Pretty Peonies

This peony invitation set is so perfect for spring. We used thermography (great cost-effective alternative to letterpress!) in blush pink and antique gold on ivory shimmery paper with antique gold backers.

We love this RSVP card ~ so delicate!

Calligraphy is Elegance.
Photos by MiBelle, Inc.

Zazzle Stamps

Visit our Zazzle shop to buy your custom stamps! These are perfect for save-the-dates, bridal & baby showers, wedding invitations, wedding reply cards, etc.

 

Black & White NYE's Wedding

We are so excited to finally have received these pictures from a New Year's Eve black and white wedding! Coordinated by the amazing Tina LaMorte of Oh So Fab! wedding planning. We created invitations and menus, both letterpressed. The calligraphy style used is our Tier 3 Splendid Flourish and we added crystal rhinestones to enhance the custom damask design.

The signs at the event were created with white writing on black cards and black writing on white cards , and the escort cards were custom square tent cards.

The couple even created a groom's monogram that was used at the bachelor party and also on these adorable matchstick boxes ~ so creative!

It was truly a beautiful black and white affairs ~ congrats to the happy couple!

Adventures of a Bride-to-Be

Wow! I can't believe I've been engaged for two months already and will be getting married in exactly 135 days (thank you countless websites for keeping track for me.) I am the type of Bride that, if given the time, could easily turn a wedding into a circus, so my Fiancé and I decided it would be best to have a short engagement. We have been together for 9 years, so we are pretty in-tune with our roles in party-planning. His role: Smile and tell me, "That sounds great!" My role: Plan a wedding, making sure his favorite people, dinner, music and beverages are there...oh, and try not to empty the bank account while doing so.

Immediately following our engagement, I went to work planning. I called around to a few places regarding a dress and such, only to find that I was being asked the same question by all, "What is your wedding date?" I quickly learned that sealing a date with a venue should have been task number one. Stephen (oops, let me introduce you; Stephen is my fiancé) and I have always talked about having our wedding at our favorite winery in Temecula, so I figured this would be an easy task. We really wanted to be married on 10-10-10, as quite a few people tease that we might as well get married for our 10-Year Anniversary, but it seemed quite a few other couples also had significant reasons to be married on that date. We would have to settle for whatever availability they had around September / October. When I called the winery, the only date they had available without going into the holiday season was August 29th! Lesson number two was quickly learned and applied: When having a short engagement, you MUST be flexible and act fast. I took my Mother-In-Law-To-Be down to the winery that weekend and we signed the contract.

Task number one complete: Stephen and I will be getting married at Ponte Family Estate the evening of August 29, 2010.

With Love,
Jenn

Adventures of a Maid of Honor

My sister has been asking me for weeks to send her proofs of her invitations for a "first look." It's a custom invitation, and typically I have no problems with this, except that I've been suffering a major case of writer's block (or whatever similar term would apply for invitation design.)  The problem stems from the Engagement Party. The invitations were so awesome for a "mere" engagement party, people have literally been asking what I will do to top them! The answer up until this point has been, "I have absolutely no idea."

It's not that I didn't have tons of ideas, it was just that they were all somewhat unformed, and just bumping around in the back of my mind, while I focused on "real clients" who have impending deadlines. My sister and Ryan had a few requests: not too feminine, not too colorful, and lastly, they had to somewhat intertwine the concept "rustic, vineyard venue meets j.crew meets Ryan's Texan roots" Not a small feat!

It took about an hour's worth of brainstorming with Beth Helmstetter to come up with something that was actually a clear cut interpretation of what I was envisioning. Afterward, I was able to convey in writing to one of my graphic assistants how to piece this major puzzle together.

Last Friday, I was happy to receive several mockups in my inbox which I promptly forwarded on to my sis. While it needs some tweaks, it overall captures the feeling they want for their invitations, and she was really pleased. Even Ryan liked the initial proofs (always good to have the groom concur with the bride) and we should be getting the invitations well on the way to print this coming month!

Attention New York Dwellers!

Be sure you check out this free event from BRIDES Magazine! Join in Saturdays & Sundays from April 24 - May 22 to view a Newlywed's dream home. Visit www.bridesfirstlook.com/newlywednest to view a schedule of events and to RSVP.

Autumn Garden Invitation Suite

This version of our Autumn Garden invitation is printed on aqua shimmer paper in brown ink. The set includes the invitation, a map with directions on the reverse and an RSVP postcard. All three pieces were held together with a brown belly band lettterpressed with their monogram in ivory. The chocolate brown envelope also had an ivory liner with the coordinating floral design.

The bird on the RSVP card is holding a little envelope in his mouth - such a sweet touch! The reverse side of the postcard had the floral design printed as well.

Calligraphy is Allegro.
Photography by MiBelle.

LA Map

I always get a little giddy whenever we do maps of Los Angeles. Since it's my hometown, it's fun to see how others represent it! This map is no exception. The couple wanted to include two of LA's more famous museums, and we were able to use little paint icons that I think are so cute!

The wedding is an all weekend affair including Friday night cocktails at the couple's home and even a hike on Saturday - how fun is that?

Adventures of a Bride-to-Be

I'm so excited to announce the launch of a new series on our blog. The adventures of a Bride-to-Be will follow the real life planning experiences of our lucky bride, Jenn Glenn. Jenn and I have actually been friends for about 10 years now. She and her fiance, Stephen, have been together almost 10 years as well, and they finally got engaged this past February. They live in beautiful Orange County, California where Stephen is a firefighter and Jenn works doing events at the House of Blues in Anaheim. I am so happy to have her guest blogging for us and I hope you'll check back to follow her adventures, beginning next week!

Adventures of a Maid of Honor

I have to admit, though I have a lot of experience with calligraphy and invitations, I have very little experience in planning events. In fact, the thought of planning an entire wedding seems quite daunting to me. So when I offered to take the lead on planning a bridal shower for my sister, I had no idea what I was getting into and my first thought was, I really need Beth's help with this. Until this past week, I hadn't really given it much thought, and figured I would put it off until later this summer, since it wouldn't be until next September or October.  However, recently I had a little lesson in the importance of planning in advance, and also in the importance of including other bridesmaids in your planning.

{photo by Boutwell Studio}

My recent experiences started with my sister asking me a couple of times if I had any date options for the shower I will be throwing with her other bridesmaids. We actually ended up having quite the tiff (as can happen with all the emotions surrounding families and weddings!), but with it being about five months away, I thought, "Gee, it's really not that big a deal..." until I learned that Beth's weekends were pretty much already booked for the entire months of September and October. There are also two people who will only be in town on certain dates that my sister really would like to be able to celebrate with, and another shower in the works that also depended on our date. When I finally got around to sending out a few emails, I quickly learned there were a lot of conflicting schedules, including several with the various bridesmaids. 

If that didn't wake me up to the importance of advance planning when it comes to wedding activities, I got another lession the following day, when out of the blue an old sorority sister of mine gave me a call. Since we don't usually talk on the phone, I basically had no clue why she was calling, until she started talking about me contributing to a shower for a mutual friend (who happens to be my best friend from college). Up until that day, I had been somewhat anxiously waiting to hear if I would get to be a bridesmaid in the wedding - even though we're so close, you never know! So when said friend asked if I wanted to help plan a shower for early June, I was understandably confused because the bride had yet to even mention bridesmaids let alone showers to me. The mutual friend went on to explain that the bride wasn't having "official bridesmaids" because of the groom's culture, but she, myself and two others would basically have the same role, just not get to walk down the aisle, and stand up front with the bride at the wedding. Again, news to me, but I was excited to hear that I'd be part of her VIPs. Anyway, long story short, she told me the shower was already set for a date in early June and they had already purchased invitations (!) and begun making the plans. However, the date they chose is a day that I will be traveling so I can't even make it, let alone co-host!

Needless to say, I was pretty hurt that I hadn't been told about the situation, and upset that even though they wanted me to contribute, they had set a date that I couldn't even be there for and had already started planning. So, I learned my lesson and immediately composed a detailed email to the bridesmaids in my sister's wedding, and promised I would do my best to include everyone, and make my plans early, so that we can best accommodate those important to her to share in the day, since afterall, the day does revolve around her!

Pewter Color, Tea-Length Invitation Suite

This tea-length invitation set with a country club icon at the top was created for a wedding set in Southern California - hence the palm trees!

The set included an RSVP postcard and a map of the area. We used an antique gold letterpress ink and our Sloop script.

We also used pewter envelope liners and edged the invitations in a matching pewter color.

It was all tied beautifully together with a pewter silk bow!

Vendor Spotlight: Monkeys on the Roof

We often see cute ideas from real weddings on the web and wonder, "where did they find those?!" Well many of you might know that you can find anything and everything from the wonderful website Etsy! We found this adorable vendor, Monkeys on the Roof, and we are so smitten with these little wooden wonders...

Love little wood placecard holders, but don't have the resources to make them yourself? Monkeys on the Roof makes ready-to-use placecard holders for you; and even better, they are reasonably priced!

These "merci" magnets make special mementos from your special day.

And these gift tags would hang beautifully as escort cards.

Aren't these little birds so charming? Even just scattered on your cake table or at your guest book.

This vendor gets busy in the summer months (from wedding orders we have to assume!), so be sure to place your orders in advance.

San Juan Invitation Set

This couple chose the aqua and antique gold version of our San Juan invitation and added the pirate ship icon in addition to the traditional starfish to mix it up and make it her own.

They used an RSVP postcard to conserve both paper and postage!

The pool blue envelopes had gold return addresses to tie it all together.

The whimsical calligraphy style is Camden.

Springtime Inspiration Shoot

We were happy to be a part of a floral spring time inspiration shoot designed by Beth Helmstetter that was shot in Ojai, California.

Beth wanted a soft floral look, and I thought something elegant would look nice against the rustic setting.

The floral design features chartreuse and dark green with our Splendid Flourish script.

There are so many beautiful photos ~ I would love to share them all! To see the shoot in its entirety (and the inspiration board that started it all), visit Style Me Pretty here, here, here and here.

Photography by Steve Steinhardt.
Florals by Holly Flora.