Thank you to all who attended our open house on Thursday, we had an amazing turnout and were so happy to see all of our old friends, past brides, and vendors that do so much for us!

The Weddings by Tara Guerard author and book photographer, Liz Banfield

Tara busy signing away…We sold 50 books that night!

We love our amazing cake bakers, Wedding Cakes by Jim Smeal (check out their new website)

Our bride, Elizabeth Dyson, whose wedding is featured as the Eyelet Evening chapter in the book with her daughter, Eliza Grace.

Our production crew doing their “real” jobs.. they couldn’t resist pulling the truck up curbside for a quick hello!

this was our bar for the evening, photographer Jon Robbins put the very cool photoshop effect on it for me…

We were so proud to show off our updated and finally completed office space….

Sweet Treats

Our favorite treat maker, Kim Morgan of a Matter of Taste made these oh so adorable monkey cookies for the baby shower I hosted for my cousin this weekend… She did all of the super cute packaging herself, and the monkey cookies were a huge hit!

And, Minette Rushing of Savannah Custom Cakes came all the way up for our party on Thursday, with a beautiful cake for us!  She does handmade sugar flowers that are beautiful, and even the little gold broach is made from sugar!

Tara’s Tidbits- Thank you Easter Bunny!

Every year I count down to the day that Easter candy appears on the grocery store shelves- usually it’s the day after all of the discounted Valentine’s day candy is cleared to make room, so that my favorite Cadbury Mini Eggs will again be a staple in my diet.  I love that they have recently started with a dark chocolate version, my favorite!

Atlanta Brides and Friends

Tara will be appearing this Sunday, February 28th from 1:00pm-4:00pm at The Atlantan Bridal Event at Phipps Plaza…. Please stop by to get a book signed or just to say hi!

The past couple of weeks have been a flurry of book siginings, Tara making appearances, and getting everything ready for our new website lauch.  I can finally say it is up and running, and we are so thrilled with the new look, take some time today if you can and cruise around.

While at Vieuxtemps here in Charleston, Tara and Elizabeth snapped some shots of some of their favorite in store items to share with everyone.

what an impact this Gold Aves china would make on a holiday table, from Royal Crown Derby

we love mixing and matching different but complimentary glassware, like these two from William Yeoward… the Flavia (left) and the Felicity (right)

this Basket Felice platter from Man-Hu Designs can be customized with your monogram, and Tara just loved the way the letter lay ontop of one another…

The girls over at Vieuxtemps were the ever gracious southern hostesses serving fun cocktails from the book to all of the guests in and out of the store that day.

Tara was so pleased to find what a stylish and progressive city for bridal Minneapolis was… In addition to the fabulous Monique Lhullier salon, L’atelier Couture carries designers like Oscar de la Renta, Carolina Herrera, and Lela Rose…

Last week Tara and I were in Athens, Ga getting to catch up with the Mansfields whom we just adore (their wedding is the first chapter in our new book). What a wonderful hostess Kim Mansfield is- Tara was the guest speaker at the Junior Ladies Garden Club meeting.

Here is Kim introducing Tara…

And assisting Tara with her book signing at Appointments at Five

I love how they put photos, thank you notes, and cards from past brides onto a wall of frames that are also for sale!  Clever use of space…

love this one, of course, of our bride and groom Olivia and Zach Wall

Their store is in an old house, so every nook and cranny is precious space… Their wall of china is built into a former closet!

Tara’s Tidbits

I will officially step into the world of social networking this week!  I have resolved to begin twittering my own tweets!  Please follow me at: http://twitter.com/TaraGuerard.

I’m off to Sea Island, Georgia today for a speaking engagement at the Cloister… We love being in Sea Island and can’t wait to catch up with all our friends there, so look for photos from this trip next week.

Snow Day!

In a bizarre course of events, we had about 3-5 inches of snow in and around the Charleston area this weekend… the last time we saw snow was in 1990 (one year after Hurricane Hugo), when it actually snowed for 4 days straight.  We had fun and enjoyed getting to see it on our home turf this year…

Where Have You Been All My Life?

I think my affinity for bbq sauce on french fries has stemmed from the handy little tubs that it comes in, but now I can go back to my first love.

For those that don’t know, we refer to Tara as “mama soiree”… Well, we turned her loose this week and put her in the hands of Liz Banfield our ever faithful photographer where they were on a whirlwind of appearance on local television stations, the local chapter of NACE’s montly meeting, and an appearance at the Monique Lhullier salon… Here are some photos from their adventures:

Tara and Liz on KARE (local tv network) reviving a favorite table setting from one of the weddings in the new book

Tara on another local TV network talking about “What’s Hot and What’s Not” in wedding trends

Tara presenting at the Greater Minneapolis NACE luncheon- she will be presenting the program at the Charleston Chapter’s upcoming Feb. NACE meeting, look out for more details…

Liz took Tara over to the Guthrie,  a very cool event space looking over the city

The bride that Tara is pointing to is the one that tragically collapsed a couple of years ago, and has now been rebuilt.

Tara and Liz before the in store Monique Lhullier salon appearance

All the ladies of the Minneapolis Monique Lhullier salon

Here are some of Tara and Liz’s favorite shots from the Walker Art Center:

what a great design idea- these are place mats hung from the ceiling!

I love this Modern sculpture in the background jetting out of this blanket of snow, very dreamlike, and we never see snow like this in Charleston!

And, for more blog reading from Minneapolis, check out The Wedding Guys who blogged on the new Weddings book by Tara…

Small “blog” World…

I always love reading Style Court’s blog, but when I recently saw two of our favorite friends on there- interior designer, Angie Hranowsky and photographer Squire Fox and a lifestyle session they did together, I was pumped! Go to stylecourt to read more… I love this shot of Angie’s daughter, LouLou.

Angie Hranowsky has also recently opened a new office (along with Julia Lynn photography and Stacy Bradley of Perla Anne in Downtown Charleston…I can’t wait to see it in person, but here is a preview shot to oogle…

I’ve also really enjoyed some of the other blogs out there posting about their finds at the New York Gift Show, since were also there collecting ideas… Some of my favorite so far have been:

Sneak Peek

We are delighted to have received our new Tara Guerard Soiree collateral… Amy and Courtney at Stitch Design Co. put our vision on paper, literally…Check out the images from their recent blog post.  It’s hard to see in the photo, but the back of the cards is an amazing champagne metallic flocking- soooo dreamy!

Where are We This Week?

Tara and I are off to Athens, Ga today for Tara’s appearance tomorrow with the Athens Garden Club.. We will be at Appointments at Five tomorrow at 1:00pm, please come by and get your book signed!

Appointments at Five
1730 South Lumpkin Street
Athens, Georgia 30606