Category Archives: Event Planning

Oct 16, 2017

Tara Guerard Soiree by Liz Banfield

Happy Halloween! This was such a fun night for our couple from this week’s Wedding Wednesday. Their rehearsal dinner fell on Halloween, so they embraced it and threw a killer party at a Historic (and sometimes creepy) downtown venue, the Confederate Home and College.  Liz Banfield was there to capture all of the “gory” details.

Tara Guerard Soiree by Liz Banfield

Invitations by Lettered Olive were custom designed in an elegant macabre tone. The Spooks and Sprits afterparty for all out of town guests brought in a silver foil printed Raven as a darker nod to the wedding’s Bird and Branch theme.

Tara Guerard Soiree by Liz Banfield

White painted pumpkins were the obvious choice for displaying the dinner seating cards.

Tara Guerard Soiree by Liz Banfield

Painted silver pumpkins gave a bit of elegance to the dining table centerpieces. Surrounded in a glass vase with candles placed on black linens gave the room quite the glow.

 

 

 

 

 

Tara Guerard Soiree by Liz Banfield

Pretty tablescapes for dinner. Printed menus that doubled as place cards were served up in black envelopes with silver calligraphy.

Tara Guerard Soiree by Liz Banfield

We had fun with the cocktail hour and appetizers, serving traditional fare like “deviled eggs” that also worked with the Halloween theme.

Tara Guerard Soiree by Liz Banfield

Black Chinese to go boxes were perfect for anyone wanting to take advantage of the Trick or Treat station offered.

Tara Guerard Soiree by Liz Banfield

No Halloween is complete without candy, so we had a trick or treat station for guests to take home sweets. Lots of artifacts and creepy items in cloches helped accent the spooky decor.

Tara Guerard Soiree by Liz Banfield

Guests were encouraged to get into the spirit of the evening and wear some kind of costume to the afterparty. The bride and groom did a quick transformation after the actual dinner.

Tara Guerard Soiree by Liz Banfield

Even the servers and bartenders got in on the fun. Here a zombie bartender serves “Black Widow” cocktails out of silver pumpkins to willing guests.

Tara Guerard Soiree by Liz Banfield

Custom carved silver pumpkins like this one (which greeted guests to the after party) with the bride and groom initials were sprinkled throughout the venue and grounds.

Tara Guerard Soiree by Liz Banfield

Guests partied the night away in the foggy haunted graveyard. A chamber music quartet played appropriately spooky tunes

10.16.17   |   TARA GUÉRARD
Charleston, Entertaining, Event Design, Event Planning, Events, Food and Drink, Rehearsal Dinner, The Lettered Olive, Uncategorized | Comments >>
Oct 09, 2017

photo by Corbin Gurkin

Since we are putting out our tip clip on what you should include in your wedding welcome guest bags, we thought today would be a perfect day to share some different versions of some of our recent favorites. For our Newport, RI wedding the floral and fauna pattern that Lettered Olive designed to use throughout the wedding printing, was embroidered onto a travel laundry bag (for us it’s a bonus if we can find a clever reuseable container). Waters and snacks are a good standard for guests traveling, it’s always nice to have a few goodies lying around.

photo by Liz Banfield

This wedding was all about a big party and the couple’s favorite things, so of course, the guest bags were a great way to do this as well.  We had two small bags with “his” favorite things and “her” favorite things. Also a Retox/Detox kit including asprin, tums, emergen-C, band aids, etc. Also, it’s beyond important you include all of the important information- a timeline of the weekend events, transportation schedule, and important contact information.

photo by Corbin Gurkin

Of course, since the welcome bag one of the first things your guests get to enjoy on your wedding weekend, it can be a fun way to incorporate special details that don’t necessarily fit into the wedding itself… Our bride really loved these sweet “LOVE” chocolates, and this was a great way to share them with all of the guests.

photo by Corbin Gurkin

10.09.17   |   TARA GUÉRARD
Charleston, Event Design, Event Planning, Gifts, Stationery, Invitations and Pretty Papers, The Lettered Olive, Uncategorized, Weddings | Comments >>
Oct 03, 2017

Tara Guerard Soiree by Liz Banfield

Now that it is truly officially fall, I wanted to share some of my favorite fall wedding details, which will also help me get in the mindset for designing for the season’s weddings!

Tara Guerard Soiree by Liz Banfield

We used seasonal fruit and flowers for the decor on this cake, mini pears (purchased through a local produce distributor) and seeded eucalyptus were the perfect accents for the spiced carrot cake with cream cheese frosting.

Tara Guerard Soiree by Liz Banfield

I love the deep rich colors and multitude of textures that you can get in fall foliage. Lots of grasses, blooming shrubs, and heartier plants are perfect for filling in on flower arrangements. Of course, many roses are available year round so they add the needed softness for wedding arrangements. I also like to play with the different types of containers to give that seasonal look- we used stained wooden planters as our centerpiece containers on the tables.

Tara Guerard Soiree by Liz Banfield

Shrimp and grits have become a staple at Southern weddings, but in the fall quail shows up on many menus throughout Georgia, and North and South Carolina.

Tara Guerard Soiree by Liz Banfield

For this wedding, the mother of the bride is famous for her banana walnut bread, so as favors she made mini loaves for all of the guests. Along with her famous apple butter. Packaged in peach baskets, these were the picture perfect fall favors.

Tara Guerard Soiree by Gayle Brooker

For this seated dinner wedding in late October, the pale pinks and peaches were warmed up for the fall season with moss greens, and golden hues. I also anchored the tables by using a heavy suede material for the linens. They were so soft and luxurious to sit against!

Tara Guerard Soiree by Gayle Brooker

What I look forward to the most for fall weddings are the food options. I love love love soup, so passing individual versions for cocktail hour is a great option, or here we served a trio of soup “shots” plated beautifully as an appetizer course.

I think this detail always makes for fantastic photos, and if it’s a simple dinner party that you are hosting, this is a great way to give your guests a special touch. Hollow out a small pumpkin and place the soup vessel in for serving.

Tara Guerard Soiree by Gayle Brooker

Red wine will definitely be a favored drink at the bar in the fall. We used the couple’s personal wine collection here for guests to be able to sample new varietals throughout the evening. Or, you can talk with your caterer about pairing different versions of reds throughout the dinner.

Something else to think about is instead of passing a “speciality drink” you could set up a speciality bar or station. Decanting the drinks and setting them out with identifying tags is perfect for a self serve station..Or having a bartender serve a few chosen cocktails is a great way to keep it simple.

photos by Velvet Raptor, Gayle Brooker, Liz Banfield, and Elizabeth Messina

10.03.17   |   TARA GUÉRARD
Bridal Style, Cakes, Charleston, Event Design, Event Planning, Flowers, Food and Drink, Reception, Uncategorized, Weddings | Comments >>