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Personalized Garter: Gail Meyer's "Poolside" Blue Vintage Brooch Garter
By: Sarah Dobson | Tuesday 22nd of May 2012 06:59:35 PM
This month I was lucky enought to meet La Gartier bride Gail Meyer, who is currently getting ready to tie-the-knot in Sunnyvale, California. Gail wanted to place a custom wedding garter order, but wasn't quite sure what she wanted. To give us both clarity, I asked her to look through all of the garters on the website and pick out her favorite. The Marina garter ended up being her top pick, but Gail had one problem with it: it was pure white and her gown was ivory. So, we decided to create a garter for her that was exactly like the Marina garter, but using ivory satin and ivory organza. In addition, Gail wanted to bring in the primary color that appeared throughout her wedding: The Dessy Group's "Poolside" Blue. Gail is actually hand-making a brooch bouquet for herself that incorporates over a hundred of blue brooches of different hue and style, which I think is absolutely fantastic. After hearing about her brooch bouquet, I suggested looking around for an antique "Poolside" blue brooch to put at the center of her garter. She was open to the idea so I set to work doing what I do best: shopping. After searching high and low, I was able to find the most perfect antique Poolside blue clip-on earrings at my favorite antique store here in Atlanta. After getting Gail's approval on them, I purchased them and spent a bit of time turning one of them into a brooch for her garter. Below is the final product. Behold, The "Gail" garter, designed just for La Gartier bride Gail Meyer. Thank you so much for contacting me Gail. This garter was such a blast to create for you and it came out absolutely stunning!
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Blue Garter, Blue Garters, Custom Wedding Garter Set, Customized Garter, Personalized Garter, Wedding Garter |
Personalized Garter: Country Inspired Wedding
By: Sarah Dobson | Tuesday 10th of January 2012 04:08:38 PM
I recently had a bride contact me who was getting ready to have a country inspired wedding right here in Atlanta, Georgia and wanted to order a personalized garter. I was delighted, because I had recently seen the most perfect red-checkered ribbon at my favorite fabric store. When I saw it, I knew it would be perfect for a country-inspired wedding. The bride, Kaylee Hudson, was ecstatic when she saw the ribbon, as it matched the red-checkered theme she had on her tablecloths and her hubby's boutineer. After sending me her leg measurement and a few other photos about her wedding style, we decided that the garter needed a something more than just the red-checkered ribbon. I suggested shopping around for a country-inspired pendant and was over-the-moon happy when I found a ring that had cowhide inside of it, with a tiny texas longhorn charm on top. Seriously, I can't even think of anything better! Below are pictures of the final garter that Kaylee is set to wear down the aisle on March 23, 2012 right here in Atlanta, Georgia. It was so fun to work with you Kaylee!! (Also below is a real country inspired wedding by California based wedding planner Visa Vorce of Oh How Charming). To see more La Gartier Custom Designed Garter, you can click here.
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Aspen Weddings, Bridal Garter Set, Country Bride, Event Planning and Design, Lisa Vorce, Oh How Charming!, Personalized Bridal Garte, Personalized Garter, Red Wedding Garter, Texas Wedding Garter |
Personalized Wedding Garter: Andrea Antunes-McGilton
By: Sarah Dobson | Wednesday 14th of December 2011 12:21:51 PM
Loving this photo from La Gartier bride Andrea Antunes-McGilton. Andrea had her garter customized and although you can't see the garter very well in this picture, it was hands down one of the most stunning personalized garters I have ever done. Doesn't she look GORGEOUS?? The Vera Wang gown doesn't hurt.....
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Andrea McGilton, Bridal Garter, Couture Garter, Custom Wedding Garter, Hilton Head Weddings, Personalized Garter |
Custom Garter: Andrea Antunes and the Andrea Garter
By: Sarah Dobson | Friday 16th of September 2011 06:53:27 AM
I recently designed a garter for La Gartier bride Andrea Antunes, who is getting ready to tie the knot with her soon-to-be hubby in Hilton Head, South Carolina. Andrea wanted to create a garter that in some way honored her late grandmother, and decided to incorporate a vintage cameo brooch in order to do so. We ended up co-shopping in order to find it. That is, I did some shopping locally for antique brooch cameos, while Andrea looked around on the internet. After a bit of a search, Andrea sent me the link to an undeniably stunning peach and ivory cameo trimmed with rhinestones in an antique jewelry shop on Etsy (Gotta love Etsy). I ordered it and, while waiting for it to arrive, set to work designing the body of the garter. Andrea wanted the body to match her sash, which, based on the picture she sent me, is just stunning with pearls and rhinestones galore. To add the final touch, Andrea decided to run a blue ribbon along the inside of her garter and asked me to hand embroider her wedding date onto it. I am new at embroidery but set to work "sew writing" the date 11-26-11 onto a carefully selected baby blue ribbon. The end result is absolutely fabulous. I say "is" because I have it right here in my studio, waiting to get packed up and shipped to Andrea. I can't take my eyes off of it. There are two different sizes of pearls all the way around the body of the garter, with over thirty tiny rhinestones dotted throughout. The center cameo, which couldn't arrive in the mail fast enough, is just perfect in size and design. Lastly, the baby blue hand embroidered ribbon along the inside is a detail I am so happy Andrea suggested. It is a tiny detail that carries a big punch if you ask me. Below is Andrea's garter, along with a picture of Andrea herself. Congratulations Andrea! It was so fun to create your garter!
Andrea Antunes and her soon-to-be hubby Randell set to walk down the aisle on November 26!!
Andrea trying on her BEAUTIFUL Vera Wang gown
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Andrea Antunes, Cameo Garter, Couture Wedding Garter, Custom Garter, La Gartier, Personalized Garter, Vera Wang Wedding Dress, Vintage Garter, Vintage Wedding, Wedding Garter |
The Angela Garter for LG bride Angela Mitchell
By: Sarah Dobson | Sunday 31st of July 2011 01:42:59 PM
I just got pictures back of my new bride-to-be Angela Mitchell's custom garter.....which Angela pretty much designed by herself. Oh my gosh, how pretty is this garter?
As a professional graphic designer, Angela came to me with a clear design vision of what she wanted, and a good one at that. She liked the vintage inspiration and hanging chiffon bow of the "Billie" garter from the previous collection, but wanted to add a strand of her own pearls. She is getting ready to be married next month at an achingly romantic old farm in Northern Georgia, with a specific natural and vintage feel to it. On top of her refined design taste, Angela is passionate environmentalist who hunted long and hard for an eco-friendly wedding gown. When she showed me a swatch of what she had found, an exquisite hemp-silk blend fabric, I was actually very taken aback. It was beautiful. I suggested we do the body of the garter with a natural silk blend fabric to match....... and what resulted is one of my favorite garters I have ever made. So much so in fact, that it inspired the use of all the midori dupioni silk in the newest collection.
Below are pictures of the "Angela" garter for LG bride Angela Mitchell as well as my favorite peice of Angela's graphic design work from her company Light Daughter. Congratulations Angela!!
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Sketching, Designing, Wedding Garters in Graphite...
By: Sarah Dobson | Monday 11th of July 2011 12:28:38 AM
I just recently came across a few old photos of some garter sketches I did for La Gartier bride Megan Roberston (see older post: Megan Robertson and the Cinderella garter). I thought they would make a good blog posting, as they demonstrate one of the first parts of the garter design process: sketching. Although I don't always sketch out a garter before starting to sew, it is a tool that comes in handy when trying to visualize a design that I can just barely see in my mind. It is also super useful when sitting down with a bride during a custom consultation to try and get a clear idea of her vision. The last photo is of some pearls that spilled in my studio. Do they have anything to do with sketching at all? Nope. I just think it is a pretty photo! Happy La Gartier.♥♥♥♥♥
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bridal garter design, custom garter, la gartier, pearl garter, personalized garter, sketching |
Sarah Tellison and the Tellison Wedding Garter
By: Sarah Dobson | Thursday 7th of July 2011 11:57:23 AM
I met Sarah Tellison at one of the very first bridal shows I attended on behalf of La Gartier, nervous and overly-concerned with the design of my display table. She approached my table with interest in my garters, and instantly put me at ease with her light hearted, down-to-earth conversation and style. We chatted for about twenty minutes, and I learned that she was getting ready to have a beautiful bird-themed wedding that upcoming November, here in Atlanta, Georgia. She inquired about doing a customization that incorporated her wedding colors, ivory and pale pink, as well as her dress design-- a Lazaro gown with a specifically "princessy" flair. I was eager to do it and went straight to the fabric store the next day to find materials for a garter that would fit a princess. When I came across a tiny bird charm in my collection later that day, I couldn't help but recommend somehow using it as well, and the final product was just perfect. Sarah Tellison's garter (below) was made of an exquisite ivory organza and double-faced satin ribbon, with braided soutached piping to bring in her "princess" gown element, centered by a blush pink ribbon for the pink in her color pallete. The final touch was hand-sewing the precious bird charm below her sheer organza bow to match her theme and really add that final touch to the garter. Below are pictures of Sarah on her wedding day as well as a picture of her personalized "Tellison" garter! Happy La Gartier....♥♥♥
Sarah Tellison on her wedding day: November 23, 2010
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bird garter, customized garter, ivory garter, personalized garter, pink garter, princess garter, Sarah Tellison |
Monica Lynn Collier and the Monica Wedding Garter
By: Sarah Dobson | Tuesday 5th of July 2011 03:27:43 PM
A big thank you to Monica Lynn Collier of Grandville, Michigan for sending me photos of her custom La Gartier garter that I made last spring. Monica contacted me last January with a very specific idea of how she wanted to customize her garter, and I set to work creating her one-of-a-kind pearl and rhinestone design for her wedding on May 28th. Below are pictures of Monica Lynn Collier on her wedding day and a few pictures of her custom "Monica" garter!!
"Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failure, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill." - Monica Lynn Collier
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custom garter, garter, ivory garter, La Gartier, Monica Lynn Collier, pearl garter, personalized garter, rhinestone garter |
Jaime Rainer and the Rainer Wedding Garter
By: Sarah Dobson | Tuesday 28th of June 2011 06:19:52 PM
One of the very first bride's I ever did a customization for was Jaime Rainer, who found out about La Gartier through a close friend of her's that lived in Atlanta, Georgia. Jaime contacted me less than a month before her wedding, telling me that she had already bought a garter on Etsy, but was not very satisfied with it. She told me she had wanted a burgandy satin and black lace garter originally anyway, and could I possibly make her a custom garter and have it to her by her wedding? I agreed and set to work designing her a garter made of burgandy double faced satin ribbon and black antique lace trim. When Jaime mentioned to me that she had not yet figured out what to do for her "something old", I suggested that she use a peice of heirloom jewelry. Little did I know that this suggestion would lead to one of the most exquiste garters I have ever made. Jaime over-nighted me two clip-on earrings that had once been her grandmother's and almost as soon as I opened the envelope I knew that they were just the thing to take her garter from pretty to stunning. The earrings were shaped like to little gold flowers, cemtered by black oval onyx center pieces and lined with tiny rhinestones. A few of the rhinestones were missing, but since Jaime didn't mind and I thought this would only underline their antiquity further, we dediced to use them as they were. I finished the garter by hand-sewing little gold beads around the body and attaching three black "loop" bows in the center. Jaime's garter arrived in Boca Raton a full seven days before her wedding and is to this day, one of my favorite garters I have ever made. I think it is a great example of how a bride can incorporate both her wedding colors and her "something old" into a custom garter design..............in the span of three weeks!!
Below are pictures of Jaime Rainer on her wedding day as well as pictures of the "Rainer" garter!!
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black lace garter, burgandy garter, Custom garter, jaime rainer, la gartier, la gartier, la gartier, personalized garter, something old |
Megan Robertson and the Cinderella Wedding Garter
By: Sarah Dobson | Sunday 19th of June 2011 10:28:59 PM
When my hairstylist, Megan Robertson asked me to design her garter, I was ecstatic. Megan was set to have a beautiful fairytale inspired wedding at the Dunafon Castle in Idledale, Colorado--complete with a ball gown wedding dress, medieval details, and a horse & carraige to bring her to the altar. She gave me almost complete freedom over her garter design, telling me only to "design the sort of garter Cinderella would wear on her wedding day". This is the sort of thing designers live for, or at least myself, and I set to work right away looking at all kinds of different brooches, jewels, charms, and fabrics. Her garter came out beautifully, with white satin to match her dress, a cerise pink tulle bow and black onyx rhinestones to bring in her color pallete, a silver fairytale-inspired brooch to bring in her theme, and a center "cinderella blue" jewel to bring in her "something blue". To personalize it, I hung her first initial, "M", just below the brooch.
Although it was last summer that Megan said "I DO", I still get excited about her garter. It is really quite a blast to to have someone tell you "go for it, do whatever you want, I trust you." Below is my fabulous colorist Megan Robertson on her wedding day, along with a few pictures of the "Cinderella" garter.
Megan Roberston on her wedding day August 20, 2010
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