Salt Harbor Designs

Our New Blog!

2009-04-28T17:55:00.000-07:00

Springtime

2009-04-10T08:02:00.000-07:00

Lisa from Bella Rose Photography asked us to create a pink bouquet for her recent photoshoot. Thanks for supplying us with the beautiful photos, Lisa!

ART OF THE TABLE

2009-03-11T10:48:00.000-07:00

The Bellamy Mansion hosts a wonderful event every year where designers, florists, and artisans are invited to design a table or mantle. Lots of local artists come out in support of the mansion and put together a design based on their chosen theme or concept. This year I was given one of the mantles in the upstairs room and decided to pay homage to Mary Cassatt. The following was the description that accompanied the mantle:

For women, it seems that the struggle between a domestic life and an artistic one has been ever present—that giving fully to one is to sacrifice, in part, the other. Mary Cassatt chose the artistic, never marrying or having children of her own. But her work focused on the home and family, and she painted them with the gentlest of hands. Mary gave voice to very life from which she refrained, and in doing so transformed the domestic into the artistic.

It seems fitting then that her work be displayed in such a way, over the hearth—the heart of the home. The fireplace, here, has become the intersection of these two spheres; a representation of the domestic and also an exhibition for the artistic. Perhaps in Mary’s work, we can witness not only the artistry of the domestic life, but also begin to view art itself as a medium for domestic expression.

The right side of the mantle was dedicated to the artistic.

And the left side to the domestic.

The centerpiece of the mantle was on old printing press drawer filled with domestic and artistic items.

I borrowed most of my props for the mantle from two wonderful friends who just happen to be highly artistic women and amazing mothers. I did not realize the connection until I had finished and saw that the mantle was as much about them now, living those roles, as it was about Mary Cassatt.

ENGAGEMENT PARTY

2009-03-08T14:53:00.000-07:00

We love weddings at Salt Harbor, but it is great to get to design a party now and then, and Mary and Chris definitely know how to throw a party. They chose Eagle Point as their venue and picked an amazing band, Party on the Moon. Millie photographed the party and will be photographing the wedding this June. We are working hard to design the wedding, which will be a Hampton-style event at Airlie Gardens.

Bald Head Wedding

2009-03-08T14:05:00.000-07:00

Mary Catherine and Phil were married last October on Bald Head Island. They wanted a really organic event that captured the essence of the island, and so we incorporated driftwood, grasses and rocks to create the feel of the natural environment of Bald Head. Lisa from Bella Rose Photography expertly captured all of the details!

BALCONY'S OPEN HOUSE

2009-01-30T07:32:00.000-08:00

Jill, the coordinator at The Balcony on Dock, recently asked me to design the Roudabush Room for their open house. She wanted the space to be set as though it were hosting an actual wedding reception, incorporating a buffet, bar, seated tables, guestbook, favors, escort cards, and wedding cake. We decided on an antique, earthy approach using browns, greens, and purples (a color that seems to be HUGE this season). Millie Holloman not only set up a fun photo booth in the space, but also captured all the details of the day!

We hung custom escort cards from a tree, tied with twine menu cards to the napkins with a sprig of lavender, placed table numbers in old clock cases, and used post cards used as the guest book.

South n' France provided yummy bon bons as favors. We displayed them in apothecary jars to create a twist on the traditional candy bar. We also created little personalized bags in which guests could take them home.

Nicki McRae created this great custom cake, which we placed on a tree stump cake stand. Nicki is wonderful at creating really interesting cakes that capture the feel of an event!

Lighting can do wonders for a space. We created a bar back out of wooden cubes and lit it from behind, which created this neat effect against the brick wall.

Featured in Southern Wedding Magazine

2009-01-27T06:13:00.000-08:00

Southern Weddings Magazine, created by the same folks who established the Southern Weddings Blog, just came out, and it is full of inspiring details from fabulous southern weddings! Two of ours are feature in the publication--Kinsey and Corey's wedding shot by Millie Holloman Photography and Kevin and Abby's wedding taken by Whitebox Weddings.

FEATURED IN THE KNOT

2009-01-01T08:09:00.000-08:00

Emily and Justin's wedding from the fall of 07 is featured in this season's edition of The Knot. It is wonderful when clients see the importance of both great details and florals and a phenomenal photographer, like Millie. The result is a magazine-worthy wedding, like this one! Emily had wonderful style, and we loved being a part of her big day! The images of the magazine were pulled from Millie Holloman's blog.

Wrightsville Beach Magazine

2008-12-04T08:21:00.001-08:00

This spread is featured this month in Wrightsville Beach Magazine for the holiday table scape article. We set up this table on the waterway at Wrightsville Beach. Christmas does not have to be red and white, especially for a beachy Christmas!

A WRITER'S WEDDING

2008-11-14T06:43:00.000-08:00

It has been a long while since this shoot with Millie, but I realized there were a few of the themes that I had not yet blogged. This one, the writer's wedding, I was particularly drawn to. My own background in creative writing makes it especially delightful to work on a wedding for writers or artists or academics. I would love to do a wedding for writers or a literary couple that incorporated fun word-oriented items, like Scrabble, cross-words, a type writer, mini journal favors, and story book programs!

BRIDAL EXPO

2008-11-07T20:23:00.001-08:00

The best thing about this job is that with every client I am forced to think outside of my own box. Of course, I have my favorite colors combinations, flower choices and event concepts, but with every client who hires me, I have to stretch outside of these favorites. And often the result is one that I am surprised by and delighted with. For the Cape Fear Bridal Expo, we based our entire booth around an upcoming event I am working on. The colors-- red, yellow, and pecan-- are not colors I would typically place together, but I ended up loving the results. The event will take place on an old farm, where the bride was raised, and she hoped to incorporate the feel of a rustic farm setting, while still capturing the elegance of a sophisticated wedding. Thanks to Millie Holloman for snapping these shots in the few moments when her own booth was not packed with potential clients.

A YEAR OF GROWTH

2008-11-03T06:06:00.000-08:00

Salt Harbor has grown faster and more than we could have imagined. This fall set new records for the number and intricacy of events, and we have been so excited with the results. The photos from this fall are just starting to trickle in, and we will be sure to update the blog as they do.

The intense fall season has kept us from blogging regularly, but we hope to fix that. There will be lots of exciting things happening here at Salt Harbor in the coming months.

Our BRAND NEW website should debut in the next month or so. We have been working hard to get it ready and can't wait to show it to you!
We have implemented a new logo that will appear on all of our promotional and web items. Hillary at Hot Wilmington is our new graphic guru, and we just love how well she is capturing Salt Harbor.
We've been designing spaces for local magazines like Wrightsville Beach Magazine, so watch the blog for updates when they are published!
We will be doing a company photo shoot of our GREAT employees soon. There are some people here at Salt Harbor that work quietly behind the scenes, but without whom, we could never do it! Millie will be shooting images of everyone for our website, and we'll make sure to do a feature on the blog, letting you meet everyone!
We have established some discounts with other local vendors we LOVE! Ask and we'll tell you about it!
This winter, we'll be blogging the design process with some of our brides. Stay tuned for more!

SIGNATURE MAGAZINE SHOOT

2008-10-26T07:51:00.000-07:00

The holiday issue of Signature Magazine came out this week, and we are so excited! One of my favorite things to do is to create sets for magazine photo shoots, especially when I get to work with phenomenal photographers, like Millie and Whitebox !! When Signature Magazine approached us to decorate two venues for an article on event spaces, we jumped at the chance. The first venue was a great space in Greensboro, Revolution Mill. The space was amazing. Every detail, down to a little brass monkey toilet paper holders, was perfect. It was an a stunning canvas on which to create this 20's-inspired layout. Whitebox shot these wonderful images, and added a great vintage effect to the shots.

The second venue was the City Club in Wilmington. The venue has an abundance of interesting spaces to and we utilized several of them! These images by the ever-talented Millie Holloman . You can find the magazine in the local book stores to see more photos of these great spaces!

GRAFFITI

2008-08-21T09:56:00.000-07:00

When we sat down to brainstorm for this photo shoot, graffiti was the one idea that I was not sure about. Most of our work is natural, organic, subtle. So we decided a challenge would be good for us. It was definitely the concept that my two college-aged assistants were most excited about. They chipped in, bringing old records to act as chargers and choosing the loud color scheme. Photography by Millie Holloman.

I thought some Jackson-Pollock- inspired paintings were necessary for the walls and the paint-your-message guest book seemed appropriate.

Party Suppliers has a new ability to do removable art for walls and windows, so we ordered some graffiti for the front window.

Laura from Knotical Weddings and her boyfriend kindly modeled for us and supplied the fabulous clothes! They also let us use the great bikes.

CUSTOM SPACES

2008-08-21T09:02:00.000-07:00

A lot of what we do here at Salt Harbor involves creating spaces rather than just flower arrangements or tablescapes. Seating areas and interesting design pieces create great intimate spaces at events, and we are constantly incorporating them. But to do that, we often need things that we cannot find at local party rental stores. So we create them. Luckily, I have a talented husband and father who are always up to the challenges I give them!

We debuted these serpentine benches at the recent open house for the Balcony on Dock. They have so many possibilities--circles, half-circles, s-shapes.

I wanted to hang artwork made of flowers from the tent, so my husband built these boxes and rigged them so that they would hang from the tent over the benches.

We have been doing a lot of vintage-inspired work lately and could not find rental furniture in that style, so we purchased some wooden benches to work with.

While chandeliers and hanging arrangements are not always appropriate for events, they are a great way to create interest in a space. Here, we made a natural chandelier by suspending a round rod iron piece, adding a Plexiglas circle, some candles, greenery, and hanging votives.

Thanks to Millie Holloman for all the great photos.

ROUDABUSH SEED STORE

2008-07-29T09:40:00.000-07:00

There is a wonderful new venue in Wilmington-- The Roudabush Room. All of the locals know it as the former Roudabush Seed Store. For much of the 1900's is was the place where most people went to purchase bulbs, seeds, and fresh flowers. I thought it was the perfect theme for a wedding, so we did a rustic vintage approach to the seed store. Photos by the ever amazing Millie Holloman.

We filled apothecary jars with different types of seeds and bulbs and had little paper bags printed that said Roudabush Seed Store.

We filled old product tins and boxes with millet, craspedia, solidego and star of Bethlehem for a wildflower look.

Laura from Knotical Weddings convinced her boyfriend Ryan to model with her. They are an amazing couple with a phenomenal sense of style! While we borrowed the dress from A Carolina Wedding, all of Ryan's clothes were from his own closet.

Photo Shoot--Travel

2008-07-23T17:43:00.000-07:00

For this one, we set up a 1940's travel theme on the rooftop bar of level 5. Millie got some amazing shots overlooking the city-- those coming soon!

Vintage Theater

2008-07-23T14:50:00.000-07:00

Millie sent over a few more images today from our photo shoot. This set up was at City Stage, Level 5 in downtown Wilmington. It is a wonderful historic theater on the fifth floor of an old building! I would absolutely love to see a wedding done here!

SNEAK PEEK

2008-07-22T18:34:00.000-07:00

About twice a year, Millie Holloman and I get together for a photo shoot. Last month, we set up some shots at The Balcony on Dock and Level 5. For this photo shoot, my assistants (whom I could not live without!) and I dreamed up 6 vintage themes to tackle.

Millie sent over the first of some photos today and they are AWESOME! She is so amazing! I wanted to post a few of the shots....there are tons more to come!

Art deco just seems so perfect for The Balcony...

This one I was a bit worried about-- a retro 60's graffiti theme. Turned out to be a favorite for everyone. We even added some removable graffiti to the front window. Larger images to come!

This one was one of my favorites. I wanted to bring in a hint of my literary background-- so we designed a 1930's inspired literary table. The gorgeous wood backdrop for this shoot was the theater seating at Level 5.

BEACH WEDDING

2008-07-18T05:28:00.000-07:00

Stephanie and Blair were married this May on Wrightsville Beach with a reception at The Balcony on Dock. Their colors were navy and green and this worked wonderfully with the location and the style, which was a natural twist on vintage. Thanks to Anne McGowan for capturing the details!

FEATURED AGAIN ON SOUTHERN WEDDINGS

2008-07-06T08:17:00.000-07:00

Southern Wedding Magazine just featured another of our weddings. This one was shot by White Box Weddings. Check out part one and part two of the story on the blog.

FEATURED ON SOUTHERN WEDDINGS

2008-07-02T07:52:00.000-07:00

Southern Weddings Blog recently featured Kinsey and Corey's May wedding and included an interview by the bride and groom. Check out the story and others on this gorgeous blog!

"WHAT DO I BRING TO A CONSULTATION?"

2008-06-24T16:01:00.000-07:00

I love being asked this question because it means the client wants to be actively involved in designing her event. The following list of things are great props to bring to a meeting or interview with an event designer because they allow that designer to get a great indication of your style and personality!

1. Color Swatches: While wanting to match flowers exactly to a swatch is never a good idea because flowers can change based on season and weather, it is very helpful to have a swatch of the dress color or the colors you would like to incorporate. It certainly helps in the overall design and allows the designer to make suggestions on complimentary colors and materials.

2. A Sample Invitation/Save the Date ( if they are already picked out): Because much of what an event designer does involves paper, it is great to incorporate the colors, fonts, and images that the invitation has established. If invitations or save the dates are already chosen, make sure to bring them to the consultation.

3. Non-floral materials that might be incorporated: Think outside flowers. Maybe on your first hike together your groom-to-be found a feather that you have kept ever since. Perhaps you have saved all of the wine corks from dinners for years. Or there is a book the two of you are completely inspired by. Event designers love these kinds of details and love even more to incorporate them into an event!! Bring anything that has significance to you as a couple. 4. Magazine Clippings: Although wedding magazines can be helpful, it often becomes tempting to mimic ideas, rather than develop a style that is inspired by the clipping. When a client brings a clipping and says "I want this exactly," there is little room for a designer to create something custom for the client. I recommend that clients look outside bridal magazines for inspiration-- home decor, gardening, and architecture magazines are great sources of inspiration and give the designer a great sense of your style and tastes. Plus, it allows the designer plenty of room to make an event that is custom tailored to you. 5. A Sense of Your Own Style: While a designer can help you to define your style and choose the right items to create an event that represents you, it works best when you have a sense of your own style. If you don't really know what your style is, consider the following questions and even consider bringing your answers to the consultation.

Which decor/furniture stores do you or would you like to purchase your furnishings from? (i.e. Pottery Barn, Ethan Allen, an antique store, Ikea, etc.)
Have you been in a restaurant or club lately that you thought had a great visual atmosphere?
What colors are most prominent in your closet? How about in your fiance's closet?
Which season is your favorite and why?
What activities/interests do you and your fiance share? Are you interested in including those somehow in your wedding?
Other than your house and work, where do you spend the majority of your time?
What are some of your best memories/ moments with your fiance?

AN AIRLIE WEDDING

2008-06-20T12:58:00.000-07:00

Megan and Craig were the such a cute couple with really great taste! From the beginning, Megan had great ideas and wanted to combine a contemporary garden feel with a subtle touch of Japanese influence. To incorporate this, we covered the tent poles with fresh bamboo and strung glass lanterns between them. See the results below.

How cute is this?!!

This season, I have had the opportunity to work with some amazing photographers from all over North Carolina. And every time I do, I have the same thought--good design and style means absolutely nothing without a great photographer! I am forever grateful to the photographers who are able to let us appreciate the atmosphere of an event long after it is finished. These photographs are by Brooke Mayo. Her eye is great and these photographs are wonderful.

Springtime wedding

2008-06-05T21:21:00.000-07:00

I cannot say enough how much of a difference the photographer makes!! White Box Weddings shot this wedding and the results are wonderful! Abby and Kevin had such a great sense of style. Kevin is also a wedding photographer, so the couple paid extra special attention to the details!

They wanted to incorporate some lounge seating and so we set up this area and they completed the space with the wonderful photograph from their engagement session.

OUR NEW STUDIO

2008-06-05T11:02:00.001-07:00

This winter my husband and I began work on our new studio. The space used to house the offices of a roofing company, so needless to say, it was less than appealing. We spent months knocking out walls, rewiring all of the light fixtures, ripping up carpet, laying hard wood floors, and painting EVERYTHING!! Transformation is something that is a part of our lives with every event, but this transformation was especially rewarding. Our official open house in April marked our one year anniversary, and we are so excited about all of the growth happening here at Salt Harbor Designs!!

This shot was in the middle of the renovations after we had knocked out walls, but before much of the work.
AFTER RENOVATION.....Special thanks to Lisa from Bella Rose Photography for these great shots!!

WE ARE GIVING AWAY A WEDDING

2008-06-02T14:50:00.001-07:00

Some lucky couple will win the wedding of their dreams in 2009. More details to come very soon!!

Ocean Isle Wedding

2008-05-19T12:40:00.001-07:00

I have not had the opportunity to use yellow much lately in weddings, so this combination of colors was especially exciting. I loved incorporating kumquats into the design, adding a few to Kinsey's bouquet and using them in cylinders with floating candles. Everything about the day was lovely, and thanks to the wonderful Millie Holloman, there are some great detail shots! Thank goodness for photographers who care about the little things!!

Southport Wedding

2008-05-17T08:26:00.000-07:00

Jennifer was one of the very first clients I booked when we started Salt Harbor and working with her was truly a joy! My favorite clients are the ones who are actively involved in the overall design and Jen was! She had a wonderful vision for her wedding and the day was so beautiful because of it! Photos by Kevin Millard.

Elizabeth Anne Designs

2008-05-08T20:16:00.000-07:00

I was recently interviewed by Rebekah from Elizabeth Anne Designs. Read the interview and find out more about this great wedding blog by clicking here!

Pink and Gold

2008-05-08T12:55:00.000-07:00

I thought I would post this collage from a wedding Millie and I did together in March. I am always amazed at how well Millie can put these collages together!

THE KNOT BEST OF WEDDINGS

2008-04-14T06:21:00.001-07:00

The Knot's Best of Weddings 2008 just came out and featured in the best boutonniere section is one of our boutonnieres-- a cluster of thistle, seeded eucalyptus, wheat, and millet.

OPEN HOUSE

2008-04-01T20:49:00.000-07:00

We've been working for a few months now to renovate and redesign our new studio space. Now it is almost complete! In addition, Salt Harbor is celebrating its first anniversary. To recognize these two milestones, we will have an open house on Sunday, April 13. We're extending an invitation to all prospective, current, and former clients, all of our fellow vendors, and anyone else who is interested in what we do. Please come see our new space and enjoy appetizers from The Balcony!
***
Where: 3720 Carolina Beach Road B
Tideline Studios Building
When: Sunday, April 13 from 3-5
RSVP: jen@saltharbor.com or 910-524-0081

2008-03-10T19:42:00.000-07:00

Brooke and Hugh are such a beautiful couple, and I was thrilled to be a part of their day! Brooke was the picture of elegance and the bouquet she chose, all white calla lilies, complimented her perfectly. Her flower choices were simple, but I think they proved that sometimes simplicity is very effective. Millie Holloman once again shot some incredible photographs. Check out her blog for more photos.

The flower girls carried pomander balls of pink sweetheart roses.

Rehearsal Dinner

2008-03-10T19:13:00.000-07:00

From my first meeting with Mr. and Mrs. Lanier, I knew their event would be delightful. They had simply great ideas and were so eager to create a really natural, elegant dinner. They had seen the name rocks on a display table I had done for the Balcony's open house and wanted to incorporate them with branches, moss, and river rock. They also wanted to fill each window with candles, which produced such a wonderful light in the room. The Balcony is one of my favorite locations! With its wooden floors and exposed brick walls, it creates such a beautiful canvas for events like these.

Millie Holloman came out to photograph Brooke and Hugh's rehearsal dinner, and I was so glad! Her work always reproduces the atmosphere of an event with such accuracy!

We hung the escort cards from a huge vase of curly willow.

Bald Head Island

2008-02-26T16:17:00.000-08:00

Millie Holloman is doing a wonderful workshop for photographers this month on Bald Head Island. She asked me to contribute a few bouquets-- here are a few photos.

More Photos from Airlie

2008-02-11T15:17:00.000-08:00

I don't typcially use yellow a whole lot. Maybe it was the setting overlooking the pond at Airlie or the amazing way Millie caught it, but this turned out to be the the table that everyone (including me) liked best. For this table, we used a simple ivory twill linen and a pecan silk overlay with butter-colored runners. My dad made this bench (along with 21 others) for my wedding a year ago and it came in handy here. The benches can now be rented from Party Suppliers and I have wanted for a long time to use them in a table setting. I found some forsythia and acacia for this table and it turned out to have a very wildflower feel. I would love to duplicate this one on a large scale for a more causal, garden wedding!

The Bottle House

2008-02-07T16:37:00.000-08:00

We set up this table in the bottle house, which made for some wildly colorful photos! This color scheme (apple green and navy) seems to be one of the most popular this year. I have several weddings coming up using these colors with a variety of themes. Millie captured some wonderful angles here!!

Naturalist's Table

2008-02-06T05:38:00.000-08:00

Airlie Gardens has the most amazing spots for a photo shoot. We found this one off the path a bit, near the water. With the tree overhead and Spanish moss draping down, it was the perfect place for this table. I love to incorporate wooden elements, like these bowls and chargers and the polished wood floral container. For favors, we used a tiny burlap bag of bulbs tied with a few acorns and the place card. The flowers (a mixture of tulips, muscari, hydrangea, thistle, and berries) were arranged in a vegetative style to carry through the natural feel. More great photographs from Millie Holloman!

Another Table

2008-02-05T05:49:00.000-08:00

Some more wonderful shots by Millie and her staff. This table might just be my favorite color scheme. Green is of course really big right now, but when used with laguna blue (the color of this linen from Party Suppliers), the result is subtle and interesting. By using colors close together on the color wheel (greens and blues, yellows and greens, oranges and yellows), you create the calm feeling of monochromatic with a little more dimension and interest.

I love to find interesting way to display place cards.

These were tucked between two pieces of maple branch.

One of my favorite shots at Airlie!

Photos by Millie Holloman

2008-02-04T13:55:00.000-08:00

Afew weeks ago, Millie Holloman and I headed out to Airlie Gardens for a photo shoot. We set up tables all over the gardens, and Millie and her staff captured some simply incredible shots. I worked with Millie for the first time last fall and I have fallen in love with her style and creativity. When she approached me about doing a photo shoot, I jumped at the chance to have her photograph my designs! She is simply amazing!! Over the next few days, I'll post some of these great photographs. Click here to view our work featured on Milllie's blog!

Blue and brown has been extremely popular for the last few years. For this first table, I decided to give in to the popular trend. Party Suppliers just acquired this great linen, and I was eager to use it for a table design. The theme for this table subtle. So often people assume that a theme has to be over the top. Not necessarily true! When I meet with couples, I attempt to discover what they share as a couple, from the places they visit to the activities they enjoy and even what they eat and drink. This table is for the coffee connoisseurs! We pulled the coffee brown color throughout and found these great beaded chargers that look very much like coffee beans. For favors we filled jars with a mix of coffee beans and added "The Perfect Blend" tag.

Wedding Show

2007-01-15T15:00:00.000-08:00

Thanks to everyone who visited us at the wedding show this Sunday! We met lots of great couples planning for their upcoming weddings.

Yesterday, we headed over to Airlie Gardens with Millie Holloman for a photo shoot, using some of the creations we had at the wedding show. Here's a sneak peak!

WELCOME

2007-01-15T13:47:00.000-08:00

Salt Harbor Designs is undergoing tremendous growth this new year, and we’ve decided to keep our clients and fellow event professionals up to date with a blog. Our first full wedding season was a wonderful success, and we were lucky to have many great couples hire us for their flowers and decor. We were also blessed to meet many local vendors who believed in our abilities and to have some local publications choose to feature our work. We’re eagerly looking forward to this coming season, which again contains some great couples and ideas! The growth of Salt Harbor Designs has been faster than we ever could have imagined, so we have leased a shop/office to better accommodate our clients (more on this coming soon), and we are also in the process of hiring additional staff members. We have fallen in love with this industry and enjoy working with so many great people! We hope that this blog will allow us to provide more up to date information and pictures about our services and events. Thanks for visiting us and keep checking back!