How To Elevate Your Tablescape | Wedding Planning Tips

When you begin the design process for your wedding reception, your guest tables may be one of the first places you start to create the look of your event.  While florals and votives are a great way to add a special and beautiful decorative aspect of your tables, there are additional décor items that can be used to enhance your guest tables.  These items add a personal touch and elevate your tablescape.  Check out some of our tips below to elevate the look of your guest tables! 

Floral Arrangements

We may be a bit obvious with this one (since our beginnings are in flowers), but one of our favorite ways to elevate guest tables are gorgeous floral arrangements. However to keep it from getting to monotonous we like to alternate and strategically place arrangements of various heights and compositions. Tall arrangements bring drama and fill out spaces like grand ballrooms or towering tents. While low arrangements add texture and guests can enjoy them at eye level. We also like to change up the style of arrangement from table to table. This especially is the case when it comes to seated dinners. We may do a trio of arrangements on one table, but then one larger, simple mixed arrangement for another to keep it interesting.

Decorative Linens

Decorative linens are another great way to boost the look of your table.  Although a simple colored linen is timeless, using a linen that has a bit more texture, color, or pattern is a nice way to make your guest tables a bit more special and unique.  The decorative linen you select is also a nice opportunity for you to show off your personal style! Sometimes we find mixing decorative linens with more simple linens is an option for those brides who may want to keep things a bit more tailored. Maybe utilizing the more decorative linens on your cake table, or other focal tables, is a nice way to add a pop of color or texture that ties the whole event together. We strongly feel that decorative linens are an invaluable investment in your decor budget as they set your wedding a part from others!

Candles

Votive candles are a simple, traditional way to add a bit of light to your table, and while incredibly effective, sometimes we find it can be nice to stray from the norm! Taper candles in candlesticks, pillar candles in glass hurricanes, brass candelabras, etc. make for a distinct look for the décor of the table.  By displaying a more unique form of light, your guest tables have a more ambient setting as they sit and enjoy their food!

Chargers

While not a must have, chargers add a beautiful touch to a guest table décor, and make for quite the lovely photograph as well!  Most commonly displayed at a seated dinner reception, we find chargers to be that ultimate finishing touch to the look of our tablescapes. Additionally, the color, shape, or texture of the charger can be tied in with the other décor of your reception space.  Whether that be through paper goods, linen choices, florals, or even the chair!

Menus

Menu cards are yet another finishing touch that really elevate the look of your tablescape. And when hosting a seated dinner it is a considerate way to provide guests with their dinner selections. When designing menu cards we try to keep them cohesive with the other wedding paper goods (ie invitations, programs, etc.), whether that be through fonts, motifs, or colors utilized.  Whether they are presented at each individual seat or displayed on the table, they add an extra element of specialty as your guests take their seat!

When designing your tablescape, it is important to keep in mind that your guest tables should be a representation of yours and your partner’s individual style!  As guests enter the space and make their way towards their tables, our goal is the tables reflect the time and effort you have put into planning your wedding and make guests feel as special as they are to you.  Including these extra touches is just another way we love to make each bride and grooms wedding day as wonderful as we can!

Event Design and Coordination by Greg Boulus Events | Florals by Charleston Street | Photography by Ashley Seawell Photography, Mark Williams Studio, Lauren Carnes Photography

How Lighting Can Enhance Your Event | Wedding Planning Tips

When designing an event, we find lighting to be a highly underrated tool and element of your decor budget we would definitely recommend investing in. The atmosphere of your event can be completely transformed by the utilization of dramatic, or in some cases subtle, lighting. It helps define a space, highlight architectural features, bring attention to beautiful focal elements, detract from not-so-great elements, add to the mood and set a tone. Below we have discussed the different kinds of lighting we utilize and how we use lighting to bring our weddings and events to life!

Candles

Candles are a great way to add a more romantic and intimate feel. They are an especially nice element to use when wanting to add just a touch of light to a space. One of our favorite looks is a long dining table, lined with tall taper candles in candlesticks. It brings drama and is incredibly effective! We also love using lanterns, they are a beautiful way to light up long tables or create a pathway from one space to another. Most commonly however, we use votive candles to create ambiance and elevate the mood of a space. We probably use over 200+ votives per wedding, placing them on window ledges, coffee tables in guest lounges, guest tables, bars, you name it! They are one of the most effective tools, especially for those clients looking for a really romantic wedding reception.

Market Lights

Market lights are a creative use of lighting to add a cheery, inviting feeling to your event. They add personality to any space and can be strung in many unique ways. We often use them to make a space feel larger, the illusion can lengthen the perception of the room or garden depending on the pattern you hang them. As the sun sets and the stars come out, the bulbs radiate a beautiful glow that create an almost blanket effect over our receptions. We wouldn’t necessarily use these in every scenario however, as market lights can make an event feel a bit more casual. But if that is the look you are going for, then they truly are a wonderful touch!

Up-Lighting

Up-lighting is the most commonly used way to strategically and effectively light a venue. Specifically what we find most beneficial about up lights is that they help to define your space. Whether that be by adding warmth to the walls of a cavernous ballroom, or defining the landscaping of an outdoor wedding, up lights give a visual representation of the borders of your event. We also love utilizing up-lighting when needing to add color to an event space. This is especially fun to incorporate into an after party or corporate scenario where we want to represent a company or brand’s colors.

Pin Spotting

Pin spot lighting can be used to highlight certain aspects of your event, whether it be your cake, floral arrangements, or anything you specifically want to bring attention to! As the party picks up and the lights go down, taller decorative items can become lost in the space. Pin spotting is great way to make things "pop” and stand out.

We hope this brings a little bit of insight on the several different forms of lighting we personally use in each and every wedding we produce. Whether it is through fun color or effects that bring personality to your event, or a simple and understated touch, it truly is an invaluable tool that can completely transform your wedding or event.

Images by: Lauren Fulmer Photography, Mark Williams Studio, Brent Cline Photography, Robin Gerrard Photography, Lauren Carnes Photography, Ashley Seawell Photography,

What it Means to Hire an Event Designer | Wedding Planning Tips

Have you ever wondered what the term “event designer” means? A role that typically used to be delegated to the florist or the caterer, event design is a “relatively” new term within the wedding industry. So much more than picking out flowers or table linens, event design encompasses the entirety of the wedding experience. From the moment your guests receive their save the date until the bride and groom’s exit, there are endless opportunities for an event designer to bring the essence of the wedding to life. And today we are going to break down what it means when you hire an event designer to be a part of your wedding vendor team.

Floor plan Design

One important element of our event design services is floor plan creation and management. More than just sticking some tables into a room and calling it a day, floor plan design is a critical aspect to the flow and feeling of your event. Over our many years, we have found what does and does not work, and what can majorly alter your guest experience. We work with the entire vendor team on the floor plan, everyone from the caterer, to the bar service, to the rental company reviews the floor plan to ensure that all aspects of the event are considered.

When creating our floor plans we try to think of creative ways to utilize the space we’re in. We especially try to come up with unique ideas that have not been thought of before when working at the popular venues in Augusta.  This may mean having the event flow opposite of how it has in the past, using spaces for ceremony that may normally be used for reception or vice versa! It may mean putting the band in a completely different location, or adding a cool feature bar in an unexpected location.

The floor plan is our jumping off point for the rest of the event design, it shows our client their limitations and possibilities. And it can take many iterations to get the floor plan to its final state.

Cohesiveness

When a guest attends a truly exceptional wedding there is something almost inexplicable about the feeling one has when you leave. It may be that the wedding felt so completely reflective of the couple. Or maybe it’s that every need of the guest was anticipated and considered. However we strongly feel that the weddings that truly shine are the ones that have a cohesive thread running through it from beginning to end that ties it all together.

This starts from the very beginning of the event design process. A motif, a monogram, or other element used in the save the date or invitation design, in turn can then be used on the cake, or embroidered onto a dinner napkin, or printed onto coozies! We love when we can carry a color, a pattern, or texture throughout the design. Subconsciously your guests pick up on these details as they become so interwoven into the overall wedding day. That is why we prefer to be a part of our client’s wedding planning journey from the very beginning, to ensure that everything is designed in a thoughtful way.

Something that is important to keep in mind is that this may mean pulling back as well, not incorporating certain ideas, or trends, because at the end of the day it may not be truly reflective of our couple. Our end goal is a wedding that feels intentional. That every aspect has a reason or meaning behind it that contributes to the overall feeling we are trying to encapsulate for our clients and their guests.

A Beautiful Wedding

It would be remiss not to mention that one of the biggest reasons our clients hire us is because they want a beautiful wedding. They want a wedding filled with special details, gorgeous flowers, beautiful linens, and that “wow” factor that your guests get walking into a tent. Our favorite part of the process is that moment our clients get to see their vision come to life. That is what makes our job rewarding!

A classic Greg Boulus Events wedding is one that has first and foremost, beautiful flowers. That’s a given as that is where our beginning is rooted. However we realize that this is not the only element that is important when creating a beautiful atmosphere. A beautiful textured linen, up-lighting on surrounding landscaping, votive candles, decorative pillows, are all elements that add that extra layer of design that makes a wedding feel even more special then it already is!

So yes, while an event planner/designer is hired to not only make your wedding feel and run seamlessly, it is also to make your wedding beautiful. Over the years we have cultivated our little black book of vendors that we entrust to bring our visions to life. Depending on the client, we will recommend the use of different rentals, lighting, venues, linens, draping, etc. We have curated a list of the best of the best in the region to ensure our weddings come together exactly how we, and our clients, have imagined. Access to our preferred vendor list is one of the biggest benefits to utilizing our planning and design services.

At the end of the day, our goal as your wedding designers to create an event that is so completely reflective of you, that is beautifully understated, that your guests leave thinking “wow, wasn’t that something.” It is important to keep in mind though that the most important element of a beautiful wedding day is the unseen element. It is the feeling one has when all your loved ones are in one place, at one time, celebrating with you. That is something we try to remind all of our clients at one point or another during the planning process, and is something to keep at the forefront of your mind when planning your big day!

We hope that this post has helped anyone wondering exactly what an event designer does and how it differs from an event planner. If you have any more questions about our services, please feel free to reach out to us! We would love to be a part of your special day.

Photography by Ashley Seawell Photography, Robin Gerrard Photography, Lauren Carnes Photography, Laura Fulmer Photography.