Posts tagged spring wedding
Chinoiserie Blue Reception Pieces

Newport | Rhode Island

We have some lovely details for the custom designs we’re finishing up for a beautiful wedding in Newport.

We created two different designs for the escort cards to use as meal indicators, and each card had a cluster of gold gilding at the centers of their blooms.

 

We continued the gilding on the table numbers, which were all gilded by hand.

Likewise, our menus had gilded details in the flower clusters and along the edges of the white handmade paper that coordinated with the invitation suite design.

 
Gold Gilded & Embossed Invitation

elegant | regal | Gold | old-world | dramatic

an invitation suite for a wedding at:

the beekman hotel | new york, new york

 
 

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!

 
Winter Garden Roses

romantic | fluttery | soft

an invitation suite for a wedding at:

beaulieu gardens | Rutherford, california

 
 

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.


 
 
 
 
 
 
Pastel & Embossed Destination Wedding

Pastel | Textured | Modern Romance

an invitation suite for a wedding at:

Private Residence, Oahu, Hawaii

 
 

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.

 
Modern Florals in Pale Lavender

Modern | Monochromatic | Floral | Soft

an invitation suite for a wedding at:

The Museum of Contemporary Art - Chicago, Illinois

 
 

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.


 
 
 
 
 
 
Custom Designed Envelopes

How much more exciting is it to get a beautiful envelope in the mail rather than just a plain white one??

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.

Postage - Curating with Current USPS Issued Postage
 

When we think of curated postage, we typically think of a collection of vintage stamps, but I’d like to challenge that idea.

While I love working with vintage postage, I actually have found that I prefer mixing current issue and vintage together. It’s a great way of ensuring that you’ll have enough postage to get your invitations to your guests without requiring a ton of stamps.

 
 

By selecting current issue with discretion, we’re able to select stamps that blend in seamlessly with a collection of vintage stamps. I love this option to bring up our denomination while still maintaining the overall look and feel of vintage.

Can you spot which stamps are vintage and which are current issue?

 
 
Moody Velvet Fall Watercolor Wedding Invitations
 

Moody Fall at Filoli Gardens

A color palette focusing on rich tones of burgundies, golds, deep blues, and ochres started us on our design path with Natalie and Ammar’s suite. The truly remarkable venue with a historic brick mansion, tulip fields, apple orchards, and rose gardens was the perfect setting for a modern take on an old-world wedding.

 
 

Bold and deep colors, mixed in with pale roses and deep-hued papers bright this suite together. We began with a moody watercolor pattern, incorporated a simpler line botanical, and mixed in the bride and groom’s silhouettes.

The bride wanted her suite to feel like guests were opening a book into their love story, which was the perfect jumping-off point for a bound invitation suite.

Moody Velvet Fall Watercolor Wedding Invitations23.JPG

Each guest received a custom made burgundy linen-bound book with the couple’s silhouette on the cover in a custom wax seal. The inside of each linen-bound book was lined in the pattern we created for them and held their invitations with brass corner mounts. The invitation itself was printed on leather paper with a glorious texture. We also incorporated individual wax seals of each of the bride and groom’s silhouettes into the invitation design.

Our custom made reply envelopes of deep blue velvet had the climbing rose line botanicals tumbling off the velvet. We went with bold white printing on burgundy paper for the reply cards.

Our additional insert cards, including a hotel information card, reception card, and brunch card, were printed on pale blush, rust, and blue velvet reflecting the artwork and florals used throughout the suite.

Moody Velvet Fall Watercolor Wedding Invitations21.JPG

Let’s talk envelopes! Since the linen bound folio we created was fairly thick, we had custom made envelopes printed to accomodate the size we needed.

Each envelope was printed on the inside with the same artwork we used throughout the suite, with additional artwork details on the front and wrapping around the edges of the envelope.

Moody Velvet Fall Watercolor Wedding Invitations8.JPG
 
Moody Velvet Fall Watercolor Wedding - Reception Pieces
 

Moody Fall at Filoli Gardens

We brought the same moody fall colors through to the reception pieces, including deep burgundies, blue velvet, patterned vellum, and gracefully watercolor florals.

 
 
Moody Velvet Fall Watercolor Wedding Invitations2.JPG

We continued the use of the bride and groom’s silhouette wax seals for the escort cards and menus, layering vellum over blue velvet and printed artwork.

Our table numbers featured a pressed and white printed number on blue velvet, layered with artwork from the invitation suite and mounted on the same burgundy linen used in the invitation booklet.

Moody Velvet Fall Watercolor Wedding Invitations23.JPG

Each of the blue velvet escort cards were printed with white climbing rose vines in varying positions with the wax seal details. Each guest’s name was printed in white on vellum and fixed to the bottom of each card.

Our menus layered pale pink papers and vellum layers personalized with each guest’s name and affixed with a wax seal.

Our ceremony programs layered vellum artwork covers with burgundy inside pages and were bound with a pale purple tassel.

Another small detail that we love to add are dress tags and boutonniere tags for the bridal party. Each of these tags hung on the hangers of each bridesmaids dress noting which dress belonged to which girl and were a lovely little keepsake from the day.

 
Custom Envelope Liners
 

Envelope liners are a gorgeous way to add more details to your wedding invitation suite! I personally love using the liners and a vellum overlay to bring in a pattern for a bold statement of your overall aesthetic.

 
 

Envelope liners are essentially just one more place you can customize your wedding invitations. I love an unexpected punch of color or pattern, and envelopes just feel terribly naked to me without them.

The three liners shown above include a pattern based on Delft blue vases, with watery deep indigo blue artwork throughout the suite. The bright summer vibes of pinks and yellows tumble down the envelope and custom watercolor envelope liner of the center invitation suite, while modern lines flex and compress against watercolor and a bright white envelope for a wedding in Bilbao, Spain.

 
Spring Garden Floral Wedding Invitations - Papers
 

romantic | vellum | handmade paper | french blue | rose garden

an invitation suite for a wedding at the

Brooklyn botanic gardens | New york, new york

 
 

Let’s talk paper! We have warm white machined paper, subtle stripe taupe, vellum, handmade paper in green, handmade paper envelope in blush, and machined French blue in this suite.

I really love combining different paper types. It can absolutely present a special breed of problems when printing sometimes, but the final look is definitely worth it. This is certainly not a look that is easy to curate, and not something you can usually find without a decent designer to help guild your selections.

 
 

I love this pale green handmade paper that we selected for our reception cards. When it comes to selecting product, I usually only present paper types to our brides once I’ve selected everything I’d like to use and checked inventory to make sure I can actually get it. I want my brides to see the vision in my head as a complete idea, and presenting them with the entire suite’s paper helps them visualize.

 
 

We also used vellum in this suite - one of my favorite papers to print on. I love how luminous the colors look! We did dual printing on both vellum pieces, overlaying white and color.

 
 

We went with a blush handmade envelope with french blue envelope liners printing in tumbling vines for the reply envelopes. The front of each envelope was printed with matching artwork and calligraphy (of course).

Our French blue mailing envelopes have the most gorgeous white vines tumbling down the back with the return address in matching calligraphy. Our mailing envelopes were lined in matching rose artwork.

 
Delft Blue Wedding Invitations
 

Delft Blue Inspired Wedding Invitations

A classic inspired pattern for a wedding in an old English country estate.

Delft Blue Wedding Invitations.9.JPG
 

The Inspiration

The bride’s mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother are all avid collectors of the famous Netherlands Delft blue. Long since immigrated to the United States, her family still has strong familial ties to family back home in the Netherlands, where Delft Blue china originated.

 

The bride asked for deep indigo blues that reminded her of Delft without being on the nose about it. She wanted to bring in a bit more of a modern take rather than having her wedding feeling dusty and outdated.

When it came to the artwork, we also minimized the pattern itself, sticking to florals only rather than the overall pattern-work of Delft.

We selected handmade paper in earthy tones of bone and taupe to tone down the blue a bit, as well as a vellum wrap tied delicately with thread.

We also kept the typography simple and very minimal, leaving lots of negative space.

 
 

We paired white printing with the blue on the overlays, to bring in interest and depth and to soften and dilute the intensity of the overall Delft feel.

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a suite with these details at 120 suites starts at $6,500 with full assembly

 
Invitations Featuring Custom Artwork
 

There are several different routes you can go aesthetically when it comes to your wedding invitations. Around here, we typically lean towards the artwork heavy side of things, specifically watercolor.

Watercolor Artwork Wedding Invitations
 
 

Watercolor wedding invitations still seem to be in the forefront and limelight of design these days, and I’m loving it! From simple watercolor washes to colorful florals and patterns, we love it all - granted, around here, we tend to lean towards the more complex side and avoid the simple washes (I personally find them a little dull).

Watercolors are perfect for all seasons and aesthetics, from spring pastels to deep jewel tones of fall and winter.

Each suite of artwork is unique to each client, reflecting their personal style and wedding locale. I love bringing in bits of the season and venue, tying all of their details together.

My best advice when working with an artist for your wedding invitations:

Find an artist whose entire portfolio you love. If you start with a designer that you hope can capture the look you’re going for, it’s like cramming a square peg into a round hole. This also requires you as the bride to be able to perfectly articulate what you’re looking for, which sometimes is not all that easy. You know the vibe you’re going for, and can point to pictures you love, but when it comes down to it, you will be in charge of driving the creative direction of your wedding invitations and having the vocabulary to communicate that to your stationer. This leads to frustration on both sides, with the designer not understanding what about their work just doesn’t feel right to you, and you not having the vocabulary to communicate why it doesn’t feel like what you’re looking for.

In contrast, if you find a designer whose entire vibe you dig, you can trust them to create something for you that naturally fits within the aesthetic you’re looking for without requiring you to be in the driver’s seat. A good designer has a distinctive look and feel, which takes so much of the design burden and stress off of you, allowing you to enjoy the process rather than wanting to pull your hair out.

A good stationer isn’t just a designer - they’ll also have knowledge and experience with resources, materials, printing methods, and assembly tricks that we would never expect you to know. Find someone whose work you love, and trust them to guide you through a process you can then enjoy!

 
Spring Garden Floral Wedding Invitations - Overview
 

Pale blush, taupes, pastel spring greens, and French blues for a botanical garden wedding.

 
handmade paper watercolor floral wedding invitation10.JPG

Spring Florals & Handmade Papers

French blue garden wedding invitations with tumbling vines and blooming roses

 

So much spring happening here! Like most of the wedding invitation suites we design, we have lots of mixed media paper types here.

We began the overall design with the blue - we knew we wanted a medium French blue…not too grey, but on the spring side. Once I had the blue sourced, I was able to collect all the other papers we used.

Roses and forget-me-nots play with each other in the artwork for this suite, incorporating spring green, blue, and blush into the watercolor that was designed and created specifically for this client.

 
 
 
Spring Wedding Invitation Inspiration
 

The spring season is all about the emergence from winter, flowers blooming, and the world exploding into color. A spring wedding, regardless of venue and locale, can feel the same way!

 
 

Pastel florals, delicate blooms, pale pinks and peaches, all exude the feeling of the season.

So let’s talk about spring invitations, and we’ll start with the spring invitation inspiration in this post!

The first image on the left above features pastel pinks and blushes, pale blues, muted olive greens, and dark blues. We balanced the watercolor florals with the negative space created by line botanicals on both the custom printed artwork on a warm white envelope as well as the envelope liner. The envelopes were addressed in a pale blue modern calligraphy style that was designed for the client’s suite.

The center image above is one of my personal favorites. It has a different feel than the watercolor artwork suites that have become our signature, but I love the variety of textures that we achieved in mixing papers together. This suite features more traditional artwork, printed in deep rust, rose pink, olive green, and dark and light blues. The paper featured in this suite features warm whites, deep rose, pumpkin orange, pastel blush, and light blue, all handmade paper. The invitation was blind pressed for an overall texture on paper created in India by a female-owned, operated, and staffed company that pays a living wage to all their employees (this is important to us!). The additional paper selections were hand-produced here in the U.S. Handmade paper is such a gorgeous product to work with, but can be a nasty beast to print on (but totally worth it, IMO). Both envelopes were lined in custom envelope liners featuring artwork from the suite, and a pastel blush vellum overall completed the suite.

Last but not least in today’s spring invitation inspiration round-up is an accordion-folded save the date on a gorgeous warm white paper with a subtle overall texture. The florals for this suite are built around peach, lavender, pale blues, and muted olive greens. We went with traditional calligraphy with lots of flourishes for this suite. We easily could have brought in a more modern style to create a more playful overall look and feel, but selected the formal to reflect the level of formality of the overall event. The peach spring save the date was tied together with a gorgeous peach silk chiffon ribbon.

It amazes me that these suites are basically all featuring the same color palette (which I only realized as I was typing this and noticed that I had typed the same colors in all three projects!). It shows how different each bride is in how they see their day and how we work with them to develop a design unique to them!

 
Bespoke | Emma

central park | floral | Manhattan | moire | skyline | boathouse | laurel | summer | boater hats | white attire