Category Archives: Reception

Feb 04, 2019

photo by Corbin Gurkin

What is a wedding or other special celebration with out Champagne (or sparkling grape juice which can be styled the same way)!!!! Here are some of our favorite ways to serve up, set out, or celebrate with bubbly!

photo by Liz Banfield

One of our “signature” Soiree designs is adding dendrobium orchids to glasses of champagne. It gives it a pretty and extra special finish, and they are food safe of course. A tip to help keep lines down, is to have servers ready and waiting for guests with trays of champagne, red, and white wine, or even waters so that not everyone has to rush the bars.

photo by Tec Petaja

A classic and favorite of mine, is a pairing with caviar. For a wedding cocktail hour, we had a lovely serve your self caviar station with servers standing by with chilled champagne… It was part of the guests’ favorite element to the party.

For many of our bride, we worked with Lettered Olive to create champagne collars for our clients based on the wedding paper design. It adds an impressive couture touch for guests.

Probably the easiest and sometimes the prettiest way to serve up the sparkling, is by adding fruit or another edible ingredient (lavendar, rosemary, strawberries, etc) or creating a champagne cocktail that calls for flavorful additions.

photo by Liz Banfield

A big hit at some of our weddings has been adding a complimentary dollop of sorbet to a glass of champagne as an after dinner finishing touch.

photo by Liz Banfield

Even just a beautifully hued sparkling Rose champagne can be all it takes to add a special touch. Here, a champagne tower is created by nesting boxes stacked with glass toppers in gradual sized squares to allow for spacing of the glasses.

2.04.19 | TARA GUÉRARD
Entertaining, Events, Flowers, Food and Drink, Parties, Reception, Uncategorized, Weddings | Comments >>

Jan 14, 2019

Southern Wedding Traditions

photo by Corbin Gurkin

One thing still holds firm with many of our weddings we do throughout the South, and that’s tradition. Many Southern brides have well known or tried and true traditions that we work to incorporate, and other times it varies by region or state and may not be as well known. We wanted to break it down for you in case you are looking for a little way to incorporate tradition into your upcoming wedding. One that is definitely big with our Dallas brides is having a “house party”. A house party is essentially a second wedding party, your best girlfriends, sorority sisters, etc that wear special attire and sit up front, participate in all of the bridal party activities, but it just cuts back on the big number of people standing up front with the couple.

Another popular trend that actually seems to get the guys excited and on board- burying the bourbon. The folklore states that if you bury a bottle upside down in the ground, it won’t rain on your wedding day.

photo by Corbin Gurkin

I have to say it worked out pretty well for this couple… it was a gorgeous day for them.

photos by Liz Banfield (1,2) and Corbin Gurkin

This one has seemed to spread beyond just being a Southern thing, but we have our fair share of groom’s cakes on display still. Usually the design is something sports related- like a favorite college or pro team, or maybe something related to a profession. Or, a favorite food or something from a movie or tv show. Whatever it may be, take that as a chance to put a custom mark on it.

photos by Corbin Gurkin and Liz Banfield

Another classic Southern wedding tradition is displaying the bride’s portrait somewhere at the wedding. It used to be just on an easel or in a frame on a table positioned somewhere near where everyone enters, but we try to do something different with it so that it can become a design moment. For a wedding at Lowndes Grove Plantation we took down a painting and hung up one of our bride. For another wedding, we blew up the photos and hung them at the tent entrance as part of a floral wall, all as a surprise for our bride…

1.14.19 | TARA GUÉRARD
Bridal Style, Etiquette, Event Design, Event Planning, Photographers, Reception, Uncategorized, Weddings | Comments >>

Jan 09, 2019

An Aspen Affair

Bennett invitation suite

For this Wedding Wednesday, we are heading out to Aspen, Colorado for the celebration of Mollie and Sam. Corbin Gurkin captured all of the lovely images. I loved the mixed color palette on this one of blues, purples, natural wooden hues, gray, etc. This letterpress invitation suite from Lettered Olive incorporated the Colorado scenery.

Bridal Collage

The bride wore a custom dress from Nardos Imam; a monogrammed Mrs. Box is a perfect way to keep a reminder of the day; the brides’ bouquet was wrapped in vintage ribbon sourced in New York. The littlest ring bearer in his bow tie couldn’t be left out on the big day.

How cute is this? The bride being a big fan of the movie, Father of the Bride, wore lace tied sneakers under her gown much like the daughter in the movie!

Guest bag Collage

A canvas and leather tote was filled with his and hers S’well bottles, snacks, sweets, and a weekend guide book amongst other take home goodies.

Bennett bridesmaids

Bridesmaids wore different complimenting shades and styles from Lula Kate.

Bennett ceremony

The scenery could not have been more gorgeous, so to compliment and anchor the ceremony against the mountain backdrop, we added pops of vivid purples against the greenery arch. A custom monogrammed aisle runner laid over wooden planks added some soft but rustic glamour to the space.

Scenery Collage

COcktail hour Collage

The reception took place at the Roaring Fork Club. Guests enjoyed cocktail hour on the portico, dancing inside with sweeping views through open doors and windows, and then dancing and dessert in a tent on the lawn.

seating cards Collage

Flower die cut escort cards by Lettered Olive, in the wedding colors were hung from a chandelier in the foyer heading into the dining room.

dining table Collage

Long tables were minimal and tailored; Menus were housed in leather bound booklets “branded” with each guests’ name; wooden cut outs were used for the table numbers.

Lounge

Guests moved into the reception tent after dinner. The “club” we created had hardwood floors landscaped with cowhide rugs, open air mountain views, and low lighting perfect for cozy conversation.

The delicate floral cake by The Caribou Club was the perfect feminine touch against the rustic terrain.

dancing

The couple shares their first dance as husband and wife on a custom designed dance floor surrounded by their closest friends and family. Their first dance song: “All of Me” by John Legend.

1.09.19 | TARA GUÉRARD
Bridal, Bridal Style, Event Design, Event Planning, Flowers, Photographers, Reception, Stationery, Invitations and Pretty Papers, The Lettered Olive, Weddings | 3 Comments