Concert Poster Inspired Save the Dates

I love it when brides have a specific idea or theme in mind for their invitations. Lauren had these great engagement photos taken by photographer, Lindsay McDonald, inspired by the Bob Dylan album cover that you see in the picture. Music is a very important part of Lauren and John's life and will play a big part in their wedding so they knew that they wanted their save the dates and invitations to reflect that.

Lauren wanted to go with a vintage concert poster look for the save the dates. It was a simple 5x7 card, printed on both sides. She has a great fall color palette that is really enjoyed working with. We chose the aubergine envelopes to compliment. Her aunt will hand address the envelopes with gold ink.

Kendall's Timeline Save the Date

For a more fun and casual approach to save the dates, we opted for a timeline of events leading up to Kendall and John's engagement. She came up with cute sayings for the important events in their relationship.

I also did another save the date, within the save the date, which I had never done before! Many of Kendall's girlfriends are getting married this year, and she wanted to make sure they would be able to attend her shower as well. She included a save the date to the bridal shower along with the regular save the date, to a select number of friends and family.

Napa Valley - Save the Dates

Brooke's wedding is being held at the Beaulieu Garden in Napa Valley. A gorgeous setting for an outdoor wedding. She wanted her save the dates to have a rustic, but soft, romantic and a European feel. Many of Brooke's guests are coming from all over the country so she also liked the idea of doing a vintage travel theme. Instead of the typical grapes and vines that you often see with a wine country wedding, Brooke is using olive branches throughout her decor, and wanted to incorporate them into her save the dates as well.

She chose the super soft and luxurious cotton paper.

We also did custom olive branch stamps, with translucent envelopes and fun wrap around mailing labels.

Colorado - Save the Date, Represent Your State

Hillary really liked my Santa Fe save the dates and wanted to recreate something similar for her Colorado wedding. Complete with mountain scenery and columbines. (Colorado's state flower).

Her wedding is taking place on a ranch in Telluride. She wanted her save the dates to have that rustic feel. We went with craft paper and the ever popular vintage map mailing labels.

Save the Date - India

Working on this project was a fun challenge for me. When Rohini contacted me about her save the dates, she didn't really have a idea of what she wanted. She new that she liked a vintage look and wanted something really different, but that was about all that I had to go on.

She is having a wedding weekend in India. She herself is traveling from London and has guests coming in from Hong Kong, the U.S., South America, etc. After talking about what she likes and what she doesn't like for an invitation, we knew she wanted to do travel theme.

I thought this would be a good post to show kind of how the design process works, from start to finish, because this invitation was truly a team effort. So often brides come with an idea in mind and I build from there. Rohini didn't really have one. She knew what she liked, and I helped her develop her concept and from that point on, she had a huge part in creating the design.

My first thought was a vintage travel poster. This was the first round of the design process:

My plan was to print this in a large format, like a poster and then send it in a mailing tube. I thought this was cool, she thought it was too stereotypical and literal. I couldn't really argue with her, she is right, but I still like it :) On to the second round...

The second idea was to do a vintage map and illustrate where everyone was coming from.

I did some research and found this great quote about travel and friends. Rohini really liked it and it tied the whole the concept together. Again my plan was to print this large scale and send it in a mailing tube. While she liked this design, she decided that less is more and that she really didn't want something shipped in a tube. She wanted thick cotton cardstock, with a long narrow layout and the transparent map envelopes that I have been doing so much of this year.

Here is the end result, and I have to agree with her, less is more.

Apple Orchard Save the Dates

When the oh-so-talented Carrie MacMillan-Lane of Storied Events out of Vermont contacted me to work with her bride and groom on this save the date, I was super excited! This was something I had never done before and couldn't wait to get started! The bride and groom are having their reception at Shelburne Farms in Shelburne, Vermont. It is a historic, working farm with apple orchards.

Carried came up with the great idea of making the save the dates out of actual produce bags that you get when you go to pick apples. I had custom stamps made to give it that "authentic" look and hand stamped each bag.

Inside the bag, we included an accommodations card with all of the lodging information.

The bag was then folded up, sealed together with circle labels and mailed! No envelopes needed. Finally, wedding stamps from the post office that actually match my design.

Peacock Save the Dates

Anjali had one requirement for her save the dates...peacock feathers! She is going to have a beautiful wedding with lots of hindu traditions. She needed save the dates that would set the tone for the event to come. These are the perfect precursor to her wedding invitations. Talk about glamorous! Think raw silk in sapphire, hand painted details and gorgeous shimmer paper. So elegant!

This is the second project (see yesterday's post) I have had the opportunity to work with Lindsey Narkter of Lindsey Narkter Designs. She is an exceptionally talented wedding and event planner. Check out her website to see some of the fabulous work she has done and be sure to check out her blog. Right now Lindsey is accepting submissions to her first ever Wedding Day Giveaway. It is an opportunity to win a day of wedding coordination! There are also some other fabulous wedding vendors contributing their services, so make sure you visit the blog for the details.

 

Minted.com Save the Date Competition

Hey everyone, I just submitted a design for Minted's Save the Date competition. My design was inspired by Hannah and Brandon's spring wedding in Boston. I Wanted to do something that was fun and playful, and really summed up the look of Boston in the Spring. Click on the image to leave your comments! I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Save the Date - Represent Your State

Paul and Elizabeth have lived all over the country, but met and became a couple in Santa Fe, New Mexico. They new that they were going to have a lot of out-of-town guests and because Santa Fe is such a special place to them both, they really wanted to represent that in their save the dates. So we opted for a  rustic, travel themed announcement.

Everything about Elizabeth and Paul is unique and different, therefore, they certainly didn't want the traditional look. They really appreciate the natural beauty of New Mexico, so we definitely wanted to incorporate the sunset, which New Mexico is famous for. We also added lavender, which grows like weeds. They are going to be incorporating some some Native American traditions in their ceremony, so I wanted to make sure we included that element as well. The repeating pattern at the bottom of the announcement is a typical Native American basket weave design and to give it that personal touch, the "yee-haw" is an expression that Paul uses frequently. He did spend some years in Texas after all. :)

To give it that rustic look, we chose craft paper for the announcement and glassine envelopes. I also ordered a bunch of vintage maps of New Mexico on ebay and cut them out and printed the addresses on them. Last but not least, we ordered vintage stamps from Champion Stamps.

Damask Save the Dates

We were one of the first vendors Stephani met with, which was a change because deciding upon invitations is usually one of the last things a bride does. She didn't even have her dress yet! It was fun because we had a big part in developing the overall look for her wedding. Stephani and Dan wanted a somewhat formal invitation suite, that wasn't stuffy. They definitely wanted to convey their fun side! Stephani came with many of examples of styles that she liked. She ended up choosing the damask invitation with their monogram. I love the bold look of the black pattern. To add a little "fun" we put the date of their wedding along the curved initial of their monogram. It's probably hard to see. My amateur photography skills just don't do these things justice! Can't wait to start the invitations!

Tarena & Gary - Inkwell

Tarena & Gary came to us for save the dates. They are getting married at the Roostertail in Detroit and wanted an announcement that set the tone for their wedding. She had visited our website and really liked the Sunburst invitation from our Inkwell collection. Not only did she get a color-customized announcement, but a coordinating envelope, with her guest list printed on it. From the time she approved her proofs, we were able to have her announcements printed and in her hands in less than 72 hours! This line is perfect for the bride in a time crunch!