Mary Hull + Patrick, Augusta Country Club Spring Wedding | Augusta, GA

In the early spring of 2017 we sat down for our first meeting with Mary Hull & her mother, Carol, to start planning for Mary Hull & Patrick's February 2018 wedding day. Over the next year, we worked with them on crafting a one-of-a-kind seated dinner reception held at the Augusta Country Club for their closest friends and family. 

Carol (with past experience as a planner herself!) & Mary Hull (an art dealer!) both have an eye for design, which makes our jobs as event designers so much more fun! We knew that this wedding would be filled with thoughtful details starting from the ceremony held at Church of the Good Shepherd followed by cocktails, seated dinner, and dancing reception at the Club.

When it came time to create a floorplan for the seated dinner, we quickly decided that mixing round and estate tables was the surest way to create a different feeling in a venue that most of the guests in attendance had been to before. The vision included long tables covered in beautiful linens, topped with florals indicating the first signs of springs. Blooming branches, lush arrangements of various heights, heirloom silver accents, and custom monogrammed menus wrapped around linen hemstitch napkins would set the mood as soon as guests sat down to their seats.

Once dinner concluded, guests were escorted by the horns of the Sol Fusion band outside to the entertainment tent for the first dance between the newly-married Mr. and Mrs. Crawford. When guests were ready to take a reprieve from dancing they could mingle in the art lounge we created inside the Club, with art on loan from some of Mary Hull's very talented friends. Late night snacks of South Carolina BBQ sliders & chips as well as the Club's signature night cap, the velvet hammer, were quickly enjoyed by guests both on and off the dance floor!

We had some of our favorite vendors on our team for this one, including our favorite Ashley Seawell Photography, the delicious 5-tiered wedding cake was by our friend Lila Greene, hair and make-up by our Surrey Center neighbors Cucumber & Mint, and Sol Fusion band kept guests out on the dance floor all night long.

Scroll down to see the full list of vendors, and the beautiful images Ashley captured of this special day. We still feel so lucky to have been included in such a meaningful day for these two sweet families. Thank you to them for letting us be a part of it!

Event Design & Coordination: Greg Boulus Events | Floral Design & Paper Goods: Charleston Street | Photography: Ashley Seawell Photography | Ceremony Venue: Church of the Good Shepherd | Reception Venue & Catering: Augusta Country Club | Hair & Make-up: Cucumber & Mint | Bridal Gown: Oscar de la Renta via Joan Pillow Bridal | Bridesmaids Dresses: The Dessy Group |  Band: Sol Fusion | Trolley: Southstar Trolley | Cake Designer: Lila Greene | 

Tips from a Wedding Coordinator | Wedding Planning Tips

Many of you are designing and planning your weddings on your own (or with the help of mom!). So today we thought it would be fun to give you a peek inside our wedding planner brains and share some of our top tips as both wedding coordinators and designers! These are the tips that we turn to again and again when planning our weddings and events. Tips that we find help make our weddings stand out for both our clients and our guests!

1. If you are planning on having food stations or a heavy-appetizer reception, we highly recommend that our couples take the time to eat privately before they go in to greet their guests.

This is one of our favorite things to do for our couples. We find a private corner of the reception space for the two of you to take 15-20 minutes to relax and take it all in. We ask the catering team to prepare a little plate of all the food being served. That way our couples can enjoy the food themselves and have the opportunity to be alone for most likely what will be one of the only times during your wedding reception!

Image by Amy Noon Free

2. If you want that truly "seamless" event feel, purchase all of your decor/design elements from the same sources.

This is in reference to any paper goods, signage, ribbons, linens, etc. Things start to look disconnected when you get invitations from one place, programs from another. Multiple fonts, colors, styles looks messy when you compile it all together for those detail shots on your wedding day. That's why we love when our clients come to us from the very beginning and let us be a part of the creative design process as it allows for us to think big picture with the overall event design. Buy your paper goods from the same paperie, purchase any signage from the same Etsy shops, etc. to ensure a wedding that ties together beautifully. Did you know we have an in-house paperie specialist who can help you with your wedding day paper goods and stationary? 

Image by Lauren Carnes Photography

3. The #1 way to cut your budget is to cut your guest list.

When you feel like your budget is spiraling out of control, consider cutting down your guest list. It is very common that our clients come to their initial consultation with their expected guest count and by the time they return for their next meeting it's gone up by sometimes 25-50%. When this happen you have to take into account the associated costs. More guests means more tables, chairs, linens, floral arrangements, and most importantly, food and alcohol.

Image by Ashley Seawell Photography

4. You do not have to pick one color and stick to it for your entire wedding.

While we love a perfectly matched linen as much as the next wedding planner, we feel like weddings and events feel far more layered and styled when there is an overall color palate rather than one traditional "color." Ribbon, font colors, linens (both tablecloths and napkins), florals, bridesmaids dresses, are all opportunities to create your own unique palate. Just don't get too crazy, try sticking to similar tones, shades of the same color family, etc. so it feels more on purpose and less thrown together.

Image by Mark Williams Studio

5. Ask your caterer to prepare a to-go box of all the food served to take with you in your getaway car at the end of the evening. 

Even if you set aside time to eat, a lot of our couples are too excited to eat much. Therefore we always try to make sure we pack up a plate of food for our couples at the end of the evening. Especially if there is some tasty late night snack. Who doesn't want a burger and fries after a long evening of drinking and dancing!

Image by Ashley Seawell Photography

Andrea + Patrick's Rehearsal Dinner at Augusta Country Club | Augusta, GA

April brings lots of good things to Augusta, Georgia. The Masters, beautiful weather, blooming foliage, it truly is one of the best months of the year! Therefore when a couple wants to get married in Augusta during the month of April, we completely understand! It is just too good of an opportunity to pass up! 

Andrea & Patrick held their wedding at the beautiful Augusta Country Club, a special place to both families. When Patrick's mother, Michele, approached us about helping with the rehearsal dinner we jumped at the chance to be involved! After Michele decided to showcase a different part of the Club that isn't frequently used for events, we got to work imagining ways to bring a fresh look to the Summer House. 

With the last name Bird, we all got a little creative with how we could tastefully incorporate some feathered friends into the event design. For that we enlisted the help of our talented friend, Kat McCall, to create some custom watercolors for the paper goods, including invitations, menu cards, table numbers, and escort cards. 

To tie it all together, we pulled the blues, greens, and hints of orange of the watercolor design's color palate into the floral & event design. The arrangements were a colorful composition of blue & green hydrangea, garden roses, orchids, tulips, hellebores, and veronica. We carried these same tones into the event design and loved the way the rattan chargers popped off the blue of the table linens. Adding some palms into the room brightened everything up and the market lights outside made the whole evening feel so much more festive!

See the images below our friend Lauren Carnes took of the gorgeous night. Thanks to the Bird family for letting us be a part of it!

Event Design & Coordination, Linens & Rentals: Greg Boulus Events | Floral Design & Paper Goods: Charleston Street | Watercolor Illustration & Design: Kat McCall Papers | Venue & Catering: Augusta Country Club, Summer House | Photography: Lauren Carnes