Happy New Year!

2009 was such a whirlwind year for LWSE with moving offices and 94 events we had our hands quite full indeed. We will be starting our year off right tomorrow working with Sara Cavallon of Something to Celebrate as well as The William Aiken House to produce our first event for 2010. The flowers are beautiful and we couldnt be happier to be starting off a new year busy. What a blessing.

We would like to toast all of our great brides and grooms from 2009 and all of the wonderful vendors we worked with through the year. We are so grateful for every interaction, and we are looking forward to a great new year.

We hope everyone has a safe and happy new year, and we will see you in 2010!

Planning for Summer Heat ... To Booze or not to Booze

Today in looking through the events I have booked for 2010 I was noticing that a lot of them are in the warmer months of July, August and September. Keeping this in mind when menu planning last year for our warmer weather weddings I took the traditional idea of a passed cocktail and simplified with more flavor and less alcohol. For instance for this wedding of our British James Bond groom and Sweet Southern Belle we decided to take the flavors they loved (in this case peach and mint) and just simply add a classic sweetened tea.

As you can see it was a beautiful passed beverage, but we were able to offer them to guests of all ages and preferences while really quenching the thirst which is the main purpose of the passed cocktail in the first place. Perhaps have a carafe at the bar with some Firefly Vodka or Firefly Sweet Tea Vodka for those guests that do want a little touch of something stronger in theirs. The William Aiken House staff made sure that each drink was picture perfect.

Your guests will end up with thirst quenched and less of a headache the next day.

Ice Ice Baby...

While talking with a friend recently, it came out that he was thinking of making that next big step with his Girlfriend. I was so excited, I hope to be a part of their wedding of course. However, with my extreme love for diamonds I just had to run him down the high points of diamond and ring shopping. These are just some of my favorites that of course have been on my mind since that discussion.

A classic favorite of course is the timeless Tiffany Six Prong setting. It is such a beautiful setting, very simple (perfect for the super busy, hands on bride) and being Tiffany the stone is a piece of art on its own.

Also from Tiffany, for the bride (or groom) looking for something a little different yet still classic there is the Princess Cut which is a stunning, more modern ring. Tiffany also has their Lucida which is their version of a cushion cut in a specialty setting that has been refined to really showcase this beautiful diamond.
Then from my favorite Harry Winston comes the beautiful emerald cut. This one of course is definitely what i like to call celebrity sized (kind of like super sized), but you can really see the detail in the cut.

Then some other classic Winston settings with slightly less traditional cuts are the Pear shape, Marquise and Oval. Your diamond is really supposed to be such an expression of you and I feel like this is such a great way to say something different about yourself.

Last but definitely not least, for the bride who just refuses to have anything traditional and tends to love things completely over the top ...

From the Harry Winston "incredibles" collection. Talk about celebrity sized!! This ring is so spectacular that you have to set an appointment just to talk about it. Too much for you? Well then get it for me ;-)

Curly Hair ... What to do?

While looking through the pictures from this last year I came across some great pictures of our girls with big beautiful curls. I just get so excited to see that. As someone with curly hair, and hair that used to be pretty long, I understand how the thought of what haircut and even more important what hairstyle to have on your wedding day can prove to be daunting.

Luckily for us all Stuart Lawrence Salon on King Street has done the hard work to bring us a fantastic new product and style technique. Check out their Ouidad styling system that Michael has brought to us to help all of the curly haired brides (and wedding planners) really be confident in their wedding day look.

www.ouidad.com

Call today to make your appointment with Melissa.

http://www.slsalon.com/

455 King Street

Charleston, SC

843-722-6776

The Divine is in the Details

Just wanted to make a quick post sort of in keeping with my theme. In looking back through pictures while planning for next year, I ran across this image from Squire Fox.

It inspired me in its simplicity. Just the simple piece of an Antique Hydrangea Bloom really was all that was needed in this vase to make a statement of understated elegance.

Just a thought ... from someone who doesn't always think less is more ;-).

Elizabeth and Sanjo

In planning for next year I am finding that we are seeing a few of the same color schemes and palettes being repeated this year. We are always so happy to work with the same colors or themes again because we get excited to see how we can change the old ideas into new fun and fresh looks for the upcoming events.

Elizabeth and Sanjo were married at Saint Luke's Chapel with the reception following at The William Aiken House. You might recall seeing a post to check out Tracy Turpin's beautiful pictures on her website, but I wanted to share some with you that are giving us great inspiration this time around. The deep cultural influences of Elizabeth and Sanjo's wedding as well as deep family influences really warmed the heart for this event. So many times we see the days come and go with no time to really sit back and enjoy it as a family. It was very important to Elizabeth that we really give them time to make this a family affair and spend time with the ones they love so much.

I love Saint Luke's Chapel because of its versatility. So many times we have the pleasure of bringing in cultural influence into the ceremonies which are not allowed at so many other chapels or churches.

Some of the shots of the reception show me places where slight changes and adjustments will re-fresh the look our upcoming bride. I loved how the dark tablecloths gave a really deep background for our beautiful bright pink flowers. Elizabeth's sister worked with Debbie Mock on her wedding and we were so happy to be able to team up with Debbie again for this event.

The Bride teamed up with a graphic designer friend and came up with all of the place cards and table numbers in the same color scheme of the wedding, but with fun touches of Charleston Charm.

The most important part of the decor of this event I think was the lighting that at night really brought through our color scheme and helped the floral and linen elements pop the way they were intended. This is something we will definitely bring into play again in the coming years events.

One key to such a great party is the right band for the group. The Heather Hayes Band brought the fun to this wonderful spring event. Not only were they high energy and fun, but they got the entire crowd moving and dancing.

Even our favors were customized to fit our color scheme. We found stone ground grits who's labels were stamped with a bright pink stamp. With a custom tag and a tie of our navy ribbon we had a personalized gift with which guests could remember the night.

Fun, New and Improved...

What a better way to get over the stresses of the holidays than some great retail (or in most cases) wholesale therapy. In starting planning for next year we have found some absolutely delicious pieces that we just have to add to our inventory. Today we got in some absolutely divine containers for one of our upcoming weddings in April. They are a silver/gold Mercury Glass look. In a word they are breathtaking and I cant wait to see them at the wedding.

And after looking through hundreds ... and I mean hundreds ... of chandeliers, we have found the new ones that we will be bringing into the LWSE family. They are a beautiful Chrome with dangling Crystals and Crystal strands. They will be a stunning new addition to our Spring events and I am sure will be in lots of pictures. We will update the blog when we use them the first time.

I am looking forward to our break from events to be able to investigate even more fun new things to bring to our clients and to the Event community in Charleston. I will update with more ideas as shopping progresses.

October 30, 2009

Sherman Financial Group
Cotton Dock
Electric Company
Leslie McKellar
Tidewater Catering
Mr Koolie
Jason's Jump Castles
Charleston Coach

The scene was set at the Cotton Dock for Sherman Financial Group's Annual Halloween Party. The company forgoes other holiday parties and goes all out for this party. This is the third year that LWSE has done the party for them, and the second year at the Cotton Dock. This year we went for a Pirate Theme with bones, pirate coins and flags :) We had Mr. Koolie come out for some GREAT ice cream, along with Jason's Jump Casltes providing a cotton candy machine. Tidewater Catering's Food for the Southern Soul provided BBQ and sides with a smores station to accompany the roaring fire.
Once again the Electric Company put on a GREAT show with break dancers keeping the kids entertained. A friend of Bryan Mahanes (front man of the Electric Company) came along to do Balloon animals for the kids as well. We rounded out the night with Charleston Coach taking the kids around the plantation for a haunted hay ride. This party is always a great time, laid back and entertaining! Check out some of our favorite shots from Leslie McKellar

September 6, 2009

William Aiken House
Kristen and Latif
Heather Forsythe photography

Hey everyone! Check out the following link for our September 6th wedding at WAH! Thanks for the link Heather!

Kristen and Latif
event key: Charleston

What a gorgeous couple! Kristen knew from the get go what she wanted for the big day and did not leave out any detail. What a pleasure to work with. A proper post will be up soon!

April 18, 2009

Kristina & Chris
Episcopal Church of St. Luke & St. John
William Aiken House
Heather Forsythe Photography

Kristina won our day of coordination at the Spoleto Auction the previous year. She has some experience working events in the past so she had very specific decor ideas that she wanted. At the same time, she was more than willing to be surprised by Luke's designs. She was such a joy to work with, always calm with a smile on her face just happy in love! Chris was just finishing up law school so he stayed pretty busy and was most excited about the tasting! Of course, with Fish catering, how can you NOT be excited?!



The ceremony was beautiful and traditional. The bride and Groom arrived for cocktail hour at the William Aiken House and we kicked off first dances and announcements.



Guests then headed upstairs for another fabulous seated dinner. Afterward Heart and Soul kicked it into high gear with dancing until the end of the night. Thanks to IES we had awesome lighting in the main tent along with the lounge tent!




We were able to do a lot of fun things for Kristina and Chris. The orchid garlands with crystals on the ends in the trees were one of my favorites. Heather Forsythe created all of their stationary from save the dates and invitations to the place cards and menus at each table; as well as shooting their wedding (amazing isn't she?!). We took a piece of the design and created a lighted stencil to be shot onto the carriage house during the event as well.

May 19, 2008

Aimee and Milton
Citadel Summerall Chapel
The Mills House





Aimee and Milton's wedding was a great event! They had a great band, and their guests danced all night!

Having a great party was very important to these two. We had a few seating tables and a lounge area for guests but kept most of the ballroom open for mingling and dancing.




We brought in some great bare branch trees and hung orchid garlands from them to help break up the expansive ballroom space.




We used the Queen Street Gallery area for more seating for those guests who needed a break from the band.

May 24, 2009

Lindsey & Brad
St. Luke's Chapel
Wickliffe House
Richard Bell Photography


Lindsey is probably one of the most beautiful bride's we have had all year. Not that all of our brides are not beautiful, but not all of them bring us to tears watching them walk down the aisle. Lindsey was one of them.


those of you from the Charleston area know that Memorial Day weekend is a very busy time for weddings! We had THREE weddings on the 24th all over Charleston. It rained all morning and the forcast was looking grim. However, as Charleston weather likes to change at a moments notice Lindsey was able to walk back from the Church in the sun!



Lindsey choose a fun combination of pinks and greens for the decor and we used our white west elm lanterns as centerpieces as well.

March 20, 2009

Farrah & Harry
William Aiken House
Richard Bell Photography


Talk about a destination wedding! Farrah and Harry's guest list was literally global! We had guests from all over Europe as well as the US. Farrah has been living in Italy for the past couple of years, but being from Charleston there was no question where she would get married!






Farrah and Harry were married on the front lawn. We hung milk bottle lanterns from the pergola with green and black ribbons. They had a custom runner made with their name's and date printed. Farrah's bouquet was a beautiful mix of white and ivory flowers with ostrich feather mixed in.




We hung out white lanterns in the trees that have a little bit of gold brush accents on them with votives inside.



After cocktail hour downstairs we asked guests upstairs for dinner. The silver and green combination on the table is so fresh and simple! The bride provided the mercury candle holders. After dinner guests were asked back downstairs to enjoy the rest of the evening. We reset the front lawn with large community tables to utilize the space. We tented the smaller grass area and had a lounge area under the tent.

April 19th quick link

Here is the link from Tracy Turpen Photography from our April 19th wedding at the William Aiken House. Elizabeth and Sanjo click here!