Showered With Style

With their boss, Charleston event planner Tara Guérard, expecting her first baby, Kate Badger Little and Susan Kelly could have thrown a perfectly precious baby shower. But in honor of the modern mom-to-be, the women dispensed with the fussy and froufrou for a thoroughly elegant garden party celebration.

"When I hear the word shower, I picture women sitting in someone's living room and tissue paper being tossed everywhere," says Little.

Having worked with Guérard for six years at the boutique events company Soirée, Little and Kelly had an inkling that this scenario wouldn't do for their expecting boss. Guérard, Little, and Kelly -- the Soirettes, as they call themselves -- interact more like sisters than coworkers and have a good sense of one another's style. "I've learned to think like Tara," says Kelly. "Her taste is a little bit more modern with some traditional aspects. Nothing too silly."

With Guérard's relaxed-meets-refined style in mind, the two Soirettes began with the guest list. A group of about 20 was ideal for a garden party. "We wanted it to be casual but a bit fancy, so guests would have a reason to put on a cute little dress," says Kelly.

Fancy came in the form of a three-course seated luncheon in a lush garden along the marsh at the home of Jim Smeal, wedding cake designer extraordinaire, and Alejandro Gonzalez. The rest of the menu, prepared by Guérard's favorite Charleston chef, James Burns, included "dishes that he knew were her favorites, such as quail, to give her something special that she would really like," says Little.

On the day of the party, glasses clinked and blueberries made fizzy trails to the bottoms of Champagne flutes as guests explored the drink station below a canopy of oaks. A mixed bar of Champagne, wine, lemonade, and fruit nectars made for a gracious and unfussy welcome. "We wanted to convey the relaxed feeling of 'come on in and help yourself,' " says Little.

The hospitality extended to the well-appointed table, set with silver flatware and lined with gerbera daisies. "It's a happy, simple flower," says Kelly. Before crossing the lawn to open gifts with Guérard, guests peeked inside their goody bags. Inside the yellow canvas totes were baby beauty products and glass baby bottles filled with yellow candies. Of course, Guérard received the best favor. Her special day was soon followed by a special delivery -- her son, Theodore Aiken Guérard.

BABY SHOWER BLUEPRINT
When planning an event, Soirettes Kate Badger Little and Susan Kelly first address the basics, then the details that make it memorable. Here is their advice for hosting a flawless fête.

• Favors With Flair: When it comes to favors, the Soirettes don't want guests to pitch a token shortly after they receive it. "If it's not edible, we do something useful," says Kelly. Little suggests tying the favor to the location of the party. "In Charleston, for example, you could do a bag of grits, along with a recipe for shrimp and grits," she says.
• Cool Concepts: Explore ways to put a twist on a traditional practice. The Soirettes suggest a spa baby shower where guests don bathrobes, receive treatments, and have lunch.
• Plated Perfection: "You can have traditional food, but if you serve it in a different way, it makes it more exotic," says Little. "Sometimes that means just serving it in a different type of dish. We have done oyster shooters where we served an oyster in a tall shot glass with Bloody Mary mix."
• Lay of the Land: "We're always striving to create and invent new layouts and ways to make the party flow," says Little. "We've discovered that four-by-four-foot square tables seating two on each side encourage conversation more than a large round table, where the people are so far apart."

RESOURCES: Soirée, 843/577-5006, www.soireecharleston.com; Wedding Cakes by Jim Smeal, 843/795-6114, www.weddingcakesbyjimsmeal.com; J.B.C. James Burns Catering, 843/971-5215, www.jbccatering.com; cookies by Three Smart Cookies, 843/937-9229, www.3smartcookies.net.