Southern Protocol

The craze for huge and detailed headbands may be slowly returning to normalcy (appropriate sized bows that lay flat on the head versus piles of ribbons and feathers), but thankfully hair accessories in general are sticking around for the long haul.

Everyone from Louis Vuitton to Marc Jacobs to J. Crew is selling bobby pins, hair ties and headbands with a little bit of oomph – decorating your hair is one of the easiest ways to look perfectly summer. But perhaps we don’t all have the necessary cash flow for Monsieur Vuitton’s $800 bobby pin set, or want something a bit more unique than J. Crew’s varieties…

Enter Love Child Designs, created by savvy and fashionable College of Charleston graduate Gillian Love. Her floral bobby pins have taken Charleston by storm, appearing in multiple shows during Charleston Fashion Week, and selling like hot cakes at V2V, Stella Nova on King Street, and Teal Boutique in Mt Pleasant. I personally love the simple and sweet matching pink set!

Replace your (boring!) regular bobby pins with one or two of Love Child Designs’ pieces, and you’ll immediately update your summer in Charleston look to something new and different. Love it! Browse some of her most recent creations via Facebook, or hop into one of the above mentioned boutiques to snatch one up in person.

It was a very festive late afternoon of bites, bubbly and beautiful dresses at our Cynthia Rowley bridesmaid collection launch yesterday! Lots of brides and bridesmaids to be, plus many more who just wanted to mingle and admire.

Canape’s miniature bites were light, fluffy and wonderful – while I was a huge fan of the summer ratatouille (I’m down for anything with goat cheese), the obvious hit of the night were the mini orange-scented almond cakes. Supposedly Cynthia’s popping that recipe up on her blog sometime soon… be on the lookout!

As always, the flower arrangements from Stems were to die for… I couldn’t stop staring at one of the model’s fluffy peony bouquet! The modern studio was transformed into a sweet garden party, and the fun and fresh flowers definitely helped that!

And of course, there were the dresses. The owner of Bella Bridesmaid (where the dresses will be sold), Allison Longe, knew the collection front and back, and every single bride-to-be that scanned the collection found something she loved. What’s even better? The bridesmaids that tagged along had a blast trying the dresses on – and they loved them, too!

So many thanks to Charleston Weddings Magazine for their coverage, Jennifer Bearden and Leigh Webber for capturing all the details and atmosphere with their cameras, and to all of our lovely guests! The full collection is now available to see and try on at Bella Bridesmaid, conveniently located right above Cynthia Rowley’s King Street shop!

(Note: All photos here courtesy of Jennifer Bearden!)

Congratulations to the new Mr. and Mrs. Laird! Laurel and Hunter tied the knot at Legare-Waring in Charlestowne Landing on Saturday… even in the steamy heat, the night was perfect!

The bride was absolutely stunning in her straight-from-the-1930s dress, complete with birdcage veil. The groom and his posse looked pretty suave, too, with cotton and berry boutonnieres. The sweetest part of the ceremony? Hunter snuck in to one of Laurel’s favorite consignment shops and secretly purchased a diamond-filled wedding band that she’d been obsessing over… after Hunter gave the official exchange of the rings, he turned back around and pulled out the resized consignment shop ring – imagine the tears and laughter that followed!

Guests ventured from under the oaks to the house for their cocktail hour, nibbling on delicious bites from Tom Smith catering. The women in the bride’s family, in a scene straight from Steel Magnolias, had spent the whole day putting together the centerpieces, and they were sweet and simple: bunches of feminine flowers adorned some tables, while huge branches decorated with little buds drew the eye up. And how cute are the birdseed favors?

A good time was had by all! Congratulations to Laurel and Hunter – hope you’re relaxing on your Costa Rican beach!

Thank you to the night’s vendors:
Stems, personal flowers
Elise Testone and band, entertainment
PDA, lighting
Atlantic Tent, tent
Tom Smith, catering
Staff of Legare-Waring House
Jen Bearden, photography

Most late spring calendars are positively chaotic with business – it makes for a fun and festive introduction to the warm months of summer. There’s Mother’s Day, graduations, Memorial Day, Kentucky Derby parties, and just the plain old “it’s gorgeous outside let’s get together tonight” gatherings galore.

Join Southern Protocol, Stems, and Canape on Wednesday, April 21st for a laidback evening of how-to entertaining in preparation of all your late spring soirees. Southern Protocol will outline two different tablescapes, sneaky tips and tricks, plus activities that will engage your children; Stems will show you how EASY it is to grab local, in-season flowers and transform them into elegant centerpieces and accent decor; and of course Canape will treat you to an easy, quick appetizer and a few variation recipes. What a night!

Grab a girlfriend or two and come on over to 208 Coming Street! Wednesday, April 21st from 6:00 – 7:30 pm. Seats are $30. Please RSVP with name and email to contact@southernprotocol.com.

We all know that women love flowers, and quite honestly have come to expect them no question on Valentine’s Day! But here’s a news flash: they don’t have to come from a man in your life. Yes, Valentine’s Day is technically all about passionate looove and romance, but for me it’s also always been another day when I step back and realize how many fabulous people I have in my life (which is perhaps why I spent a crazy amount of money buying Valentine’s Day cards for everyone I knew yesterday at Target…).

Buy some sweet flowers for you mom! Send some cute ones with a funny card to your best friend! Everyone deserves a little pick-me-up in the middle of February.

However, if you are indeed expecting flowers from a special someone, be sure to refer them to Anne Bowen of Stems. For those of you who are not lucky enough to be on her mailing list, take a peek at the arrangement option below, that came with the headline “Did it hurt?… When you fell from heaven?”:

Valentine’s Day doesn’t have to be mushy and drowning in serious cheese… lighten up this year and send a fun bouquet to friends or a funny arrangement to your significant other!

We all love pretty flowers. We all love fun parties and classes that teach us about pretty flowers. And we all love pretty design studios that house creative geniuses.

So, through the theory of relativity, we all love Anne Bowen and her floral studio, Stems at 208 Coming Street. For those of you who have been around the city for the past few years, I’m sure you can remember the sad disaster of a space 208 Coming Street was; now, after almost two years of remodeling, the space is a gorgeous, modern floral studio and classroom. And Anne just happens to be throwing a party to celebrate her grand opening next Wednesday, January 27th just so you can marvel in its beauty. The drop-in party, complete with innovative florals for you to admire and drinks and bites for you consume, will last from 4:30-8:30 pm.

Ms. Bowen, whom has studied in London and worked for some of the most reputable florists in Charleston, is the only florist we use for our brides. Her sweet disposition, ability to work with a budget, and mind-boggling creativity make for the ideal florist. She is also quick to share her talents: since the space doubles as a classroom, she will be offering flower arranging classes on a regular basis, as well as teaming up with Southern Protocol and Canape Catering to bring you entertaining classes.

RSVP to contact@southernprotocol.com if you would like to get on the guest list. See you there for some artsy mingling!