Life of the Party

As a psychology major, Tara Guérard ’99 initially had her sights set on a career as a couples counselor, but today, instead of fixing marriages, she helps launch them – in spectacular style. Guérard is the founder of Tara Guérard Soirée, a Charleston- and New York-based firm consistently named one of the world’s top wedding planners by Brides, Harper’s Bazaar, Modern Bride, Martha Stewart Living and Vogue.  

The Camden, S.C., native’s path to becoming a famous wedding planner began at the College, when she worked various part-time restaurant jobs, including waiting tables at erstwhile Italian spot Celia’s on Archdale Street. It wasn’t until after she graduated and took a pottery course at the Gibbes Museum of Art that she considered how to leverage that experience. 

“I realized that I was a little bit of a creative person,” she says, “and the only background knowledge I had was food and beverage, so I thought maybe I could design parties.” 

Her first call was to Zoe Sanders, wife of then-College President Alex Sanders, who talked Guérard into working as an event planner. She also lent a hand on the CofC first lady’s 1998 cookbook, Entertaining at the College of Charleston, learning about styling and photography along the way. 

When she decided to go out on her own after a year, her first client was a bride. “I said, ‘Well, I’m not really a wedding planner, but I can do this,’ and I fell in love with it,” she recalls. “I loved getting to know the person and figuring out their personality, style and taste.”

Twenty-seven years later, Tara Guérard Soirée has produced weddings all over the world, transforming every sort of venue – from rustic barns to historic mansions – into what could be described as extravagant one-off movie sets for a day. Former clients include Sanjay Gupta, Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds.

Through the years, Guérard and team have branched out into furniture design, lighting, linens and flowers, each born out of a necessity-is-the-mother-of-invention moment. When a florist canceled three days before a wedding, she decided to start a floral department. When she wanted ottomans for a lounging area, she wrapped staging 4x4s in faux bunny fur. And when she couldn’t find a letterpress to make save-the-dates, invitations and menu cards, she hired a graphic designer and started a sister company, Lettered Olive.

“Nobody did it, so we made up the stuff as we went,” she says.

In her latest feat, Guérard commissioned a small Italian company outside Milan last summer to create a glass tent, which was delivered up a mountain via helicopter for a wedding in Umbria. She says making dreams like this come true fuels her through an intense schedule that can include traveling to the eight weddings she plans a year – anywhere from Kansas City to Paris – plus two to three site visits leading up to each one.

Traveling the world to plan weddings may sound glamorous, but she says she misses her family, including two teenage sons and a 12-year-old daughter. “You have to be careful what you wish for,” she says. “When I get a Charleston wedding, I’m so thankful.” – Margaret Loftus