Category Archives: Fashion

Jan 24, 2011

Now that the Southern Living Weddings is out on the newsstands, I wanted to pull out some details to show you.

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For her guest bag, the bride wanted something that fit in with the venue, and since we were at a mountain top resort, we thought picnic baskets would be handy… we filled them with lots of homemade southern snacks all packaged with custom printed items by Soiree, and beautiful letterpressed information cards with all of the weekend details, and a tag on the outside thanking guests for traveling so far and wide.

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Throughout the entire wedding we really played with color, using varying shades in the same family and complimentary secondary shades. the bridesmaids all wore shades of pink and orange and their bouquets reflected that.

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You’ve heard of having a ceremony and reception dress, but this bride had a ceremony and two reception dresses.  the third was her mother’s wedding dress from the 1960’s that wasn’t changed a bit, the fabulous bell sleeves and

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All of the letterpress printing by The Lettered Olive featured her colors of coral and grey, the ceremony program had a striped letterpress backing that mimicked the seersucker fabric we used throughout the decor, and the menus were die cut flowers with die cut petals that doubled as the place cards.

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Great scenery can’t help but make for great photos.

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We love to capitalize on the surrounding scenery if possible, our dinner tent was positioned overlooking the bluff and the walls were pulled back for unparalleled views. the cocktail hour was al fresco with sweeping views of the lake below.

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We think it’s important that even when a wedding progresses to the next stage that the previous area remains in perfect condition. We had paves that were precut and served to match the cake behind the scenes, so that the cake stayed perfect even after it was cut by the bride and groom. There was a tree that we couldn’t remove right in our lounge tent, so we floored around it and made it a focal point of the party by creating ambient lighting with it. The bars from cocktail hour remained stocked and staffed for those that wanted to get a break and and take in the views throughout the entire night.

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We used different table styles, linens, and tabletops throughout the dinner tent so that it gave the massive space some depth and dimension.  Some tables were square, some rectangle, some round.  Some had pink and white seersucker, some had grey and white seersucker (which the huge light fixtures were made from as well), and some had simple plain peachy linen cloths. The round tables featured banquette seating as well, to give them some unique quality.

The Family Stone

When the first Martha Stewart Weddings magazine of the year arrives with the array of sparkly diamond rings on the cover, it always gets me thinking about the year in weddings, the trends, the colors, the new ideas, and oh yeah, diamond rings of course. But, with the engagement of Prince William and Kate Middleton I wonder if alternative stones will become one of the big trends of the year.

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from the Daily Mail

A few years ago, Martha Robbins of The Lettered Olive wed Jon Robbins here in Charleston after he presented her with a sapphire sparkler.

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Tara’s Tidbits From New York

My hobby (which I never get to do anymore…) is being a potter…I love working with porcelain and so every time I come across something exquisite made in porcelain…I get happy but also sad! I miss it so!
Last week in NY on a very cold and dreary day…Liz Banfield and I went l
“looking”.
(I wish I had her along all the time to show things I love!)
anyways…these little porcelain bowls with hand made handles with a gold leafing glaze inside made me especially happy…..they were perfect!
and these sweet little pieces glazed in the palest pink were beautiful.
Juliska is always making pretty things that are everyday useful and look elegant…. Enjoy!

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1.24.11   |   TARA GUÉRARD
Bridal, Event Design, Event Planning, Fashion, Pop Culture, Stationery, Invitations and Pretty Papers, Travel, Weddings | Comments >>
Jan 17, 2011

It’s been unseasonably cold here in Charleston, which none of us can handle, so it has us really looking forward to spring.  Lots to share today.

Of course, we must recap the fashion from the Golden Globes.  Big colors on the Red Carpet were emerald green and black… Is green back as the new trend for weddings this year?  Out of the 4 spring weddings we have, 2 are using green! And, it was great to see designers, typically known for their wedding dresses making an appearance- big names wore Vera Wang, Sandra Bullock wore Jenny Packham, Monique Lhuillier was also a favorite.

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Catherine Zeta-Jones in Monique Lhuillier from JustJared.com

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Angelina Jolie in Versace from JustJared.com

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Mila Kunis in Vera Wang from CBS News.com

I personally thought that Kyra Sedgewick looked amazing. Love the color of her dress, and the simplicity of it and her turqouise jewelry.

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from Harpers Bazaar.com

Now, if I was attending the Royal Wedding of Kate Middleton and Prince William (which is still entirely possible considering invites haven’t been mailed yet), I would wear either one of these dresses with a fabulous feather fascinator piece.

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Piper Perabo in Oscar de la Renta from CBS News.com

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Eva Longoria in Zac Posen (thank you very much) from CBS News.com

On Another Note…

Have you seen that Nordstrom online has a new wedding shop?

 

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Out On Newsstands Now!

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We have two featured weddings in this Southern Living Weddings issue…

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This wedding took place at Gorham’s Bluff in Pisgah, Alabama in May of 2010. We loved the Bratton family and were so thankful to be a part of Beth and Graham’s special day.  Being that I have two pugs myself, I espcially love the appearances by all of the family pugs. There were so many fun little special details for this wedding, and several other parties that we did, so can’t wait to show you more…

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Katie and Duston were one of the kindest, most laid back, and cutest couples we’ve had the pleasure of working with.  We loved the earthy vibe they wanted to convey to their guests, and we had a great time creating their beachfont nuptuials.  We found an awesome fabric at a local fabric store that we had made into ties for all of the men, and handbags for the ladies, they were a HUGE hit.

Stay tuned over the next couple of weeks for details from these two fab weddings…

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Tara’s Tidbit

I just met photographer Elizabeth Messina at the Kentucky Bridal WOW event, and we hit it off famously. I’ve had one of her shots I pulled from a magazine years ago up on my inspiration board forever, but had no idea it was her.  She told me about the “boudoir” photography she’s into doing now. Elizabeth makes all her brides look and feel like a model.. Who wouldn’t want that!

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Branding Your Wedding

I pulled a few more details from our Palmetto Bluff wedding to show you how you can create a brand for your wedding.

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We created a “logo” for this couple that was used on all of the printed items, embroidered onto cocktail napkins that the couple was able to use for entertaining in their home after the wedding, and as special decor on the chairs for the bride and groom.  Branding can be done with colors, a logo or pattern used throughout, even based on your location or season.

Sneak Peek

Of course, I can’t show you any other images from our recent wedding in Arkansas, but I just wanted to give you a teaser, this wedding was soooo yummy to me, one of my faves.  Obviously our bride agrees, to quote her:  “Thank you again for everything. It was all absolutely perfect and every where we go people can’t stop talking about how perfect it was. “

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1.17.11   |   TARA GUÉRARD
Bridal, Dresses, Entertaining, Event Design, Event Planning, Events, Fashion, Food and Drink, Photographers, Pop Culture, Press, Weddings | Comments >>
Nov 08, 2010

Something in the crisp air and the shorter days seems perfect for weddings to me. This first weekend in November typically proves to be a favorite wedding weekend year after year… Here is a recap of some of our past faves.

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all images from Liz Banfield

Since we have shared the images from this wedding at Kiawah Island in our book and numerous publications, I wanted to share a few quick details from the thursday night Welcome Party instead.  I just love the color combination of the deep teal (which was also used at the wedding) and the vibrant deep crimson.

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images from Gayle Brooker

This 2006 wedding at the Daniel Island Club plays on the elements of the season using fresh pomegranates and branches throughout the decor…

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photos by Liz Banfield

This wedding at the Carolina Yacht Club remains one of Soiree’s staff favorites. There is no way to describe how warm and glowing this room was… You should see the space before we transformed it, old cafeteria linolieum tiles, drop tile ceilings, etc.

Tara’s Tidbits

I had the pleasure to meet one fascinating and well known interior designer in New York last week…..Vincente Wolf..He has two new books out…a must see or have!

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Flying the Chicken Coop?

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from luxist.com

My husband and I just bought a house in an area of Charleston that will allow “farm animals” in reason to residents.  We have a huge backyard with a shedded area and I’m honestly considering getting some chickens.  How amazing to have your own fresh eggs.  Of course, these coops are much more my style then old school wired ones.

What We Are Loving Right Now…

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these adorable hand made felt penguins from West Elm.

 

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local jewelry artist Janet Gregg’s gold cuffs- available in many different styles here.

Like Mother, Like Daughter

See Tara and her mother in the November issue of Southern Living..

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11.08.10   |   TARA GUÉRARD
Books, Entertaining, Event Design, Event Planning, Fashion, Interior Design, New York, Photographers, Press, Weddings | 1 Comment