Yellow and Gray Letterpress Wedding Invitations: Biergarten themed

I love when I get the opportunity to help create invitations for a friend and this past Spring I was able to work on the letterpress set pictured below. This invitation was designed for a couple who had a clear vision. They wanted to incorporate a biergarten theme while keeping the invitations modern and classy. I really love how it came out with the use of mixed fonts and strait lines. The RSVP coaster was a clever way of subtly incorporating the theme while adding a fun element. It was sure to set the tone of the event while bringing a smile to all.

Carolyn and Johnny's wedding was featured on A Practical Wedding and is a great read for those planning a rustic, New England affair. To those of us who endured a rainy wedding day (I'm also one of the lucky ones) you will surely relate to her funny commentary the morning of, the last minute change of plans and advice Carolyn shares with brides-to-be.

Yellow and gray letterpress wedding invitation

RSVP coaster in gray letterpress

Dreaming of watercolor invitations

Recently I had the pleasure of exchanging emails with Becca Cahan who is a recent graduate of the Mass College of Art and Design. Like me, she has a love for invitations, design and beautifully crafted paper goods. Unlike me, she has an amazing skill set of hand lettering, watercolor and calligraphy. I spent a good deal of time wandering around her online portfolio daydreaming of her watercolor art as invitations. Below are just a few of my favorite designs she created that I can easily envision working as wedding or event invitations/announcements.

Courtesy of Becca Cahan

Courtesy of Becca Cahan

Courtesy of Becca Cahan

 
I love the way watercolor is never uniform throughout and LOVE the way she mixes lettering. Such talent! It's talent like this that makes me want to get married all over again just to work with Becca to create a watercolor invitation. I'm hoping that future brides-to-be will inquire about getting watercolor art incorporated into their invitations or save the dates. One thing for sure, it would truly be one-of-a-kind.

WellWed Maine|NH Magazine + Hobart and Haven

I am so excited to have been welcomed into the WellWed family. I really love that they are New England based publication and have launched a Maine|NH issue of their magazine. One of Hobart & Haven's invitations is lucky enough to be featured in their 2013 Fall/Winter issue. Here's a sneak peak at the green and bronze colored invitation.

Green tree invitation

The magazine itself is truly a work of art. Not only is it a great guide for brides but I found myself tagging pages for dinner party and decorating ideas. The colors pallets and photo captures are stunning. I recommend grabbing a copy when they hit the stands, pouring yourself a glass of wine and daydreaming. Enjoy :)

Happy Holidays

Wishing everyone a happy holiday season and a very happy new year. There was a lot to celebrate this year with many weddings, births, pregnancies and anniversaries.  I am so grateful to have worked with a bunch of wonderful new clients on their invitations and announcements and am eager to start working on all of the 2013 events that are lining up. I wanted to share some of my favorite holiday card designs of this year (weddings being a huge theme!) It's so nice to recap the year with a couple of your favorite pictures to share on your cards.

2 photo holiday card- gray and green

Chevron holiday card with photo

What's your wedding day vision?

Rustic Wedding Inspiration- DIY

It's important to have a clear vision for your wedding day to help build a cohesive look from start to finish. Before designing save the dates and invitations, I always ask brides to describe the look and feel of their wedding. This typically includes color palettes, wedding dress, venue, time of year etc. Today I decided to get my inner "Style Me Pretty" on and made a collage of some of the inspiration I used for our wedding.

1. Birdcage veils are the perfect, understated, yet feminine accessory for those who don’t want the traditional long veil. I purchased mine through Etsy.

2. Perhaps my favorite decoration and DIY project: string chandeliers were hung in the ceremony and reception locations. You can keep them white or spray paint them in the color of your choice.

3. 3-teired tree dessert stand- try saying that 5 times fast! If you have a handy family member and access to some tree trunks, this is a unique way to serve cupcakes (or whoopie pies in my case).

4. Vera Wang peep toe flats are great for brides worried about the combination of heels and grass or are looking for comfort AND style throughout the night. 

5. "Tree cookie” centerpiece stands help to add a rustic look to each table.

6. Use tinted jars to add pops of color throughout the reception setting.

7. Did you spot the pine cone detail in the boutonniere? It's a wonderful wonderful way to add a rugged touch to the groom’s accessory. Having beach-side nuptials? Try adding sea-grass as a backing to the flowers.

8. Farmers tables are the epitome of rustic and add additional color and texture to the reception decor.

9. Wedding invitations: a mixture of lace and paper bag envelopes helped to incorporate the lace detail on the wedding dress and tied in the rustic/diy feel of the day.

[Photo compliments of Hobart & Haven, floragrubb, theblacktieco]

Design for cause: Cocktail Party Fundraiser

Fundraiser Invitation

I was recently asked to join a fundraising committee and help design a brochure for a great cause: Operation Progress. In short, it's a foundation that was created to help inner city students from LA and Boston reach their goal of going to college by providing mentoring and financial assistance through scholarships. I wanted to make sure the brochure looked "cocktail cool" to match the overall feel of the evening event. Hopefully this piece will help to recruit people to have a fun night out while raising money for 4 lucky students.

String Chandeliers- DIY wedding decoration

One of the DIY craft projects my parents and I worked on for my wedding was string chandeliers. It's the same idea as the popular paper lanterns (but without lights). I thought it was such a cool decorative element for a rustic looking wedding. I received so many compliments and thought I'd share the instructions below. I've seen people make these for their homes, girls rooms, table decor etc.

String Chandeliers (without the light)

Rustic DIY Wedding setup with string chandeliers

Instructions:
1. Inflate multiple sized balloons to a medium size so the shape is roundest.
2. Grab a tarp or old blanket to cover your work area. This gets VERY messy. Mix corn starch, glue and warm water together until it has a smooth texture.
3. Smear Vaseline all over your balloon until it is completely coated so the yarn wet with glue won’t stick on the balloon after dry.
4. This is ideally a two person job at minimum. I recommend one person feeding the yarn through the glue mix and giving to another person to wrap it around the balloon.
5. Start wrapping the balloon vertically, slowly changing to horizontal wrapping. For a seamless look, tuck the ends of the twine under one of the wrapped strings.
6. Wait 24 hours until the balloon has completely dried before popping the balloon.
7. Spray the string chandeliers with clear fast drying spray paint as a sealant. You can even spray the yarn a color.

Ingredients:
Colored balloons (this will allow you to see the pattern of the wrapped string better) - I recommend sizes 9", 16", 24" and 30" for a variety of sizes
12 oz Elmer's glue, 
White cotton yarn 
Tray or bucket for glue mixture
2 cup of Corn starch
1 cup of Warm water 
A Stirrer
Clear fast drying spray paint
Fishing line to hang balloons from  

*you may have to double/triple recipe based on the amount and size of chandeliers made.

The finished product is totally worth it :) I promise.