Category Archives: The Lettered Olive

Nov 06, 2015

I love this golden glowing ballroom wedding we did for two high school sweethearts. Both grew up in Charleston, and the bride’s mother’s home was directly across the street from the church where the ceremony was held- the French Huguenot Church.

This made for a lovely day of the bride getting ready at home with all of her girls and then walking across with her father to marry her long time love. Liz Banfield was on hand to capture the big day!

When first presented with the purple and gold color scheme, we knew we needed to find the perfect shades as to not look too much like a high school Homecoming dance. A glittery gold and deep plum became our match made in heaven. Lettered Olive glammed it up for the custom letterpress wedding papers. Backings and belly bands were main design elements and all were accented with a metallic gold print.

The bride’s all white rose and peony bouquet was finished off with a cameo of her grandmother’s so that she could be there with her; The ceremony was breathtakingly held by candlelight; Lettered olive did the same metallic gold monogram on the ceremony booklets which were tied with gold satin Midori ribbon.

To create a dramatic entrance for guests (and bride of course!), we adorned the wrought iron gate entrance to the French Huguenot Church with an archway of gold leaves and hanging rose floral balls. The simple act of painting leaves and premade greenery garlands gold ended up being one of our most impactful and cost saving design elements!

Taking a note from the rounded all white bridal flowers, bouquets crafted from white garden roses, peonies, tea roses, and Gold Dust roses were the perfect accessory for bridesmaids wearing deep plum satin dresses.

These adorable little ladies were a tough act to follow even for a bride! We crafted gold baskets adorned with golden leaves and peonies and matching headbands for their big debut!

Check back with us on Monday for all of the gorgeous reception details from this wedding! Happy Weekend!

11.06.15 | TARA GUÉRARD
Bridal, Bridal Style, Charleston, Event Design, Flowers, Food and Drink, Reception, The Lettered Olive, Weddings | Comments >>

Oct 19, 2015

Inside Our Charleston Headquarters

Since we are here making a few changes and updates to our Charleston office, (i.e. new doors and reconfiguring things for more Soirettes) I thought I’d share some of the lovely photos Julia Lynn took for a feature on Lonny.com a few years ago.

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The big front windows are what initially drew me to the building. My first Charleston home was right down Chapel Street aways, and I’d always drive by and notice the windows. It’s a bustling neighborhood so it’s great to wave at friends and neighbors as they drive or walk by. We always want our clients to feel warm and welcome when they come in to meet with us, so I wanted the main meeting space to feel like you were coming into our living room.

Have to have a bar cart of course! Found for a steal at one of my favorite local antiques markets we use it for a multitude of photo shoots, parties, a constant rotation of items to display in the office.

Also found at a local antique market, this kimono’s colors could not be more perfect for my space (especially against the champagne metallic walls), so I jumped when I saw it. Framed locally at Artizom, it’s definitely a show piece!

My crazy inspiration board, I’ve been adding to it for years and years and there are layers and layers… It hangs above my computer. I’m old school, and slowly getting into Pinterest, but I don’t think anything will ever replace something like this for me.

This was and still is a labor of love for all of us in the office. These boxes hold everything from linen and ribbon samples, to Lettered Olive papers, to catalogs for ordering design items. I hoard old magazines, so that is by far the hardest part to keep tidy. And, we used extra paper from our brochure mailings to line client binders to keep in the mix but still look pretty on the shelves!

This large white table I bought from an artist friend of mine who was moving her studio. We use it for EVERYTHING! From meetings, assembling save the dates and invitations, or even a quick snack. It’s a great gathering spot on the office for me to catch up with the girls.

You can also find the Lettered Olive team here as well, and all of their pretty papers are assembled and shipped from here!

10.19.15 | TARA GUÉRARD
Charleston, Event Design, Event Planning, Interior Design, Photographers, Press, The Lettered Olive, Uncategorized, Weddings | Comments >>

Oct 02, 2015

William Aiken House Wedding

We’re taking advantage of Flashback Friday and sharing pics from a bright and cheery fall wedding we did at the William Aiken House. Guests received Save the Dates from Lettered Olive featuring custom maps of Charleston with all of the important locations noted.

Bride

Groom

I love the khaki suit option for early fall weddings. It’s usually still warm here in Charleston so the material works well, and the neutral color means it often compliments fall palettes. Plus, who doesn’t love a man holding flowers?

We had fun playing with the colors throughout all of the design elements.

The couple loved that the interior colors at the Historic venue worked with the bright hues of the wedding.

The couple chose a green paisley patterned paper that was used on the invitations and throughout the wedding decor. Centerpieces were placed in cylinders wrapped with the paisley paper.

Printed on the paisley backed paper and tent folded, menus doubled as the place cards at dinner.

This was one of my favorite menus items in a long time… Appetizers were Jalapeno hush puppies with pimento cheese. Something you wouldn’t think always about serving as part of a wedding dinner, but Fish Catering did an amazing presentation and we made fun embellishments.

An al fresco dance floor and lounge welcomed guests for dancing after dinner. Ottomans provided a rest for those needing a break and paisley paper wrapped cylinders were placed around a reflecting pond.

Local Charleston favorite, Peninsula Grill has a famous Coconut cake. Two individual tiers anchored the dessert station but this couple elected not to do a traditional cake cutting.

Dessert selection included mini pecan, pumpkin, and key lime pies, individual pistachio cakes, and chocolate caramel petits fours.

Guests were given freshly baked Krispy Kreme donuts in custom boxes as they left.

The old school Caddy convertible begged for the old school send off of the cans tied to the car. We spray painted them in the wedding colors to keep them photo perfect of course!

10.02.15 | TARA GUÉRARD
Cakes, Charleston, Event Design, Event Planning, Food and Drink, Reception, Stationery, Invitations and Pretty Papers, The Lettered Olive, Uncategorized, Weddings | Comments >>