I LOVE designing postage to compliment the wedding invitation design!
This suite included both vintage postage and current issue postage to compliment the overall design as well as create a high enough postage denomination to ensure the heavy and oversized invitations got safely through the mail.
A reception for the ages….and rare that I get to help set up in person!
Pro Pics (which these are not!) are from Jen Fariello, Florals by Springvale Floral, Coordination by Cheers, Darling.
The reception was held a the GORGEOUS DAR in DC, with so many historic details and the most stunning and dramatic columns.
For her reception details, we added a few touches of gold here and there. We started with gold gilded table numbers, then went to gold calligraphy for the place card calligraphy, and gold calligraphy detail on the menus.
The menus were unusually large and designed to sit under the plates at each place setting with the napkins and placecards on top.
Between the shortages throughout the industry and the very distinctive shade of blue I was looking for, we ended up going with a custom-dyed silk ribbon to hold all our pieces together. We paired it with a pale pink custom wax seal and vintage styled postage.
Our amazing bride, Alexandra, requested two things….a bold, saturated, monochromatic color palette, and florals. We were all over that. I also added touches of rose gold foil and calligraphy throughout the suite to elevate the overall formality of her Black Tie wedding in Italy.
I love getting a project where I get to work with a ton of colors! Granted, the shortages we’re seeing throughout the paper industry right now didn’t make it easy, but I was up for the challenge.
We wanted to go with spring pastels without feeling too much like an Easter church service. I selected very specific shades, including a cool pink, medium rosy purple, spring green, pale blue, and a distinctive shade of cornflower blue.
We had two different envelope liners for this project - one featured the overall toile pattern that we created for the bride, and the second was a sweeping, romantic pattern created from some of the floral festoons pulled from the main toile pattern.
When I created the toile, I also created individual pieces that could be used in a variety of placements throughout her design. The envelope liner was created from floral festoons from the overall pattern, and we highlighted George Washington in his sunglasses on the front of the enclosure envelopes.
We opted for a colored version of her laurel for the invitation itself, and repeated the same style for her placecards. Vintage style postage was a must and we did a custom dye for her silk ribbon to perfectly match her blue.
Each envelope was sealed with a pale pink wax seal with a bouquet from her toile pattern.
Reply card sets with two different designs for the envelope liners, bright coral reply card, coral detail on the flat of the envelope, calligraphy return address, and gorgeous vintage postage.
Flourished coral calligraphy on handmade paper, pale blue vellum overlays with coral details printed on white in a frame around the edges, thin silver thread held tight with semi-transparent wax seals, and bold envelope liners.
This suite featured two different pieces of artwork on the envelope liners, as well as artwork printed on both the reply envelope as well as the mailing envelope. Naturally, we selected blue postage to compliment the overall aesthetic.
Newport | Rhode Island
I’m so in love with these blues!
The blues are a perfect pairing for a spring wedding in Newport, Rhode Island. Our bride wanted a touch of the opulence of the venue without going full Victorian for her invitations. She and her family grew up spending their summer holidays nearby and she always loved passing by the Chanler House as a little girl. The invitations were the compromise between the classic Victorian styling of the venue and the more modern feel that the couple preferred as their own personal style.
I selected a white handmade paper with velvety soft edges for the invitation and reply cards, and paired with them with a bold lapis blue for the reception card. I loved the contemporary vibe the blue insert brought to the overall suite. We also selected a modern calligraphy style to pair with the blue watercolor florals.
Lets talk about gold gilding.
One of my favorite details to add is gold gilding to the edge of designs. For this particular design, I also added it to the centers of various blooms throughout the suite, including the reverse of the invitation, the die cut overlay, mailing envelopes, and reply envelopes.
It’s always so much fun to work on a project locally and get to present paper types and proofs in person, and that’s just what I got to do with our momma-to-be here in Philadelphia. I can’t wait to show you the rest of this gorgeous botanical baby shower invitation!
We used so many details of the Beekman Hotel as we played with design ideas for Yara. She knew she wanted bits of gold and embossing, and we wanted to pull color inspiration from her beautiful sapphire engagement ring. We also wanted to echo some of the overall textures and feelings of the hotel, like the dark moody lighting and all the velvet upholstery.
We also selected not to go with all white paper, instead, we selected a warm white and a taupe.
Our bride was looking for old-world drama, and I think we delivered!
She had seen so many examples of “old-world” invitations that were pale and beautiful, but hardly any that were dark and moody, like the hotel that was hosting their nuptials.
Each piece of the suite had gold gilding applied by hand. The invitation had the most dramatic gilding, followed by the reception card. Our additional insert card just had touches of gold around the edges.
We always want each piece to feel unique and not like a cookie-cutter of the other pieces in the suite. but have their own personality!
The taupe mailing envelopes also had gilded detail rounding the return address, as well as gilded details on the deep sapphire blue wax seals.
Another high-impact moment is the reply envelope. Fully embossed and lined with gold gilding, it’s a dramatic piece with so much texture and wow factor! The fronts of each reply envelope also featured a bit of old-world magic with tiny pieces of gilding.
The oval floral wax seals we designed for Yara’s suite also had bits and pieces of gilding in the sapphire blue wax. We used the wax seals to hold closed our taupe mailing envelopes.
The embossing is definitely the highlight of the suite with the embossed pattern covering several of the pieces. The tactile experience and visual beauty are like nothing else! These invitations were designed to truly set the mood for Yara and Rhys’ wedding!
The bride always had her heart set on an outdoor garden wedding, but after their nuptials had been postponed several times and a date opened up at their favorite museum, Laura and Zac jumped on it.
Our goal was to create a garden-style floral invitation suite for Laura while keeping it on the more modern side to fit with the style of the Museum of Contemporary art.
Our overall design element was the pattern that we created for Laura and Zac’s suite. Comprised of all the garden flowers she loved, including roses and jasmine vines, we selected a pale grey lavender for the florals.
We applied different styles of the pattern to each piece within their invitation suite, creating interest and a unique feel to each card and envelope.
Naturally, the envelope liners matched the overall suite with a similar pattern.
an invitation suite for a wedding at:
Our bride wanted a soft and romantic feel to her wedding invitation suite, incorporating a pale french blue, buttercup yellow, and blush.
She also knew that she loved the embossed texture we’ve been showing a lot of lately, but wanted to create more negative space with hers.
We chose two main methods for elevating the overall design:
Linen bound folio to house the suite
and
Overall embossed pattern
The linen bound folio in a natural linen color was carried throughout the suite. We backed several pieces in the same linen and layered it into our menus as well.
You know how much we love embossing, so we created an embossing pattern based on the watercolor and embossed everything. Embossing is such an elegant and unusual way to add texture and elevate the overall suite.
We selected a thin silk ribbon in a light bush to tie the whole suite together. Each invitation was tied with a simple bow over the semi-transparent vellum layer with blush roses printed on it.
One of the design elements we wanted to work with was negative space. We do a lot of design work that has an overall embossed pattern, but for this design, we wanted to eco the asymmetry that the bride was using throughout the wedding.
The invitations had negative space in the middle with roses and vines tumbling in a semi-circle around the wording.
We also see the same asymmetrical design work on all the other pieces, my favorite being the reply envelopes.
We used the same asymmetry and negative space on the menus and place cards with bits of the floral pattern and vine work peaking in along the edges of the menu cards.
The place cards were a simple cards with different aspects of the floral embossing on each card, complete with blue calligraphy.
The bride always had her heart set on an outdoor garden wedding, but after their nuptials had been postponed several times and a date opened up at their favorite museum, Laura and Zac jumped on it.
Our goal was to create a garden-style floral invitation suite for Laura while keeping it on the more modern side to fit with the style of the Museum of Contemporary art.
Our overall design element was the pattern that we created for Laura and Zac’s suite. Comprised of all the garden flowers she loved, including roses and jasmine vines, we selected a pale grey lavender for the florals.
We applied different styles of the pattern to each piece within their invitation suite, creating interest and a unique feel to each card and envelope.
Naturally, the envelope liners matched the overall suite with a similar pattern.
We have two sets of envelopes on the print table this week.
The first is a modern take on florals in pale lavender, designed with florals and vines surrounding the address.
The second is a garden suite with roses in pale purples, blush, and jasmine vines asymmetrically on the envelope.
an invitation suite for a wedding at:
We wanted to create a bold, tropical pattern that could be used throughout the paper and reception spaces in varying ways. We were aiming for tropical but wanted to create a feeling that was slightly more upscale and elegant alongside the more casual island feel.
We chose two main methods for elevating the overall design:
Linen bound folio to house the suite
and
Overall embossed pattern
The linen bound folio in a natural linen color was carried throughout the suite. We backed several pieces in the same linen and layered it into our menus as well.
You know how much we love embossing, so we created an embossing pattern based on the watercolor and embossed everything. Embossing is such an elegant and unusual way to add texture and elevate the overall suite.
We also had to die-shapes created for this project - one in the shape of the island of Oahu, and one in the shape of the hibiscus flower we used throughout the suite.
The island was used as an insert for the invitation, as well as tags for our welcome bags. The flowers we used everywhere else!
Now that we have all our elements laid out, let’s talk about the invitation itself.
Elegant and on the simple side, our invitation was printed with the couple’s crest on top of bright white cotton. The invitation was then backed in a bright pink and the entire piece was embossed with an overall texture, front and back.
We then created our folios, which we shaped line envelopes. The inside of each linen-bound folio was lined in custom-printed mulberry paper to match the suite.
The left hand side held the stack of a reply card and envelope, reception card, and info card, all tied together with seafoam green grosgrain ribbon.
Our finishing details included a second color of vintage grosgrain ribbon, lots of linen, tons of texture, and an invitation that rewards you for interacting with it!
