simply smashing

Real Wedding: Liz + John

Another of our 2010 weddings! Today's feature is Liz and Jon, whose lovely wedding was in August of last year. Working with Liz was an absolute pleasure. I loved her request for a color palette of deep purple and celery green, and her plans for a romantic summer garden wedding with vibrant color were very inspiring. Here are the preliminary designs that came about from our initial planning discussion:

 

Liz was drawn to the design element from one of the preliminaries and the text from another, so we did some tweaking and maneuvering to get to that perfect invitation.

 

For the final design, we chose to bring in a medium gray for the text to keep the look of the printed components of the invitations softer and more formal. Here is the final invitation design along with the rest of the coordinating components of the suite:

 
 

And here is how the final product came together. Raised printing on soft ivory cardstock, housed in a metallic purple bi-fold holder with celery green accent and satin ribbon. Liz also opted for digital calligraphy on her mailing envelopes for a fully coordinated look.

 

 

 
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{photo credit: Joseph Pessar Photographers}

 
{photo credit: Joseph Pessar Photographers} 

We also had the opportunity to create some items for the wedding itself, including paddle fan programs, dinner menus, and table numbers.

 
{photo credit: Joseph Pessar Photographers}

 
{photo credit: Joseph Pessar Photographers}

Thank you again for allowing us to play a part in your beautiful wedding, Liz + Jon!

 
{photo credit: Joseph Pessar Photographers}

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}

{photo credit: Tony Gajate}

{photo credit: Tony Gajate} 

 
{photo credit: Tony Gajate}

It was such a delight for us to play a small part in such a beautiful wedding. Thank you again, Monica and Ryan!

{photo credit: Tony Gajate}

Real Wedding: Kelly + Matt

Custom work from 2010! Hurrah! It's about time, right? :)

As an extra treat for our blog followers for waiting so patiently to see photos of our recent work and our clients' beautiful weddings, I'm going to start doing a little peek inside the process - sharing more about the inspiration behind our designs and some of the unused drafts that helped push us to that perfect final product for each couple.

 
{photo credit: Imagine Studios}

First up from 2010 are Kelly and Matt whose wedding was on February 27th of last year (happy belated first anniversary, K+M!). Kelly was planning an unabashedly romantic wedding and wanted the invitation to be classic and traditional but with that same romantic feel. The focus was on incorporating the lace from Kelly's gorgeous wedding gown into the stationery. In the end, that was achieved in both the design and the layout or the invitation. Kelly was kind enough to share some of the photos from her wedding, taken by the talented photographers at Imagine Studios.

 
{photo credit: Imagine Studios}

With Kelly's request of lace-inspired imagery, a classic pairing of fonts, and a flourished monogram directing the process, here are the earliest invitation designs...

 

Once we zeroed in on the band of lace in one of the original designs, it was simply a matter of determining how and where to incorporate it...

 

Here is the final design of the suite in digital form: 
And here is how it came together as a finished product, printed on a linen cardstock with a metallic gold accent, housed in a soft cream textured cotton blend cardstock tri-fold holder with ivory satin ribbons:

 

 

{photo credit: Imagine Studios}

Sealed with a wide ivory satin ribbon and vintage lace overlay with a printed monogram tag:

 

{photo credit: Imagine Studios}

We also had the chance to work on some items for the wedding itself, including ceremony programs and dinner menus:

 

 

 
{photo credit: Imagine Studios}

 
{photo credit: Imagine Studios}

Thank you for the opportunity to work together and for sharing your beautiful wedding with us, Kelly and Matt!

 
{photo credit: Imagine Studios}

Confection Perfection

 
{photo credit: laduree.fr}

I'm excited to share a sneak peek of the latest invitations headed out of our studio!

Bride-to-be Monica contacted us looking for invitations with a whimsical Parisian flair in a palette reminiscent of a box of the famous Ladurée macaroons. Her main inspiration for her wedding plans has been a beautifully crafted color board from 100 Layer Cake. Here's a quick taste of the candy-colored confections that we created for her May wedding with those inspirations in mind...

 

 

Spring Shower

 

Former client and Florida wedding planner extraordinaire, Justine, is expecting her first baby, and I was thrilled to be able to design some invitations for the co-ed shower being thrown for her and her husband Alexis this May.

The shower colors are a citrus green and tiffany blue, so that's what we used for the invitation. Justine had mentioned being particularly fond of this baby announcement that we created last year, so we used that as the jumping off point for the design concept.

 

The square invitation card and coordinating registry insert were printed on white linen cardstock, creating a crisp, clean look...

 

... perfect for showering the parents-to-be in celebration of their baby boy! 
 

Jamie + David: The Wedding!

 
{photo credit: john arcara photography}

Jamie and David's wedding took place at the beautiful Stone House at Stirling Ridge. We kept all of the designs for the ceremony and reception in the same fall-inspired color palette that was used for the invitations.

 
{photo credit: john arcara photography}

For the ceremony, we created long booklet programs, inspired by Broadway playbills, which included a "who's who" in the cast style biography of all of the important players in the couple's wedding -

 
 
 

 
{photo credit: john arcara photography}

For the reception, our many contributions included circular tented escort cards (a first for us!) printed in three different colors -

 

 
{photo credit: john arcara photography}

and dinner menus for each seat at the tables and circular table number cards -

 
 

 
{photo credit: john arcara photography}

It was such a treat to work with Jamie on so many creative details for her wedding. Congratulations again, Jamie and David!

 
{photo credit: john arcara photography} 

Jamie + David: Wedding Invitations

 

I loved working on Jamie and David's wedding invitation suite. Jamie wanted something unique and fun, but also elegant and appropriate for her black tie wedding.

Yes, that is a circular invitation that you see!

 

The invitation and coordinating enclosure cards, rounding out the palette of deep red, burnt orange and yellow gold -

 
 
 

... were stacked into a custom-made holder with a metallic gold accent, printed with their monogram -

 
 

and were mailed off to guests in coordinating envelopes!

 

Stay tuned for the final installment - images from Jamie and David's fabulous wedding! 

Jamie + David: Bridal Shower

Jamie's sister Marissa (a former client herself!) contacted us to create some invitations for Jamie's summer bridal shower soiree. Marissa and her fellow bridesmaids were planning a chic, girls'-night-out event in a Manhattan loft. Working in a black, white, and silver color palette, here's what we created for the invitations and matching information card, which were housed in a custom-made metallic silver pocketed holder...

 
 

... sealed up with a wide black satin ribbon and then stuffed in a fun hot pink envelope, custom printed with each recipient's address

 

Stay tuned for the next feature from Jamie and David's wedding: the couple's beautiful and elaborate wedding invitations!

Jamie + David: Rehearsal Dinner

Jamie and David were another of our fall 2009 couples. We first worked together on some movie-themed save the date cards and had the opportunity to work on numerous other projects for their wedding... so many projects that I have to split them up into several days worth of blog entries!

Today's feature from the couple's wedding stationery is the invitation for their rehearsal dinner.

 

In keeping with the movie theme we used for the save the date cards, we decided to use the date of the rehearsal dinner - Friday the 13th! - as an excuse to create something fun. The design we created is reminiscent of an old-time horror movie poster, complete with a cheesy headline and spooky font -

 

... and sketches of overly-dramatic actors in character!

 

It was such fun creating things to match Jamie's visions for her wedding. Stay tuned for tomorrow's feature - a collaboration with Jamie's sister and matron of honor for the invitations to her bridal shower!   

Katie + John

 
{credit: Corbin Gurkin Photography}
 
Katie and John were one of our fall 2009 couples, tying the knot in late November. Katie contacted us expressing interest in one of our semi-custom letterpress designs. Because she needed a very small number of invitations we were able to reproduce the design using flat printing so she was able to have the design she loved for her wedding.

Katie had visions of a wedding with a vintage, whimsical feel and the Sweet Pea design fit perfectly with her plans. We selected a champagne and chocolate brown color scheme for the printing on a thick, textured soft white cardstock -

 
 

In addition to the main invitation card, we created a coordinating response set and day-after breakfast notice -

 
 

We also created a custom-printed envelope liner using elements of the Sweet Pea design -

 

For the wedding itself, we had the pleasure of working with Katie on many additional items. We selected a variety of coordinating fonts with a vintage feel to create tented escort cards, personalized table cards, signs to be placed throughout the venue, and even a "thank you" sign. Here are a few photos from Katie and John's wedding, courtesy of the talented Corbin Gurkin.

 
 
 

Congratulations again, Katie and John!