Award winning wedding planner and event designer in Charleston and New York City specializing in destination weddings, wedding and event planning.

Mar 19, 2019

Spring is finally blooming! Of course, one of the biggest things brides consider (or should consider) when choosing when they would like to marry, and what they would like to carry is the season. Many popular blooms can be available almost year round from various international farms, but some flowers are specific to the season in which they grow. Of course one of the most coveted Spring blooms is the lily of the valley. Carried on their own or as an accent, I can’t think of a Spring flower that says “bridal” more.

photos by Corbin Gurkin and Gayle Brooker

Depending on the weather here in Charleston, we can source some really beautiful gardenias early and hydrangeas in late Spring. Both can be a bit tricky to use in wedding flowers though since they love water. But, if it’s not too hot of a day and you ask your florist to have backups on standby, using them as boutonierres or in bouquets can be a beautiful addition. Be careful with touching the gardenias too much because that can brown them quickly.

photos by Corbin Gurkin

The idea of seeing colors and textures of the season mixed together make for a really lovely design palette. I think of color blends like pale greens, blues, and purples; or pastels with pops of brights. Lilacs, sweet peas, and tulips come together for a colorful and fragrant but not overpowering mix.

photo by Adrienne Page

For a bride wanting to stay all white in the spring- this blend of peonies, sweet peas, and ranunculus is so picture perfect.

photos by Liz Banfield

Bright color blends are totally perfect making their debut at spring weddings. Corals, pinks, peaches, blend for a bright but sophisticated look. Then, there are the branches, of course. Cherry blossom branches, pear blossom branches, azaleas, dogwoods, etc are all glorious blooms that we use whenever we can get! The statement pieces used throughout this wedding included oversized pots full of pink hydrangea and sprouting branches.

photo from Pinterest

I found this chart years ago on Pinterest as to the meaning of specific flowers and even broken down by color in some cases- it’s a great reference tool if you want to compile a bouquet with meaning or to display a certain sentiment.

3.19.19 | TARA GUÉRARD
Bridal, Event Design, Event Planning, Flowers, J'adore!, Uncategorized, Weddings | Comments >>

Mar 12, 2019

A Blue and White Beauty

We love revisiting some of our past weddings… Today, pretty pastels and pattern play were the name of the design game here, with photos so pretty from Corbin Gurkin. Bridesmaids dresses in the lovliest shade of not quite lavender and not quite violet from Jenny Yoo at Bella Bridesmaid.

The bride wore a Monique Lhullier gown and elegant flats from Dolce and Gabbana.

Our beautiful bride carried a cascade of phalenopsis orchids, roses, and fern fronds. We were overjoyed when we found the perfect blue and white bird themed fabric at fabric.com, we used it as a photo wall back drop, to make pillows, and cover the bar.

The blue and white papers designed by Lettered Olive made a statement with colored stock, pattern, die cut shapes, and letterpressed motifs. Our wedding welcome bags were filled with local cheese biscuits, handmade chocolate, and wine all in a custom Charleston map tote featuring all of the weekend locations noted.

The ceremony was held at one of my truly favorite local churches, the French Huguenot Church.

After the ceremony, guests tossed rose petals on the couple exiting the church, all to the tune of a local gospel choir.

Playing off of the cascading orchid bridal bouquet, the bridesmaids carried a fluffy and colorful mix of roses, orchids, and lilacs.

I always advise my clients when developing our timelines, to allow themselves to steal away some private time with the photographer, in order to capture images like these.

Long tables were dressed in custom linens with patterned toppers, while the smaller squares were dressed in all blue and white. I love that our bride let us play with all of these patterns and colors!

The flowering cake by Jim Smeal, resting atop a bed of greens made for a drop dead centerpiece in the after dinner lounge.

The after dinner lounge had a glamorous and feminine feel, and lots of thoughtful touches- one of my favorites was the phone charging station designed with the wedding hashtag signage. Oh, and the sliders on pretzel rolls by PPHG, were a HUGE hit!

After a quick change and pretty sparkler send off, the couple departed by a vintage Rolls Royce ready to “Skip Down the Aisle” Together…

You can see more of this wedding on Charleston Weddings

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

Feb 26, 2019

The Personal Touch

photo by Liz Banfield

There are many ebbs and flows in weddings as years go by, we find ourselves being asked by clients to design different elements all the time, but one thing stays constant and that is making each one personal. Here are just some of the ways we have personalized our events for our clients (aside from the obvious in the printing areas i.e. invitations), so hopefully this will trigger some thoughts or ideas for you. Above, a jazz band led our couple out to their send off, a nod to the “second line” tradition in New Orleans, where they met. photos by Tec Petaja

This was one of my favorite touches at this wedding… The father of the bride had an impressive wine collection that he had been working on over many years. So, we built a display as one of the centerpieces of the dining room. The bottles were served up in labeled decanters and guests were encouraged to help themselves during dinner service.

photo by Christian Oth Studios

One of the easiest places to add personal touches is in the wedding welcome gifts. For our couple, marrying in Palm Beach, but from Texas, lots of custom elements filled this goodie bag. A filled beach bag for guests to enjoy while in Florida, perhaps not having packed one seemed like the perfect choice- along with turkish towels in the wedding colors. Texas shaped corn chips and Texas salsa were just some of the snacks included along with Florida salt water taffy… all of these little thoughtful details go a long way to personalize your weekend for your guests. photos by Corbin Gurkin

For this Southern beach wedding at home, lots of playful touches were woven throughout. The mother of the bride and bride herself gave us their favorite quotes from movies, books, etc. and we used them to jazz up pillows on the lounge seating, cocktail napkins, and coasters. Guests loved seeing and seeking out all of the different ones throughout the party. top photos by Tec Petaja; bottom photos by Liz Banfield

Many of our clients love seeing details featuring their dogs incorporated into their wedding.. Water bottles featuring our couple’s Frenchie on the label were included in the wedding welcome bags and served up again at the reception. Another couple’s two Australian Shepherds made their first appearance on the save the dates, and then again in custom take home cake boxes we called “doggie bags”…

photos by Corbin Gurkin

Of course, one of the easiest and most traditional ways to personalize your day is with a monogram. Here, the first initials of our bride and groom were design elements all throughout the design. First on a floral version greeting guests at the front door, then on aprons worn by the cocktail servers, and mixed in on pillows throughout the lounge seating.

There are so many other ways and details that can be personalized, so share with us any that you have done or are planning to do!

2.26.19 | TARA GUÉRARD
Entertaining, Event Design, Event Planning, Food and Drink, Gifts, Parties, Reception, Stationery, Invitations and Pretty Papers, The Lettered Olive, Uncategorized, Weddings | Comments >>

Archives