One of my favorite weddings we did last year is currently featured in the new Charleston Weddings Magazine (as well as on their website). Lawton Ginn and Eric Yon had been dating since high school, so we knew that this wedding had been a long time in the making… They LOVE to have a good time with their friends, so we also knew it would be a blow out… Some of my favorite shots:

Style Me Pretty

Thank you Abby for the great feature on Style Me Pretty today… Here is a sneak peek, for more go here.

Will You Be My Bridesmaid?

We have a bride next May who had the fabulous idea to formally invite her girls to be her bridesmaids. We sent them each a little “suitcase” that matched the wedding colors with a split of Veuve Champagne, and custom cookies in the shape of a bridesmaid dress made by our local baker. We had calligraphied poems/invites addressed to each girl with a tag on the outside saying “Pack Your Bags” and the wedding date- too cute!

Tara’s Tidbits

My friend Maria White is an L.A. based ceramic artist. We first met sharing some space at a pottery studio, both of us being big porcelain fans. Now, she is famous for her pots (you can see these in many L.A. Hotspots, including Jar restaurant) and I just wanted to share an example of some of her latest works that she received an American Craft award for – Her shapes and attention to detail never fail to inspire and awe me.

Fresh off the Letterpress…

The Simmons Collection from The Lettered Olive… reminds of a necklace that Marie Antoinette would wear…

We had a great time planning the recent wedding of Jordan McLain and Jason Padgett… Just to show how hands on we are, these are shots from the evening all of our flowers came in and the entire team (Tara Guerard, Kate Little and Elizabeth Cash included) working together to process them- thorns and all!

the entire prep room was covered along all four walls with flowers…

Our moveable flower processing tools…

of course it rained on set up the entire week leading up to the actual wedding on Saturday….

more and more buckets needed for all of the flowers

Our devoted “Soirette” Sam, handling the rain like a pro

Or course after the rain clears, this is the view from the venue- untouchable!

Live Art

I’ve just recently been seeing this new wedding trend out there on all of the blogs, tv shows, etc. but this was the first time that we had an artist (Laura Swytak) on site painting as the party was happening. She set up her canvas in the dinner tent, which is also where we cut the cake and did toasts. She does paint the majority on site that evening, but does take several photos to complete it afterwards…

Tara’s Yummy Tidbit…

Since I’m a small business owner, it’s important for me to support other small businesses when I can. Caroline Reutter, originally from Charleston, SC, started Caroline’s Cakes over 10 years ago, with one of my favorite treats to give. The 7 Layer Caramel Cake is to-die-for and can be delivered right to your doorstep! If you have never tried one of these, you’re missing out!

Man vs. Food

One of my favorite guilty pleasure shows on the Travel Channel, Man Vs. Food recently paid a visit to Charleston. My husband and I have often discussed what the food “challenge” would be in Charleston- how much Crab Dip, Lowcountry Boil, or Shrimp and Grits can he eat, but since we are lucky enough to live in a town that has an unsaid “no gimicks” clause when it comes to good food, so we were stumped! Check out what it ended up being:

Be sure to watch Adam’s Vlog to hear the props that Charleston got…

Fresh off the letterpress….

This is one of my personal favorites in the new Lettered Olive collection! We are even turning into a custom piece for one of our upcoming brides, who is self proclaimed “shabby chic” and inspired by “Anthropologie“… we thought this was a perfect fit!

Gone but Not Forgotten…

I’m sure many of you have heard the sad news that the Sept/Oct. issue of Southern Accents will be it’s last one… They have been such a great supporter of Soiree and Tara Guerard over the years, so we’ll miss them tremendously for that reason, but also having decorated my Southern home from their pages since I was a little girl, I’ll miss reading it on a personal level as well. Now that all of our great mags are gone (Domino, Southern Accents, blueprint, etc.), we’ll have to look more and more to blogs and websites for the same inspiration.

Thank you Charleston Magazine for the fabulous spread from our recent photo shoot at the Gibbes Museum Courtyard. We had a BLAST making all of the paper flowers by hand for the shoot.

p.s. that’s me in the Oscar de la Renta dress, living vicariously! I really wanted to wear it home, sleep in it, and have another wedding myself just to wear it!

On a side note, how fabulous is this Carolina Herrera dress-

Fresh off the Letterpress…

The new Gibbes Collection from The Lettered Olive. It’s got a little hit of the ethnic patterns that are in right now, but is still sophisticated and elegant.

Tara’s Tidbits

Sushi has always been one of my favorite foods… Every time I’m in a new city I always have to try their sushi- esp. in New York, where there is too much too choose from. Next time you’re in New York, you MUST go here . There is no menu, no decisions, the chef just sends out whatever is the freshest that day…it was truly amazing. The best part- the sign above the sushi bar reads: We have no California Rolls…

photo by Everett Bogue

Bag Obsessions

Nicki sent over some new bags that she has been pouring over…Moore and Giles leather goods would also double as great wedding party gifts… Their make up bag comes in different punchy colors.

Also, for special pieces she’s always on Vivre … the new collection of Isaac Mizrahi bags are covetable.