Tag Archives: DIY

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photo by Nickie Stone

With the holidays quickly creeping up on us, we’re sharing a few tips and modifications on designs we do for our clients that you can easily do at home for your holiday tabletops. Feel free to leave any questions or comments you may have if not covered here.

For this first takeaway, I love the idea of a roll or bread piece served on the plate with a name “flag” in it- something so simple and easy that is just a nice little touch for guests sitting down.

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photo by Corbin Gurkin

This I love as a sweet touch for all of the upcoming holidays, a fresh sprig of rosemary laid out on napkins, you could also tie together a small bundle of fresh thyme with butchers twine in lieu of rosemary.

wine-cork-seating-cards

photos by Adrienne Page

We used this concept to display escort cards for a wedding dinner, but for a smaller gathering or dinner party, taking corks that you have around the house or from what you will be serving and placing handwritten name cards at each seat would be just so.

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photo by Liz Banfield

Now, this is a really easy one – one even the kids could get involved with… finding a leaf or piece of greenery from the yard and writing names with metallic markers on them is truly a simply elegant design.

photo by Liz Banfield

I’ve been seeing different variations on this our and around a bit, but for the glam hostess, finding agate slices is fairly easy these days. Painting or writing with white or metallic on them for menus or place cards also makes a sweet take home surcie for the guests.

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photo by Adrienne Page

Lots of ways you can do this at home… Finding different vessels from around the house and filling them with small bouquets of flowers, or greenery makes for a pretty addition to to a formal table, and it also means you can do less in the center. You could also use thing ribbon or twine to tie name cards around the vases.

photo by Corbin Gurkin

This idea would be a nice detail for a buffet type setting where it’s hard to find a lot of decor opportunities. Pre wrapping the silverware in cloth napkins will make it easy for guests to carry along with a full plate. Wrapping them with pretty paper, scraps of special wrapping or wallpaper will give it a finished touch.

photo by Gayle Brooker

For a simple, lovely, inexpensive, and easy centerpiece idea- purchase phalenopsis orchid plants at your local store (Trader Joe’s has great ones!), and put them in pots covered in moss. This is such a small task but really gives a formal and elegant touch… You could even spray paint the pot to match the color scheme.

photo by Liz Banfield

For a client whose rehearsal dinner fell on New Year’s Eve- we took silver strands from decorations we purchased online and decomposed them… tied to each each seat with name cards gives a festive feel!

12.17.18   |   TARA GUÉRARD
Entertaining, Event Design, Event Planning, Parties, Uncategorized, Weddings | Comments >>

Tara Guerard Soiree

Now that it’s finally citrus season, one of my favorite DIY decor tips for entertaining at home are my orange votives! These are killer votives for Halloween (think instead of carving pumpkins) get togethers and perfect additions to your Thanksgiving tables, or just any given dinner party. First step is to assemble everything you need- a sharp knife, a good strong spoon or scoop, and your oranges of course. If it’s your first round, get a bag to allow for any Oops!

Tara Guerard Soiree

Slice a thinnish piece off the bottom (and an even thinner part off the opposite side just of the peel, not any of the inside so that it has a steady platform for where you plan to set it down). Use your spoon to hollow out all of the pulp, juices, etc. I like to keep them all to use for smoothies or juicing.

Tara Guerard Soiree

We make sure to use the candle drop ins that have the plastic bases0 they are deeper and don’t get as hot as the aluminum based ones; they also look nicer!

Tara Guerard Soiree

It’s also a good idea to zest or shave a bit of the peel off of the sides so that the candles are able to really glow through. Of course, they are wonderfully fragrant as well!

10.30.18   |   TARA GUÉRARD
Entertaining, Food and Drink, Parties | Comments >>

Halloween has snuck up on us fast this year!  Today, we want to share tips on hosting an “elegant” Halloween soiree… Maybe you want to host a neighborhood or supper club dinner, or even a celebration of something in collaboration around Halloween. We hope these tips help give you some spooky yet sophisticated ideas… Thank you to Liz Banfield for the ghostly images.  Set your color scheme.  It doesn’t have to include orange- for ours, keeping it elegant meant using black, white, and silver.

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Obviously, this theme could work well with a cocktail party, a dinner party, a roaming party or drop in, so lots of options here. The food and beverage can play hugely into the decor. We found simple black and white trays, but using vintage silver ones could play into a “haunted house” theme also. “Deviled Eggs”, or “Devils on Horseback” are easy and simple food items that add effect- there are so many fun options here and recipes galore online. For a fun bar design- we hollowed out large pumpkins painted silver, and put our speciality cocktail (Black Widows) containers inside. Great for a serve yourself, or if you have a bartender make sure they are in costume of course!

dinner-collage

For this seated dinner party, standard black linens work and are a great backdrop. We painted mini pumpkins white for the seating cards which looked just so pretty. Easy and affordable centerpieces were large glass vases with silver painted pumpkins and pillar candles. We used white pea gravel to hold the candles in place and not slump. Large taper candles in candelabras would be perfect and lovely too, and once the wax starts dripping you have a perfect spooky look.

Of course, what’s Halloween without costumes.. You know there are always those that get in the spirit and those that can’t or don’t. I like the idea of ordering nice and lovely masks online and having them there for guests so no one feels left out.

candy-collage

Candy and desserts are essential of course. We used many different clear glass vessels and vases and set up a variety of crowd pleasers- bulk candies, individual wrapped, cupcakes, cookies, etc.  Then, we staged black take out containers for guests to fill up their own take home boxes.  For decor, we took some of the more expected items, but used them in unexpected ways- skulls were displayed in pretty cloches, dollar store tombstones look mysterious with great lighting and a smoke machine. Colored light bulbs can go a long way for little cost.

Don’t forget your playlist- spotify can help curate something different so the typical tunes don’t dull the party.

 

10.09.18   |   TARA GUÉRARD
Entertaining, Event Design, Event Planning, Food and Drink, Parties, Uncategorized | Comments >>