Sweet Shades!

Spring 2017

WRITER CREDIT:

PHOTOGRAPHER CREDIT:

Sweet Shades! | Locally crafted garden umbrellas offer your guests respite from the spring sun (and bespoke style)

wedding Big Day weddings Garden garden umbrellas umbrellas inspiration Martha Stewart

Edisto Island’s Anne Girault—the powerhouse behind local company Boutique Tents—has long been a secret weapon of posh wedding planners locally and beyond. And it’s no wonder: her über-stylish custom cabanas and hand-painted aisle runners add pattern, color, and pizzazz to every fête they touch and have been featured in the pages of Inside Weddings, Martha Stewart Weddings, and House Beautiful. For warm-weather affairs, we’re especially smitten with her canvas garden umbrellas that are as stunning as they are sensible for shading an alfresco cocktail area, guest sign-in station, or outdoor ceremony seating (the latter is a smart trend we’ve spied of late).

“I’m a maximalist in every sense of the word,” says Anne, who draws inspiration from interior design, art, and architecture, as well as, in the case of Big Day commissions, colors and patterns found throughout an event’s design. “That may be a graphic motif from the invitation suite or a wallpaper pattern from the venue,” says Anne, who collaborates closely with couples (or planners) from sketch to finish to ensure the umbrella fits perfectly within the wedding’s aesthetic. The best part? When made with all-weather canvas fabric, the sturdy wooden umbrellas can bring style and sentimentality to your newlywed nest’s garden, patio, or deck for years to come.

Get Yours Going

Prices vary based on fabrics used and the intricacy of the valances. Expect orders (all are custom-made) to take roughly two weeks to produce. For more information, contact info@BoutiqueTents.net.

Images by (toile umbrella) Adrienne Page Photography & (white umbrella) Liz Banfield

The Wedding Row

July 1 2019

Laura & Anthony | Magnolia Plantation & Gardens

Globe-trotters in every sense of the word, Laura and Anthony traveled all over the world visiting each other during their nearly ten years of long-distance dating. Jetting to hot spots like Chicago,...

June 28 2019

Caytie Marie & Nick | Styled Elopement

As we all know, the Holy City plays hostess to a large number of weddings every year (you just need to scroll back through all of our pages of posts to see that). And while some lovebirds choose to...

June 26 2019

Megan & Brendan | Legare Waring House

It’s time for some girl talk. We all know how nerve-wracking first dates can be, whether going in blind or not, and we’re here to impart a piece of solid advice from bride Megan. When agreeing to...

June 25 2019

Caroline & Zach | Boone Hall Plantation

The Wedding Row: Tell us about how you two lovelies met. Caroline: Zach and I met briefly in college. I traveled to Clemson from University of Alabama to attend a date party with a friend from high...

June 24 2019

Wingate Plantation | Vendor Spotlight

Morning, dears. With all the beyond beautiful sites our Holy City has to offer on the wedding venue front, finding the winner for your Big Day can feel impossible or perhaps endless. But no worries,...

June 21 2019

Mandy & Daniel | Historic Rice Mill

No tricks, only treats for Mandy and Dan. The duo met on Halloween, of all holidays, in Greenville, South Carolina, back in 2013. They hit it off, became an “item,” and enjoyed each other’s company...

June 20 2019

Styled Shoot | 159 Rutledge

Eloping has come to mean something different these days than in years past. It can be the traditional version with a couple heading out for a getaway and a simple ceremony a deux; it can be that plus...

June 18 2019

Alissa & Rick | The William Aiken House

It was nothing but pure sparks (red, white, and blue perhaps?) when Alissa met Rick at a political fundraiser in Chicago. They were both supporting the Governor of Illinois and after hours of talking...

Feature

School Crush

Teenage sweethearts seal the deal with a church wedding in downtown Charleston and a plantation-set reception by the water

Feature

RESPECT

See how this Southern Belle bride shows how to honor—and include—your grandparents (and other elders) at your wedding

Feature

Island Country

Ashley Taylor & Mark Cashell; April 11, 2009, Private Home on Wadmalaw Island

Feature

True Blue

<p>Edit your wedding day inspiration into something that reflects you as a couple, celebrates family, and stays within your budget</p>

Feature

Enchanted Village

Ooh! Events conjures a colorful tented party fit for "Downtown Abbey"

Feature

Marry & Bright

A Mount Pleasant pair trade vows on the banks of Hobcaw Creek amid cheery blooms, homespun touches, and lots of laughs

Feature

Peachy Keen

Score ideas in spades with this hands-on reception that was, indeed, a labor of love

Feature

Landscape Your Way to a Lovely Garden Wedding

When a premiere Charleston landscape architect has a major hand in your wedding reception, the results go next-level lovely

Feature

Love Everlasting

Preserve your bridal bouquet with a portrait by one of Charleston’s rising stars

Feature

Big Day Brunch

An Anglophile bride and her dapper groom entertain guests in a garden wedding with a Southern accent and English style

Feature

Wedding Shower

In October 2015, it was the 1,000-year flood. This year, it was Hurricane Matthew. Bummer for Big Days? We think not. See how this couple—one of many—proves love trumps any storm that rolls into Charleston