Category Archives: Event Planning

Jun 06, 2018

Scenery Collage

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.

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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.

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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.

Bridal Collage

Invitation Collage

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.

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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”.

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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!

Wedding party Collage

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

Ceremony Collage

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.

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

Cocktail hour Collage

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.

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

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

Table Collage

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.

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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.

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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.

Cake Collage

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.

Getaway Collage

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

Tara Guerard Soiree ceremony by Liz Banfield

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.

Tara Guerard Soiree ceremony by Liz Banfield

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.

Tara Guerard Soiree by Adrienne Page

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.

Mansfield ceremony

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.

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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 >>
May 30, 2018

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As you’ve heard me say plenty before, weddings at home are truly some of my favorite. So, in honor of our couple’s upcoming anniversary, we are taking you South of Broad here in Charleston for a wedding at the Bride’s childhood church, and then reception for over 400 at the bride’s family home. Corbin Gurkin captured the details of the day for us, and you can see more of this wedding in Charleston Weddings Magazine.

Venue Collage

The classic home in black and white laid the perfect color play for our pink and white palette. Wanting to be respectful of their surroundings, neighbors received care packages of chamomile tea, ear plugs, and handwritten notes thanking everyone for their understanding.

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Keeping in line with the traditional feel of the home wedding, simple and elegant black and white letterpressed save the dates, followed by engraved invitations set the tone for the wedding weekend.

Bridal Collage

The bride wore an Amsale mermaid gown which had sheer sleeves added and metallic Jimmy Choo wedges.  Mother and bride carried embroidered handkerchiefs.

Bridesmaids Collage

Bridesmaids wore LulaKate pink ball skirts over little white dresses (which they donned after the ceremony) and Ivanka Trump floral heels.  Bridesmaids received crystal necklaces and Plum Pretty Sugar robes as a gift from the bride.

Getting ready Collage

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After getting ready at home, the bride headed to her first sight moment in a classic white Rolls Royce.

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The bride carried a hand tied bouquet of pink garden roses and white calla lilies.

Photos Collage

House Collage

When hosting a wedding at home, we really encourage the family to open their home to guests and use it. We created seating vignettes inside so guests could enjoy a cocktail, and we brought in a classical piano player as a special touch.

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The formal dining room also made for a lovely backdrop for the all white wedding cake by Jim Smeal.

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Garden Collage

A full scale garden party was set on the grounds. Guests enjoyed a bourbon bar, passed rose champagne, local seafood served on ice, and hors d’eouvres by Cru Catering served on the family silver.  Custom matches were placed at the bars for guests to grab and takeaway.

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Before they danced their first dance as husband and wife, the couple stole away to a special sweetheart table stashed on the second floor porch. They got to spend moments together discussing the emotions of the day and had a birds eye view of the party as it was happening.

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After covering the pool with the dance floor, the only thing left to do was hope for amazing weather which we were blessed with!

Going away Collage

After a quick change into a classic Armani getaway suit and birdseed toss, the bride and groom departed by Golf Cart – which is how they also first met.

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