Wedding Trends and Tips from Luncheon with Event Planner and Designer Tara Guerard
Thursday, February 11, 2010
We had so much fun at the Nashville Lifestyles Bridal Show at the Hermitage Hotel. The weather had started to improve, the sun was shining and the turnout was quite good! Lots of brides looking for great ideas and inspiration who attended with their moms and friends. We even saw a couple of grooms and that's always a good thing!
Photo source: NashvilleLifestyles.com
The highlight of the show was the luncheon with Tara Guerard. You might recognize her name from the books Southern Weddings: New Looks from the Old South and Weddings by Tara Guerard; It was exciting to hear what she had to say and she filled us in on her favorite wedding ideas and gave us predictions of trends to come.
The Hermitage Hotel - bridal registration desk
General wedding ideas / answers to attendee questions.
- Traditional weddings are back! Modern weds are on the decline as couples return to the basics, focusing on important ingredients
- It's a party! You want your guest to really enjoy the event. Have flip flops (summer) or wraps (fall/winter) so your guests are comfortable.
- Rehearsal dinner should incorporate what the groom likes - sports, music, maybe at his favorite venue. It should also be very different (menu, vibe) than the wedding reception. If you are doing a seated dinner for wedding, try a buffet for rehearsal.
- Guest books rarely get looked through by couple. Try a signed picture, wishing well or something more creative.
- Most brides are sporting two wedding dresses - their wedding dress and something short for the reception.
She encouraged working with local vendors (we second that!) and thinking locally - for example, when thinking of your menu try to stick to locally product, and to be as environmentally sound as possible, create your menu with seasonal items. Which brings us to a topic I hold dear...
Food:
- Small is the new big. If serving hors d'ouevres, make sure they're actually small enough where just one bite is all your guests need to take. Mini ice cream sandwiches are also a neat addition.
- Provide bags for your guests to take wedding cake home (but of course, save some for yourself!)
- Minimize clutter and eyesores and instead of having ugly chaffing dishes with a buffet, have serving stations or work with your caterer and florist to make the food stations pretty.
- Food in martini glasses are out!
- Signature drinks are still very popular and make the reception more efficient by minimizing waiting lines at the bar.
- Consider station cocktail parties versus seated dinners.
- Try to minimize lines by having a huge bar with ample servers and bartenders. Tara suggested one bartender/server per 50 guests.
- Candy bars are still in, which we love:). For one event, she used rolling carts to travel to guests during reception.
Some great finds based on Tara's wedding forecast - Clockwise: Ice-cream sandwiches from marthastewart.com, easy bite hors d'oeuvres from Chef's Market, candy buffet by Rhonda Patton Weddings, snazzy serving station by A Catered Affair
Tara chatting with moms. Photo source: NashvilleLifestyles.com
Color:
- "Blue is out" and lavender is still a hot color.
- Pinks and pale peaches making their way back into color schemes.
- In the fall, expect to see more jewel tones.
Do-it-Yourself:
- A huge proponent of DIY, Tara had fantastic ideas for favors. She suggested using etched glass as place cards which, at the end of the night, turn into unique favors for your guests! Don't have the budget to offer every guest an etched glass? Just do etched, monogrammed glasses for the bridal party.
- Monogramming is a lovely, traditional detail, and can be even more meaningful when you know an aunt or you have a grandmother who knows how to embroider. Have her monogram some linen napkins just for you and your groom. Or monogram the ribbon that's going around your bouquet for a sentimental touch.
Clockwise: Monogram hanging floral by Enchanted Florist, DIY getaway car decorations and etched glass place setting from MarthaStewart.com, DIY program by The Thirty Something Bride (thirtysomethingbride.com)
- For out-of-town guests, keep it simple and print the information booklet yourself. Provide a small container or mints or just a small bag of candy and include bottles of water with labels you made yourself vs over the top, out of town guest baskets. Spend the money elsewhere.
- Something creative and economical that I've seen brides do is recycling their ceremony flowers and incorporating them into reception decor but one thing I've never seen that Tara suggested was using pew markers, ribbons and all, to decorate the getaway car!
A point she reiterated was to think locally and to really work with your vendors especially your caterer and your florist - really involve them in your planning so everything goes together perfectly.
Speaking of vendors, we got to see several of Nashville's premiere companies present at the show too. Some of them made great use of their space. Wedding 101 (wedding101.net) turned their area in the hotel's lobby into a romantic seating area. It really welcomed you to their space.
Social Graces (socialgraces.com) used antique manequins and furniture to display their custom stationery.
We saw our favorite lighting company, Nashville Event Lighting and got to chat for a bit. Models glided around dressed in the prettiest gowns from the Cotton Mill while harpist Phyllis Taylor Starks filled the rooms with classic wedding music. Also there were Maples Wedding Cakes (maplesweddingcakes.com), Classic Party Rentals, the Governor’s Club (thegovernorsclub.com), King Jewelers (kings1912.com), OSHi Flowers (oshiflowers.com - fabulous florals), Feria Cinematic Imagery and American Laser Centers (www.americanlaser.com). We truly were in great company that day.
Tara will be speaking this May at The Wedding Experience, by StudioWed, which could be a great excuse for a weekend get-away!
Thank you to all the brides who came by to say hello, it was such a pleasure to meet you all! If you picked up a 2010 Bride sticker from us that day, don't forget to submit a picture of you with the sticker on your bumper! Remember: each picture of a bride and her sticker on her car means another $5 to our relief fund to help Haiti. You can find more details about that here.
About the Author:
Tabitha
Blogging is something I’ve enjoyed doing for years. My interests lie mostly in lifestyle related topics like fashion, style, design, food and weddings. When I heard Ashley was looking to bring on new members to the ABG team, I jumped at the opportunity - I can’t think of a better way to stay involved in weddings than to write about them and to stay in touch with the trends and new ideas. Lucky for me, Ashley likes my blog and trusts my experience to bring me on and so far, it’s been a blast.
send
Posted on February 11, 2010 |
Filed under: Bridal Shows & Events, DIY & Budget Wed Finds, Inspiration & Trends, Luxury Wed Finds
