Secret Tree House Wedding Inspiration by Sea Star Arts Photography + Carly is Inspired

Jeni, of Sea Star Arts Photography, recently sent over this adorable Spring Soiree created by a handful of Charleston wedding vendors who really know how to deliver that modern vintage charm we all go crazy for.   Carly is Inspired, Curiosity Vintage Rentals, & 428 Main handled the decor, while Dodeline Design designed the invitation suite and Twenty Six Divine created  the elegant cake.  Thanks to Carly is Inspired for sharing their inspiration...

From Carly is Isnpired: "The setting for our photo shoot in the quaint I’On neighborhood in Mount Pleasant, SC was a tree house tucked away amongst a path of lush green ferns overlooking a gorgeous lagoon. Childhood friends tying the knot in a place where they spent long summer days dreaming about their futures inspired us to create an intimate wedding filled with a combination of feminine and masculine details and modern vintage décor captured by Sea Star Arts Photography. An lace-inspired stationery suite from Dodeline Design kicked off our celebration, which had our couple spending the afternoon celebrating their nuptials by enjoying cake garnished with fresh blackberries and sipping on champagne. We imaged shared conversation at their table complete with vintage family silver pieces serving as centerpieces filled with gorgeous handmade DIY arrangements of flowers, and an antique mirror reflecting a ribbon ceiling installation for a touch of whimsy. Heirloom English china (Grandmother’s of course!) and linens completed our softer feminine look, while a vignette of rustic antlers, cigars, and a gramophone elicited a more masculine feel. We wanted to carry a classic, heirloom theme throughout the tree house to not only give additional nods to years gone by, but to inspire tradition, family, and the future, too."

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Charleston Wedding Vendors

Photography: Sea Star Arts Photography  //  Décor: Carly is Inspired, Curiosity Vintage Rentals, & 428 Main  //  Pastries: Twenty Six Divine  //  Stationery & Paper Goods: Dodeline Design  //  Flowers: Pat Rone Styling: Sarah Murdock, 428 Main

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Dying for more Lowcountry Wedding Inspiration!?  Check out these beauties…

• Coastal Rice Mill Wedding from Shannon Noel Photography in shades of cranberry and peach
• Laid back, DIY Lowcountry Wedding from Jeanne Mitchum Photography with burlap and anemones
• Sequins and Peony Wedding Inspiration from the ladies at Ivory + Beau and Rach Lea Photography
• A Lowcountry Wedding Magazine filled with 13 real weddings from Charleston, Hilton Head and Myrtle Beach

Marion's in the French Quarter {Mingle} Paige Winn Photo

Last, but certainly not least, I'm excited to share the beautiful styled shoot Megan of Mingle created this past summer at Marion's in the French Quarter which was included in our premier issue of A Lowcountry Wedding Mag!  Megan was kind enough to invite us a long to enjoy the styling of the great Mingle minds, photography from Paige Winn Photo and dreamy gowns from Maddison Row!   Thanks to Paperdolls Hair & Makeup transforming model Katie into the picture-perfect Charleston Bride.  First Bloom of Charleston whipped vibrant bouquets and centerpieces while Limos for Less let us ride in style!   Even though we wanted to (and we sure did try!), we couldn’t include everything in the magazine, so to see all the details you can head on over and check out the complete Mag here!

Charleston Wedding Vendors

Vendors: Event Designer:  Mingle /  Floral Designer:  First Bloom of Charleston  /  Venue: Marion's in the French Quarter  /  Photography: Paige Winn Photo  /  Flowers: Charleston WholeSale Flowers  /  Dresses: Maddison Row  /  Stationery: Dodeline Design  /  Rentals: Snyder Event Rentals  / Linens: Nuage Designs  /  Model: Katie Cockman  /  Transportation: Limos For Less Charleston  / Hair & Makeup: Paperdolls Hair and Makeup  /  Headpieces: Julia Pagan Designs  / Catering: The Swing by Chef  /  Cake: Michaelangelo's Kitchen

A Stationer's Guide to a Seated Dinner {Dodeline Design}

The Lowcountry is swarming with uber-talented wedding vendors, so it's no wondering that I LOVE when I get to share their expertise with you!  Well, today you’re getting a healthy dose of educational tips from two of our favorite Charleston wedding vendors.  We’ve asked Dodeline Design and Duvall Events to give us some pointers to keep in mind when planning your Seated Dinner reception.  First up, we’ve got the lovely Mrs. Sarah Reed of Dodeline Design to provide us with some insight on why it is imperative to include your stationer in your seated dinner wedding plans.  Trust me, bookmark it, pin it, facebook it...do what you gotta do, but keeping these tips with you throughout your wedding planning process is a must!  Make sure to check back this afternoon to hear the caterers perspective from Duvall Events.  

The Seated Dinner: Stationery

I often find that it surprises couples when I ask questions in our initial meetings such as, “What type of meal service are you providing?”  They sweetly and blankly stare back, and I know they’re thinking, “What on earth does that have to do with paper?”

Actually, it has quite a lot to do with stationery.  If you are planning on having a seated dinner, here are a few things to consider when ordering your paper…

The RSVP Card

More than likely, you have several entrée possibilities, so your caterer will need to know ahead of time how many of each selection to prepare.  So, on the RSVP card, it’s very important to include an entrée selection area, such as we’ve done here…

Having guests initial instead of check a box is a good way to know who wants what, which you’ll want to know for the next step.

Secondly, confirm with your caterer the deadline for informing them of these meal selections.  It can vary greatly depending on the company you’re using, so to avoid any unnecessary expense, make sure you check with them before setting your reply by date.

Seating Charts + Escort Cards

Because you have a seated dinner, you will pretty much have to have a seating system of some kind to enable your caterer to serve the right meals to the right people.  The first step in getting guests to the correct seat is to go the traditional route – escort cards – or alternatively, to do a fun seating chart poster of some kind.  The possibilities for these pieces are endless.  Don’t forget that an important piece of the seating system is having table numbers / labels too, for which there are also a lot of great ideas out there.

Placecards

Once you’ve gotten your guests safely to their table, you’ll need to direct them to their seat at that table.  We do this with placecards, which are often tented similarly to the escort cards above.  However, we can get creative with them too, such as the example below.

Your caterer may also request that the meal selection is printed on the place card.  Write that down as another question to ask the caterer and tell your stationer!

Get Organized

So with all these little details, make sure you stay organized with your guest’s responses and selections.  The best way to do this both organizationally and for ease of printing is with an Excel spreadsheet.  Add a column on the end for Table Number + Meal Selection and it will greatly help your stationer print everything for you.

In need of a stationer?

 Contact Sarahto set up your appointment:

 Dodeline Design

10 Resolute Lane Suite 204

Mount Pleasant, SC 29464

843.606.0890

 sarah@dodelinedesign.com

Twitter: @dodelinedesign

Facebook: www.facebook.com/dodelinedesign

Charleston Bride {Brittani}

One thing we love to share with our Lowcountry Brides (well, besides stunning, jaw-dropping wedding inspiration, of course!), is tried and true tips straight from our horses, I mean, brides' mouths.  Our gal, Brittani, is back today to give us a few pointers about what she's learned thus far as she navigates her way to her big, Charleston wedding day!

Yay it’s time for another ALW update! Last time I dropped by, I updated the fantastic ALW readers on my DRESS! That was such an unexpectedly exciting part of the process and I actually go for my first fitting in just a few weeks! I cannot WAIT to get back into my beautiful wedding dress, cowboy boots and all!  The last few months since making that big decision have been CRAZY! I have been blown away by how quickly the time has gone, and I’ve learned a lot about wedding planning. Phew! I’d love to share some of the things I’ve learned you probably want to do, and some of the things you probably don’t want to do…

DO:

• Do hire a wedding planner! Ugh, what a mistake it was thinking wedding planners aren’t always necessary. As a wedding photographer, I of all people should know how important it is to have someone running the show. Oops! If I could do-over, that definitely would have been the FIRST vendor I would have hired!

• Do be realistic about what weddings cost. I LOVE weddings, trust me…there’s nothing more exciting and special and exhilarating than a wedding day. BUT, having said that, there is SO much that goes into a wedding. I was the bride that wanted to be able to spend big on the things that were most important to Dustin and I (photography, the venue, and food), and DIY and save as much as possible elsewhere. I’ve learned that’s not really realistic, at least for me and my lifestyle. When you have a full-time job, wedding planning is a whole other full-time job. That’s why planners are so important! There were so many “great big ideas” we had to save money but there’s just no TIME to make these things a reality. Life happens, and you have to be realistic about how much time you can really put aside to manage, create, and plan all of these things that seem so easy to do yourself.

• Do start whatever DIY projects you are doing early. In my mind, August was going to be wide open (the hot summers are usually my slower time work-wise), so I could do sooooo much DIYing then. Wrong. August is already halfway crazy for me. I’ve started tackling some projects now but honestly at the end of the workday, I just want to relax! I know some brides are so into crafting for their weddings and it is their way to relax at the end of the day, but between taking care of my dogs and horses, trying to work out (gotta look good for the big day!), cooking dinner, cleaning, regular household and farm chores…there never seems to be enough time at the end of the day.

DON'T:

• Don’t get too caught up in Pinterest. Used the right way, Pinterest can be such a great tool for planning your wedding and coming up with fun projects. BUT, the trick with Pinterest is to not feel like your wedding has to look like someone elses’s. The whole point of getting really creative with your wedding is to make it a true representation of you and your fiancé and the things that are most special in your relationship. It’s so easy to look at pin after pin and think “that’s perfect!” but you should really start with a list of unique traits or themes you want to include in your wedding and search out inspiration from there. For us, since we were long distance for so long and spent a LOT of time flying and driving, travel is going to be a big theme. We’re also super dedicated to our farm and both grew up with horses, so that’s a big shared passion. We love our dogs like kids, so of course the dogs and being a blended family (Dustin has a 5-year-old son) are also very “us.”

• Maybe this is just me, but if I had to do it again, I would not try DIYing invitations. I work with a really good print lab because of my business, so I totally thought I could handle this on my own. Invitations are important, but to me they weren’t one of the biggest priorities. In reality, invitations are basically the first impression you are giving your guests. It’s worth it to invest in a talented designer (I love Sarah at Dodeline Design) who gets what you’re going for and can handle this for you. Invitations have Stressed. Me. Out. You can even find TONS of great invitation suites on Etsy, if going through a designer isn't for you. At the end of the day, by weighing the pros and cons, spending another $200 or so on invitations would have been totally worth it, rather than dealing with the headache I’ve caused myself.

• Don’t lose sight of what your wedding is really about. There are going to be things you want to do but won’t get done. There are things that aren’t going to go as planned. Don’t forget what the day is really about…you and your new husband, your new life together, and the opportunity to have all of the people you love the most in one place at the same time, celebrating together. What will be, will be.

Hopefully those little tips are helpful in some way or another. There are definitely some things I wish I could re-do but we’re this far in and we’ve just got to roll with the punches! I know the next three months are going to FLY, and although I can’t wait for the day to be here, I don’t want the days to fly by too fast because I don’t want our actual wedding day to fly by too fast! I know that no matter what happens, the day will be wonderful and I really look forward to the celebration!

What’s going on next? I’ll be back pretty soon with some insight into the vendors we chose and some other fun details like bridal portraits and what we’re doing for bachelor/bachelorette parties! See ya soon ALW!

Britt Croft Wedding Photography Giveaway!

Our friend Brittani, of Britt Croft Photography, is in the midst of a huge wedding photography giveaway, and boy do I mean huge! (First place wins 8 hours of wedding day coverage, DVD, an online gallery AND an engagement session...yes,please!)  Entering is simple, just send Brittani an email telling her a little bit about yourself (see complete details here) and a sweet story about why you two deserve to win.  Myself and Sarah of Dodeline Design have been dealt the challenging task of helping Brittani determine the winner (and we couldn't be more excited)...so show us what you've got!

So here’s the nitty gritty:

To enter: Between December 19th and January 5th, send an email to britt@brittcroft.com with the subject: 2012 Wedding Giveaway and include the following information…

- You and your fiance’s name (or a friend and his/her fiance’s name! You can absolutely enter on a friend’s behalf so long as they are getting married in 2012! - A short but sweet story about you two as a couple, something that makes you unique, something funny or special, or just flat out why you deserve to win - Up to 3 photos of the two of you together - Wedding date & venue/location(s) - Just for fun: Your favorite way to spend your time together on the weekends? - Contact information (email and phone)

How it works: Up to five finalists may be chosen by Brittani, Erin from A Lowcountry Wedding, and Sarah from Dodeline Design based off of their story submitted. A blurb from each story accompanied by an image will be put into The 2012 Wedding Giveaway album on the Britt Croft Photography Facebook page, and you send your friends to “like” your image between January 10th and January 24th. Remember they must first “like” the Britt Croft Photography page! The picture with the most likes by 6 p.m. on January 24th wins, the picture with the second-most likes wins 25% savings, and the following morning, one finalist couple will be chosen for a free engagement session!

What you could win:

1. First Place: 8 hours of wedding day coverage with Brittani, an online gallery for sharing with friends and family, a DVD of all final high-res images (500-800) with a personal print release, a complimentary engagement session

2. Second Place: 25% savings on wedding day coverage and add on’s if booked within 3 months

3. All finalists: 10% savings on wedding day coverage if booked within 3 months and one free engagement session given away to a randomly chosen (using random.org) finalist couple