Tag Archives: Sea Island

May 23, 2018

Tara Guerard Soiree by Liz Banfield

Can you tell how ready we are for summer and beach season over here? Today we are sharing this Sea Island wedding full of seagrass and shell details.  Surprisingly, while we are located in Charleston, SC we are rarely able to do any beachside weddings as they aren’t allowed here.  So, when we are working with a client hosting a beach wedding we do like to make use of the surroundings.

Tara Guerard Soiree by LIz Banfield

The ceremony itself took place at a local chapel before guests made their way to the Ocean Forrest Club at Sea Island.  I love that this guest really got in the spirit with her woven and seashell motif Nantucket handbag.

Tara Guerard Soiree by Liz Banfield

Hearty flowers are a must for outdoor weddings. These bouquets included summer blooms such as tulips, roses, ranunculus, and cymbidium orchids.

Tara Guerard Soiree by Liz Banfield

Being held at a private beachside club afforded photographer, Liz Banfield, the chance to get some amazing shots of the wedding party on the beach. That light was so incredible!

And, I love the coastal groomsmen ensemble- white gabardine pants, navy blazer, crisp blue oxfords, and Vineyard Vines tie that coordinated with the girls’ dresses.

Tara Guerard Soiree by Liz Banfield

As a nod to the brides’ family’s Scottish heritage, a bagpiper greeted guests as they entered into the cocktail tent.

Tara Guerard Soiree by Liz Banfield

Woven seagrass beach bags with local food treats, and maagzine, waters, and emergency hangover kit, and koozies for guests to use on weekend boating and beach adventures.

Food and drink Collage

Using the local bounty available, we created a seafood ice bar with the catering team at Sea Island. Southsides (a favorite of the couple) were served beachside, head here for a recipe.

Tara Guerard Soiree by Liz Banfield

Each guest was seated at tables named after actual seashells and a coordinating shell was affixed to their card, giving guests a nice little take home memento.

Tara Guerard Soiree by Liz Banfield

This was easily one of the most difficult tent drapes we have ever done, but one of the most rewarding. The tent ceiling is made from woven sheets of seagrass, normally a hearty material, but in the blustery conditions of a tent about 100 feet off of the beach, it was beyond challenging. Guests couldn’t believe it when they saw it though (and it had an amazing natural scent).

Tara Guerard Soiree by Liz Banfield

In order for guests to have the best view of the ocean during dinner, we had the tent flooring raised up several feet, giving guests a literal beachside lounge.

Tara Guerard Soiree by Liz Banfield

Tara Guerard Soiree by Liz Banfield

One of the main design showcases of the evening were shadowboxes containing sand and shell displays.  And, those are icing sand dollars and shells on the cake by Jim Smeal.

Tara Guerard Soiree by Liz Banfield

Tara Guerard Soiree by Liz Banfield

The bride and groom departed by a vintage car adorned with ribbon streamers and orchid blooms.  Happy Wedding Wednesday!

5.23.18   |   TARA GUÉRARD
Bridal Style, Cakes, Event Design, Flowers, Food and Drink, Photographers, Reception, Stationery, Invitations and Pretty Papers, The Lettered Olive, Weddings | Comments >>

bride and groom in archway

Today we are showcasing this rehearsal dinner for Nancy and Nathan on Sea Island, Georgia. Often times our clients ask us to help with many of their weekend events and since we want to be careful not to overshadow the wedding, we love getting to design a compliment to the wedding. I also love it when clients choose to have their photographer to capture the entire weekend, like they did here with Liz Banfield.

Stationary Collage

Lettered Olive works with our clients to create a printing package that incorporates subtleties throughout the design that ties them all together. For the rehearsal dinner, our design theme was going to have a lot of greenery and natural elements, so fronds graced the rehearsal dinner invitations.

Couple bagpiper

As a homage to the couple’s heritage, a bagpiper welcome guests to dinner.

Buffet Collage

We sometimes find a “buffet” or station style dinner harder to design because there is less room for details… During cocktails a wooden board was displayed combining the evening’s menu and the seating by table for each guest.

Tablescape 1

Centerpieces of mixed greens housed in cement pots trailed the center of long dinner tables…Tables were named after the couples favorite locations throughout the world.

lanterns dinner tables

Dining Al Fresco requires lighting above and beyond candlelight…

couple at dinner

This is one of my favorite shots, capturing the clients enjoying each other’s company on the eve of their wedding…

2.26.18   |   TARA GUÉRARD
Bridal, Event Design, Event Planning, Food and Drink, Parties, Photographers, Rehearsal Dinner, Stationery, Invitations and Pretty Papers, Weddings | 1 Comment
May 24, 2017

2605_21.© Liz Banfield

We heading down to Sea Island, Georgia this week for a big wedding weekend, so in honor of that we are sharing a beachside celebration for Wedding Wednesday. After marrying at a historic chapel on St. Simon’s island, the couple celebrated with guests at the Ocean Forrest Club. Liz Banfield was able to have some private time with the couple on the beach to capture some amazing images.

Bridal Collage

A classic bridal accessory, a pearl bracelet… beautiful with her Rivini gown. All of the wedding party carried a variety of white flowers like ranunculus, roses, orchids, and tulips.

2604_06a.© Liz Banfield Church Collage

At the church, fluffy wreaths with ribbons and shells great guests. Part of the take on our design aesthetic was “sophisticated shells”, we loved this guests’ handbag!!!

2602_25a.© Liz Banfield

Our wedding welcome bags were full of beach essentials- local treats, bottled water, printed sunscreen, koozies, and magazines in a perfect beach tote.

2606_30a.© Liz Banfield

Food Collage

After photos on the beach, cocktail hour was in full swing on the back lawn of the beach club. Guests enjoy an intricate ice display houses varied local seafood, and the couple’s favorite cocktail- Southsides.

2593_09.© Liz Banfield

Now, this was our showstopper design feature, and something we had never done before- a seagrass tent ceiling. My team really almost killed me, but we did it and it was amazing! Dinner and dancing was in the same beachfront tent- which we raised up about 5 feet so that an ocean view was present for the entire evening.

Table Collage

Dinner escort cards were in a sanded displays and had a sweet little shell on each… Along with flowers, large glass containers with sand, shells and candles weighted the tables from the seabreeze and was chic at the same time. Sand dollars tied with raffia were perfectly perched at each seat.

Cake Collage

The amazing sand dollar cake by Jim Smeal was a pretty focal point in the tent. We make take home cake boxes for guests wanting a sweet treat later in the evening.

2602_04a.© Liz Banfield

2613_02a.© Liz Banfield

Nighttime Collage

As the sunset the party begins… Something we created for events years and years ago, but are still able to reinvent, are our shadowboxes. We use them for bars, tables, etc. For this wedding it was perfect for filling with sand and shells for the lounge bars and cake table. They are a great unexpected sight for guests! For a cost savings we brought the wreaths used on the church doors over for the front of the reception venue.

2595_32.© Liz Banfield 2600_05.© Liz Banfield 2611_24.© Liz Banfield

After dancing late into the evening, the bride and groom departed by classic car and fireworks for their honeymoon… Stay tuned for details from Sea Island this weekend!

5.24.17   |   TARA GUÉRARD
Bridal Style, Cakes, Event Design, Event Planning, Flowers, Food and Drink, Photographers, Reception, The Lettered Olive, Travel, Uncategorized, Weddings | Comments >>