Michelle + Tyler's Wedding Invitations: Our Signature Collection Invitation with Holiday Charm

Many couples would like a custom designed wedding invitation but might not have quite the budget for custom invitations. But sometimes it's hard to find ready-to-order invitations that are just right for your wedding. That was the case with Michelle and Tyler. Michelle loved our Square Medallion Wedding Invitation but it was missing that something special she wanted for their Christmas-themed celebration. So we ended up creating a semi-custom design for them: we took our existing Square Medallion invitation design but incorporated wintry graphics like evergreen branches and pine cones. The result? Michelle and Tyler paid much less than they would have for a completely custom design, but it was still unique to them and their wedding!

Evergreen boughs and pine cones were added to the return address and guest addresses printed on the shimmery gold outer envelopes. Pine branches and pine cones were repeated on the reception card and the couple's monogram. The entire invitation suite was held together by a hunter green belly band.

The wedding invitation details were carried through onto the reception items: tented menu cards, a cards and gifts sign, guestbook sign, Instagram hashtag sign, signature drink signs, and favor stickers (on cones of hot cocoa mix!).

Michelle and Tyler- thank you so much for letting us be a small part of this very special day. Not only was your wedding day beautiful and elegant, but you were one of the sweetest couples we've ever worked with! We hope we get to design invitations for you in the future! Congratulations!!

Ceremony location: Corpus Christi Church, Baltimore, Maryland

Reception location: Belvedere Hotel, Baltimore, Maryland

All photos above © Brittany DeFrehn Photography and used with her permission

A Fancy Rustic Fall Wedding: Lauri + Geoff's Wedding Stationery

Lauri and Geoff are a lovely couple who found me online in late spring 2011 and we soon began chatting via email and phone about their fall wedding in Annapolis, Maryland. Their wedding plans consisted of pairing two gorgeous colors, eggplant and copper, and hosting an amazing cocktail-style party on the Chesapeake Bay. It took a little time to work out the upscale-casual, fancy-rustic vibe they were going for, but we eventually nailed it! The couple had a traditional church ceremony followed by an amazing modern reception at one of the world's greenest buildings, the Philip Merrill Environmental Center, home to the Chesapeake Bay Foundation (check out that incredible building... and the views!).

A beautiful scrollwork graphic was incorporated on the invitation and inserts, and everything was printed on shimmer paper and bundled together with a satin ribbon belly band.

 

To save on inserts and printing, Lauri and Geoff chose to include an RSVP postcard and a double-sided reception card that had directions on the reverse.

 

We also printed coordinating thank you notes for the couple to send out after the wedding.

The ceremony program was a bifold tea length program printed on cream shimmer paper.

We even carried the theme over to the reception with a matching signature drink sign for the bar.

Photos of their celebration can be found over on their photographer's website, Natalie Lane Photography.

Thank you, Lauri and Geoff! It was incredible getting to know you and working with you on all your wedding stationery!

A Modern City Chic Wedding: Ife + Jamal's Wedding Stationery

This past spring I got to work with a really sweet couple from Philadelphia on their wedding day stationery and accessories.  Ife and Jamal actually had not one, but two wedding ceremonies.  On Friday the couple held a Nigerian ceremony to honor Ife's heritage, and on Saturday they celebrated with a traditional Western wedding ceremony.  I worked with Ife to create much of the stationery and other day-of accessories for their Saturday wedding: ceremony programs, an aisle runner customized with their monogram (designed by Lovely Paperie by Meli), escort cards, dinner menus for each guest's place setting, signature drink signs for the bars, and a candy buffet sign.

Ife described the vision for their wedding as "modern, city chic (with a touch of bling)" and a color palette of dark purple, silver, and hints of hot pink.  Ife and Jamal purchased their custom wedding invitations through their wedding planner, The Event Boutque, LLC, and were looking for wedding day stationery that would coordinate.  Their beautiful invitations featured a modern, floral pattern on metallic papers and a mix of flat printing and thermography:

Invitations by The Event Boutique, LLC/Photo by La Rue Louise Designs

We continued the look of their invitations through to the rest of their stationery with a modern floral pattern, bold pops of color, metallic papers, and the use of their monogram on most pieces (monogram design by Lovely Paperie by Meli).  Their ceremony programs were 5" by 7" bifold programs on champagne metallic paper.  The front and back cover featured that bold, modern floral pattern along with their monogram and notes of thanks.  The inside displayed their order of ceremony, bridal party, and the text of a special ceremony reading.

Ife and Jamal chose to add some elegance to the guest tables at their reception by including a tea length menu at each place setting.  Their monogram and bold, modern floral continued on the menus and showcased the amazing food selections at the Philadelphia Airport Marriott.

Shaped signs accented with luxurious satin ribbon and genuine Swarovski crystals adorned the back of the bride and groom's silver chiavari chairs at the reception.

Ife and Jamal's wonderful photographer, Kesha Lambert, was kind enough to share some photos of their amazing day with me.  If you are in the New Rochelle, New York area, be sure to check out her Facebook page and website for more of her work.  All photos below by Kesha Lambert Photography:

Thank you so much Ife and Jamal!  Your wedding was absolutely amazing and I loved being a small part of it!

A Modern Fall Wedding: Christi + Ben's Wedding Stationery

Christi and I met through a mutual friend and had one thing in common right away- the same wedding date!  Well, the month and day at least.  Christi and Ben got married on what was probably the most popular wedding date of the year: 10/10/10.

Christi, Ben, and I met over coffee and discussed what they wanted out of their wedding invitations and programs.  Although they were planning a fall wedding, Christi and Ben wanted elements that were more "modern fall": bright colors, fun motifs such as polka dots and stripes, and clean sans serif fonts.  Their main colors were burnt orange and grape purple, and we added red, yellow, and lavender which matched the flowergirl dresses.  The envelopes, invitations, and inserts were all out of metallic stock.  Here's how their invitation suite turned out:









Usually inner envelopes will clear up any confusion there might be as to who is invited to the wedding.  Lots of couples choose to forgo the tradition of inner envelopes (they increase costs and use more paper) but Christi and Ben wanted to eliminate any confusion for their guests.  So we incorporated round tags that hung from the purple cording wrapped around the invitations.  One of the tags displayed the name of the guests, the other repeated Christi and Ben's initials and wedding date; both showed off colorful stripes on the reverse.















When it came to the ceremony programs, I suggested something a little different.  Since Christi was up for trying something more modern, I suggested a round program.  After all, she loves polka dots and what's more perfect than a "polka dot" wedding program?  Christi also wanted just a hint of traditional, so we added a burnt orange satin ribbon bow to the top.





The back:





Thank you Christi and Ben!  I'm so glad I got to work with you and create your wedding stationery!!

A Vintage Modern Wedding: Jen + Jake's Wedding Stationery

Jen and Jake are such a sweet couple.  They first met in sixth grade and were high school sweethearts!  After graduating from college they decided to teach English together in China and did all of their wedding planning from overseas.  With the help of their awesome family and friends (not to mention the internet!) they planned a fabulous wedding with lots of beautiful details.

Jen described their wedding style as "Vintage, elegant and modern.  Our colors will be eggplant, cream and mauve with hints of antique silver and moss green throughout the decor."  In keeping with their color palette, Jen chose bridesmaids dresses in Lapis from David's Bridal, and with the help of her sisters, created their bouquets from mauve peonies found at Garden Ridge.  A glimpse of their wedding colors (mauve peony, mauve card stock, and DB Lapis swatch):

Jen and I discovered that it's not always easy finding ribbon that matches your wedding colors.  Luckily, I've got the hook-up when it comes to customizing fabric and ribbon (thanks mom!) and I was able to create custom Lapis-colored ribbon for Jen and Jake's wedding invitations.  This is what 200+ pieces of ribbon looks like drying (please excuse the fuzzy phone pic):

Like many brides, Jen had a large guest list and a not-so-large budget.  Believe it or not, many times the cost of the postage amounts to half of a couple's entire wedding stationery budget!  So we worked together to reach a solution- for most of Jen's guests we eliminated the response card altogether and gave the guests the address of Jen and Jake's wedding website where they could RSVP online.  This saves you the expense of a response insert and envelope, not to mention the RSVP postage.  About 70% of Jen and Jake's guests received an invitation, mailing envelope with printed return address, reception card with reception and RSVP website info, and a card stock and ribbon belly band to hold everything together:

The other 30% of Jen and Jake's guests (mainly guests without internet access or older guests) received an invitation, mailing envelope with printed return address, reception card, response postcard (again- saving money on postage!), and a card stock and ribbon belly band to hold everything together:

Response postcards are another great way to save money on your wedding stationery budget- you pay for postcard stamps versus first-class stamps AND you eliminate response envelopes altogether!

Everything but the belly band was printed on cream-colored metallic paper.  The belly band was printed on smooth mauve-colored card stock that matched Jen's flowers.  Checkout the details:

For the "day of" stationery, I created ceremony programs and reception table tent cards that coordinated with the couple's invitation suite.  The programs were tea length (4.25" by 11") and printed on smooth cream-colored card stock:

Jen and Jake wanted to take advantage of this opportunity for their guests to get to know more about them as a couple.  They came up with 17 different fun facts about their relationship and I printed them on 5" by 7" tented cards for their reception tables.  Here's one sweet little tidbit:

We also customized their ceremony further by embellishing the couple's unity candle and aisle runner.  I created two different monograms (for Jen to choose between!) and printed them on vellum so she could dress up their unity candle like this:

Finally, I used my wide-format printer to print the above monogram at approximately 3 feet wide, so that Jen could customize their aisle runner à la Heather of Road to the Aisle.

Thanks Jen and Jake for entrusting me with your wedding stationery!  Your wedding was beautiful and I'm so glad I was a small part of it!!

The gorgeous bride and groom

 photo by Nicole Zeisler Photography

The bridesmaids showing off their Lapis dresses and silver heels

 photo by Nicole Zeisler Photography

Showering husband and wife in bubbles

photo by Nicole Zeisler Photography

Congratulations!!  I wish you lots of happiness together!