"Better Half" Series: Tait Larson, the Man Behind Style Me Pretty

By Lexi Green
March 24, 2011

This is the second in our "Better Half" series featuring The Inside Source writer Lexi Green's interviews with the men behind the women who pen some of the most influential style and design blogs on the web today. Last week, we chatted with Bob Cho, who serves as a sounding board for his wife, Joy, and even writes a regular column for her blog, Oh Joy! This week, we walk down the aisle with Tait Larson, who handles the tech side of Style Me Pretty, his wife, Abby's, ode to holy matrimony.—The Editors

When Abby Larson launched her wedding-focused blog, Style Me Pretty, in 2007, she wouldn't have predicted it would eventually become the family business. In fact, she started the site after selling her invitation company, Abby Jean, and expected the wedding blog to be a side project to help her stay involved with the weddings business while she figured out her next steps. Now, four years and 8.5 million monthly readers later, Abby Larson's Style Me Pretty wedding blog has become one of the top wedding sites on the web. Bursting with event and wedding color collages, DIY wedding ideas, bridal vendor information and real wedding photos and stories, it is inspiration for the betrothed and eye-candy for everyone else.

Style Me Pretty is now a (pretty busy) full time gig for Abby Larson, who has brought on six employees to help her run the business. Chief among them: her husband, Tait Larson, who left his tech industry gig to join her site after the couple had their first child, Audrey, in 2008.

Tait, one of the company’s two male employees, primarily handles the technical side of the Style Me Pretty wedding blog. But that doesn't mean he isn't surrounded by weddings all day long. He talked with us about what it's like to be a perpetual groom, what he would change if he could do his wedding all over again and why buying a white carpet with two young children might not have been the best idea ever.

style me pretty

The Inside Source: Could you tell us how you and Style Me Pretty founder Abby Larson met?

Tait Larson: We both went to Vanderbilt University in Nashville. But I am two years ahead of Abby, and we actually didn’t meet until we separately moved out to San Francisco in 2001 and a mutual friend introduced us. The rest is history.

The Inside Source: Did you know about Abby’s love of weddings and design right from the start?

Tait Larson: Oh my gosh! Well, I always knew Abby was really creative. She comes from a creative family. Her grandfather, Robert Quill Johnson, is a prominent artist in Texas. And her mom was always really crafty. Abby didn’t get into the wedding business until 2004 when she designed the invitations for a friend’s bachelorette party. Shortly after that she started her stationery company, Abby Jean.

The Inside Source: What was it like watching Abby start her stationery company, Abby Jean?

Tait Larson: Before she started outsourcing stuff, Abby did everything herself—from picking the card stock to printing everything at home to even selling directly to local stores. At the time, I was in grad school. I would come home to our teeny little apartment and you wouldn’t be able to see the floor! It would be covered with paper products, glitter, cards, and everything else she was working on. I would go to school, open up my textbook and glitter would pour out!

The Inside Source: Any similar mishaps when Abby started the Style Me Pretty wedding blog in 2007?

Tait Larson: When she started, people told her that blogging would be a fun hobby, but she’d never make any money doing it. I remember saying, “Well you can make some money off it. We don’t need to live off of your salary at the moment. Give it a go.” She did and it worked out great!

Weddings and Inspiration Boards Featured on Style Me Pretty

Previous Next

New Zealand Wedding
Photo Credit: Kate MacPherson
Washington D.C. Wedding
Photo Credit: Amelia Johnson Photography
Inspiration To Reality ~ So Much Love!
Sedona Wedding Photo Shoot
Photo Credit: Sedona Wedding Studio
From Inspiration to Invitation by Sarah Drake
Vermont Wedding
Photo Credit: Orchard Cove Photography
Midwestern Whimsy by KellyElizabeth
Eclectic Chicago Wedding
Photo Credit: Robert Wojtowicz Images

The Inside Source: You two got married in 2005 in Boston, where you now live. Your wedding was a mixture of classic and romantic. Would you change anything you did, now that you have seen so many weddings for Style Me Pretty?

Tait Larson: This is horrible to say, but no! It is really funny for me to watch a lot of my guy friends who are involved in the planning of their weddings because I only helped out with the guest list, and took care of a bunch of our honeymoon stuff. Abby did such a great job with everything else that I was really happy to just show up. I really wouldn’t change it at all.

The Inside Souce: Do you offer interior design ideas when it comes to your home?

Tait Larson: We now have two kids, so I always think of design as something to deal with really practically. And again, Abby does such a good job with all things design-related. She also doesn’t push it with the pink, frilly stuff too much and intrude on my masculinity. However, because of her love of white, we are now on our third rug in our living room in the last six months! We’re fixing the problem, but this is the only type of instance where I really stick my nose in.

The Inside Source: Well, since you’re not much of a design person, have there been any eye-opening wedding design moments since joining the Style Me Pretty wedding blog team?

Tait Larson: I have learned a lot about photography because we put so many photos on the site and work on many shoots. I love the special moments captured at weddings by an image. I have also learned how great cinematography can be for weddings. We have a video from our own wedding and watching it feels like watching a really beautiful home video.

The Inside Source: Do you have any favorite Style Me Pretty featured videos?

Tait Larson: This wedding video is set to a Michael Buble song. It is a really neat and really fun video.

The Inside Source: What about a favorite wedding video from the Style Me Pretty blog archives?

Tait Larson: I love this wedding because I love when creative people do really thoughtful things with their weddings (especially things I could never pull off). The groom did a lot for this wedding. He actually made the bride's dress. He submitted it to SMP himself. While I love wedding vendors, my favorite submissions are from brides and the occasional groom. I love it when people read Style Me Pretty, get inspired and pull off a great wedding. It makes me feel like we helped in some small way.

The Inside Source: What is the best perk of being behind the scenes at Style Me Pretty?

Tait Larson: I don’t know if it is a perk, but we get a lot of baked goods in the mail. You end up getting a little fat. Especially during the holidays!

The Inside Source: What has been the best part of being the “Better Half” during Abby’s journey?

Tait Larson: I am an analytical guy and it has been great watching Abby and the business grow in the marketplace. It’s been gradual, but definitely really steady. A million page views a month was a really big deal when it happened, and now we are well beyond that! We also got nominated for best site design at the Bloggies in 2010, which was fantastic.

The Inside Source: And do you ever use eBay for anything tech- or Style- Me- Pretty- related?

Tait Larson: Actually, I bought an antique wedding box to place Abby’s engagement ring in before I proposed to her. It isn’t something we use on a daily basis, but it represents a really big moment in my life and it means a lot.

Tait picked some items on eBay that he could see bringing to the Style Me Pretty offices and into his home with Abby and the kids.

Roll over items for details

Vintage Birks Regency Silverplate Bell Ring Box

(buy it now price, $149.99)

New Disc Diamond Necklace

(buy it now price, $520)

New Sony PlayStation 3 Slim

(buy it now price, $380)

12 Vintage Children's Books

(buy it now price, $17.99)

DMI Sports Foosball Table with Goal Flex Technology

(buy it now price, $449.99)

Boston Red Sox NY Yankees Tickets

(buy it now price, $479)

1. Vintage Birks Regency Silverplate Bell Ring Box: "This is actually the same ring box I bought on eBay and used to propose to Abby with."

2. New Disc Diamond Necklace: "If I were to get something for Abby right now, it would have to be a piece of jewelry. Something like a delicate necklace that she could wear forever."

3. Boston Red Sox New York Yankees Tickets: "I am a big sports fan. I would love it if Abby bought me some tickets from eBay!"

4. 12 Vintage Children's Books: "I would also love to buy some classic vintage books for the kids."

5. DMI Sports Foosball Table with Goal Flex Technology: "If we had a bigger office, I would probably bring in a video game system. . ."

6. New Sony PlayStation 3 Slim: ". . . or a foosball table. They would both be bad for business, though!"

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