simply smashing: Real Wedding: Monica + Ryan

Today I'm sharing some photos from one of my favorite 2010 wedding projects! Monica and Ryan tied the knot at the end of May last year, and we did a teeny sneak peek of their wedding invitations way back in this entry. Monica was sweet enough to share some of the photos from the wedding taken by Tony Gajate, so here's a trip from inspiration to invitation to the actual wedding!

{photo credit: Tony Gajate}

The inspiration guiding Monica's wedding plans was very vintage and ornate, with some whimsical touches, incorporating lots of different pastel tones (her plan was for the bridesmaids to each wear a different color dress). Her main inspiration was a box of the famous Ladurée macarons. For the preliminary invitation designs, I referenced lots of images - ranging from my personal photos of Paris and Versailles to some unique hotel interior design to vintage French ephemera. Here is the inspiration board that I pulled together after my initial consult with Monica:

{photo credits, clockwise from top left: AD Place in Venice | Annmarrie Kostyk | Jessica of Such Pretty Things | Poster Art House | Ian Stuart wedding gown via Wedding Magazine UK}

And here is the first round of invitation designs that came out of that:

Monica loved everything about one of the preliminary designs, and all we needed to do was tweak the color scheme slightly to get to the final version. For the enclosures, we used different components from the invitation in different ways so that the overall look was cohesive but not identical. Monica also requested a whimsical liner for the inner envelope that incorporated the pink stripes and some cute text.

At first I was a bit daunted by the number of colors Monica was working with in her palette, but it really all came together perfectly. Here is how the invitation came together in the end, printed on soft ivory cardstock, housed in a metallic lavender bi-fold holder with aqua accent and satin ribbons:

{photo credit: Tony Gajate}

We also had the pleasure of creating several items for the wedding itself, including tented escort cards, dinner menus, and - a first for us! - cigar labels!

{photo credit: Tony Gajate}