Tag Archives: tips

Tara Guerard Soiree by Corbin Gurkinphoto by Corbin Gurkin 

Today I’m sharing tips on ways you can be prepared and how to avoid some of the unexpected disasters that we’ve experienced in the past. For one wedding, during the pre ceremony family photos a bride was holding an infant who had a bit of a diaper disaster, leaving quite the mess on her dress!

photo by Corbin Gurkin 

Katherine McDonald dress maven of LulaKate and Kate McDonald Bridal tells us that (appropriately) baby wipes are the BEST kept secret to getting stains out of dresses and they have them on hand at all times in the studio.  Dusting baby powder or going over the water stain with white chalk and a small bristle brush helps distract from the removal of the original stain.  Luckily we keep a bridal preparedness kit on hand at all times and being a mom of 3 I’ve learned the wonder of baby wipes, so we dabbed out the stain and had her photo ready walking down the aisle!

Tara Guerard Soiree by Corbin Gurkin

photo by Corbin Gurkin 

You are on weather.com everyday for two weeks leading up to your wedding. Planning, plotting, and praying for that sunshine and no rain report! Well, here in Charleston and the Lowcountry outdoor weddings are one of the main reasons people chose to get married here.  But in our humid climate frequent showers are inevitable. We’ve had to hold a ceremony off for 45 mins, keeping guests under shelter and on buses until the rain stopped and we could dry off the seats. Here large golf umbrellas helped shelter the guests and couple after a shower popped up at the end of the ceremony.

Tara Guerard Soiree by Adrienne Pagephoto by Adrienne Page

We keep a fleet of solid white umbrellas on our trucks for all of our outdoor affairs just in case…

photo by Elizabeth Messina

Here in Charleston, many couples elect to use vintage cars for their getaway. They obviously make for lovely photos, but can often be unreliable and finicky. We have had several situations where they simply didn’t start or had some complications and often we don’t know this until it’s time for the driver to arrive at the wedding to pick up the bride and groom!

photo by Gayle Brooker

 Several tips to avoid being stranded at the end of the evening are schedule your car for at least an hour minimum prior to your wanting to leave. That way if there is a problem your coordinator or whoever has been your point person can have plenty of time to problem solve (hopefully without you being the wiser!). Another option is to make sure to have a back up- several of our taxi companies here have different or unique vehicles, and since it’s a taxi are readily available and often can be cancelled with little or no penalty. Or, does a friend or family member who will be attending the wedding have a cool car that they would be willing to let you drive around the block in just for the send off photo opp? Then, you can hop in another vehicle out of sight from the guests!

7.31.18   |   TARA GUÉRARD
Bridal, Bridal Style, Dresses, Fashion, Uncategorized, Weddings | Comments >>
Feb 27, 2018

photo by Melanie Mauer

We have been seeing a lot of articles out there regarding wedding trends for 2018, so we thought we would weigh in on some of that we are seeing  and predicting what some of this year’s trends will be! Of course, metallics have been hot now for many years and where rose gold was the metallic of the moment in 2017, we are loving Copper for 2018!  For a rustic but glamorous fall wedding in Kentucky, copper cups were a unpredictable detail for the water/bourbon cups, and copper foiled ink on menus, invites, etc dressed up the printed pieces.

Photo by Liz Banfield and Corbin Gurkin

Watercolor! Let’s just say, watercolor is the deal… You are seeing it everywhere from invitations (like these from Happy Menocal for our Hamptons client) to wedding design. We even printed some linens recently in a custom watercolor design!

photo by Corbin Gurkin

This one will certainly make all of the grooms and groomsmen happy. While bourbon bars are still required in areas where bourbon is king, we are doing beer walls and taps. This one was a focal point in the after dinner lounge… A few varieties made it a fun tasting experience for those taking a break from dancing.

photos by Liz Banfield and Corbin Gurkin

Finally one of our other favorite trends (meaning we hope it becomes a mainstay vs a trend) are our custom printed matchbooks. Reminds me of the old school restaurants where they had a bowl of matches on the Maitre d’ stand.

2.27.18   |   TARA GUÉRARD
Bridal Style, Event Design, Event Planning, Parties, Photographers, Reception, Stationery, Invitations and Pretty Papers, Uncategorized, Weddings | Comments >>

engage 14

In November we had the amazing opportunity to speak at Engage 14! – a conference and networking event for the luxury wedding industry, this year held at the beautiful Ritz Carlton Grand Cayman. It was so much fun to see some of our friends, and we especially loved learning other speakers’ takes on where they see the industry headed in 2015. To give you a little taste of what it was all about, we decided to break it down into a few of our favorite takeaways:

The most memorable quote from the event was from Keija Minor, the Editor in Chief of Brides magazine who said that “Great minds don’t think alike, but they think better together.” That kind of collaborative spirt will get you far! We love working with all of our brides, vendors, photographers, and caterers to create extra special, meaningful events.

Simon T. Bailey was one of our favorite speakers, and gave an overview of the conference theme with the quote “Own it. Create it. Sustain it.” He mentioned that half of all brides are checking you out on social media, so the most important value is authenticity. Keeping the conversation going on social media is super important to the Soirée team, so make sure to follow us on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest to stay up to date on our news and recent weddings and events!

engage 14 -2

Simon also mentioned that “the currency of the future is relationships.” It’s all about who you know and how you treat them. Make friends and keep your network broad! And lastly he mentioned to “let go of what doesn’t work anymore.” A helpful reminder to always be looking to the future of your business and thinking creatively about your next steps. (Photo above by Liz Banfield)

Minneapolis event planner Amy Zaroff was another favorite speaker and agreed with Simon, noting the importance of “understanding the value of reputation.” Consistently doing good work, being pleasant to work with, and striving to be the best in your field are things that will take you far in life. And on that note, Amy says in this industry, “we live by insanely high standards… go big or go home!”

We’re with you Amy! Here’s to 2015, a year of “going big!”

1.07.15   |   TARA GUÉRARD
Events, Parties, Travel, Weddings | Comments >>