled as the place card.

dinner Collage

Guests dined on tables lining the portico overlooking the May River. Embroidered chair covers made special seats for the bride and groom. Metallic gold embossed pockets held letterpressed menu cards…

overall lounge

We transformed the ballroom by laying down cream carpeting, fabric draping to keep the candle glow in, and add lamps and chandeliers on dimmers.

Cake Collage

Jim Smeal’s cake artistry mimicked a beaded band on the bride’s dress. Take home cake bags were provided for guests wanting a sweet midnight snack- or to put it under their pillow to dream of their future spouse!

Palmetto Bluff at night

7.27.16   |   TARA GUÉRARD
Event Design, Event Planning, Events, Flowers, Photographers, Reception, Stationery, Invitations and Pretty Papers, The Lettered Olive, Uncategorized, Weddings | Comments >>