5 Ways to Elevate Your Wedding Design | Wedding Planning Tips

August 15, 2018 in Greg Boulus Events | Tips

We are based in Augusta, Georgia, a city where there are only so many wedding venues to go around and only so many that can fit the large guest counts that our clients typically have. Spaces get booked up fast and clients are always looking for ways to reinvent the look of the space to be reflective of them and their wedding day. It's not an easy task when you have multiple events at the same venues year after year, but we try and keep things fresh and different for each of our clients while also keeping with their needs.

After being in the wedding business for over 15 years, Greg has learned what elements of the design you should elevate to create the most impact. These can differ in importance depending on the kind of event you are producing, but generally they are the key components that take a standard wedding and make it extraordinary.

Here are our top 5 ways to elevate your wedding design:

1. Chairs

We find that swapping out the banquet chairs that come with the venue for a decorative rental chair is one of the biggest impacts you can make in changing the look of your wedding or event. Banquet chairs are clunky visually, usually don't come in a great color, and are heavy to move around. Depending on your personal style and what direction you wanted to take the style of your event, chiavari chairs, crossback chairs, infinti chairs, or even ghost chairs are a huge way to change the overall look.

2. Linens

Your standard catering linens come in white, black, and maybe if you're lucky, ivory. They're a stiff material, with not much flow or softness to them. They may not even reach the floor if they're not sized appropriately. Linens are our next big impact item that we use to change the look of an event. This particularly comes in handy in country clubs and other venues that have a pretty set floorplan that you have to stick to. Linens are a great way to inject color, texture, and pattern. We also love using linen napkins when possible over paper. When your guests sit down to eat at your reception, they will notice the quality of both instantly.

3. Glassware

We always recommend our clients bring in a beautiful charger for their seated dinners, but where you can really elevate the look of the table is in the glassware. Most catering china is white with a fairly inoffensive pattern and if you need to save, the china is where we would do so. However renting nicer crystal glassware makes a huge impact not only visually (really de-clutters the look of the table with the thinner lines), but also in your guests' experiences. A nicer wine glass is so much more enjoyable to drink out of and to hold.

4. Lighting

Another huge impact element to bring into your event design is lighting. Whether that be mood lighting, spotlighting, or decorative lighting. Up-lighting not only inside your venue, but also outside is a huge game changer. It defines the boundaries of your space. Decorative lighting allows you to dim the overhead lighting in your venue, which changes the mood instantly (and who likes fluorescent lighting!?). We also love utilizing pin-spots to highlight important elements such as your cake, votive candles to add ambiance, and market lights to make any space feel more festive.

5. Lounge furniture

We've said it once, we'll say it again, soft seating is such a fun way to bring a different look into a space. Not only does it add additional seating for your guests to enjoy, but it also can add texture, dimension, and even color to your wedding or event. We love using lounge furniture around the dance floor to give guests a soft place to land and watch everyone enjoying themselves.

Sarah + James, Reserve Club at Woodside | Aiken, SC

August 01, 2018

Today we get to share some of our all-time favorite wedding images. That dress! That bouquet! That floral arbor! That bride & groom! It was such a stunning day, we really can't pick a favorite!

Sarah and James got married May 12, 2018 at the Reserve Club at Woodside located in beautiful Aiken, South Carolina. Originally from the Northeast, Sarah's family has spent a lot of their time in Woodside. Her mother and father are both incredibly involved in the community there, making it a no-brainer to invite all their friends and family from around the world to come experience our little pocket of the South!

Interior designers themselves, Sarah and Carol were such fun clients to work with! They had an eye for detail like no other, every piece of this wedding was touched by their thoughtful choices. We worked with them on developing the feel for the evening, how the day would flow from one part of the celebrations to the next. Creating a seating plan for dinner included mixing rounds and estate seating to encourage conversation and mingling among the intimate guest list. We loved the touch of blue in the linen napkins, the comfortable and stylish seating outside for guests to sit at while taking a dance break, and the ambiance from all the candlelight in the ballroom glowed beautifully in the late afternoon light.

Highlights from the day's festivities included Sarah's incredibly gorgeous Monique L'huillier gown, her all-white peony bridal bouquet, the incredible co-best man speech by James' two childhood friends (they dressed up in Revolutionary War costumes in honor of James' British heritage!), the delicious food provided by The Reserve Club, and last but certainly not least, the nonstop (literally did not take a single break) party provided by the legendary Party on the Moon.

The day came together so beautifully, we could not have asked for a dreamier setting, better clients or vendor team! Thank you to Sarah, James, and their families for including us on such a spectacular day! It will forever be one of our favorites!

Lynnette + Dylan, West Lake Country Club Wedding | Augusta, GA

July 18, 2018 in Greg Boulus Weddings

There are many things that we claim are our "favorite part about our job", this wedding contained most, if not all, of them. A bride with a unique design eye, an epic dance party, a sweet, supportive mother of the bride, clients who include cultural heritage moments throughout the day, a father of the bride who could not stop the waterworks, dramatic florals, perfect weather, and all of the love.

Lynnette and her mom came to us last year with some unique ideas. Think black wedding cake. No color except for the green of tropical palms. A dance band AND a Latin DJ. As soon as they laid their vision out on the table, we were all in! It sounded like too much fun!

Both the ceremony and seated dinner & dancing reception took place at West Lake Country Club, the perfect setting for this all-white and black affair. The cake was a traditional Puerto Rican brandy soaked-cake made by a family friend. Lynnette was envisioning a black wedding cake with some kind of white floral, and the pop of white anenomes were the perfect touch.

Keeping with a black and white palate, we did long estate tables covered in white linen with striking black chiavari chairs. The round tables were topped with a black linen and alternatively set with crystal chiavaris. We kept the florals fairly simple in terms of design, though quite dramatic in their effect. Single-element arrangements of hydrangea, tulips, and orchids were clustered with low votives on each of the rounds, however on the long estate tables we wanted to bring some drama and height to the room. The large palm fronds, phalaenopsis orchids, and tall taper candles added texture, pops of color, and ambiance to the ballroom.

The day was a team of all-star vendors. Ashley Seawell captured the beautiful images you will see below. The dance band, Shimmer, and Latin DJ, Juan Rodriguez, did a fantastic job keeping that dance party going until the wee hours of the morning. Thank you to the Bauzas and newly-married Caldwells for letting us be a part of your day. Your family was such a joy to be around and we had so much fun celebrating with you!