Illustrated Wildflower Wedding Invitations
These illustrated wildflower wedding invitations make me sad to see summer go! Michelle of Honey Paper designed this whimsical watercolor wedding invitation suite along with the bride’s mother, drawing inspiration from the mountains of Sun Valley, Idaho. What a special gift for the bride!
From Michelle: It was so much fun working with the bride’s mother on this invitation suite. She wanted to do something special and unique for her daughter. We worked on creating an invitation that was inspired by the elegant wedding venue, which was surrounded by all the gorgeous, natural beauty of Sun Valley, Idaho. The color palette was forest green, lavender, various shades of plum and a touch of mustard yellow, reflecting the mustard seed plant in the area.
The clients were originally attracted to my watercolors, so we knew we had to incorporate those, but the bride’s mother wanted to make sure it was also elegant with a bit of whimsy in the wording. I started by creating a watercolor illustration of the iconic Sawtooth Mountains that lie north of Sun Valley and are the recreation destination for many visitors in the area. The watercolor mountain is painted with a variety of wildflowers in their surroundings. That image was used for a stunning envelope liner and on a small tag attached to ribbon that tied the invitation suite together.
Both the invitation and reply card were kept simple to remain elegant and let the watercolors stand out. We had the most fun with the wording, which they definitely wanted to be a bit unexpected for the recipients, but not deviate too much from tradition. “Knees Up†was used instead of the traditional “Reception to follow†and was taken from the song “Knees Up Mother Brown†from the early 1900s. The expression “knees up” came to mean a party or a dance.
To make the invitation suite extra special, the clients inserted an event card that was bordered with all the different wildflowers. This was placed on the flip side of the invitation and was a visual treat when the invitee turned the invitation over. This was all tied together with two ribbons and the custom tag.
Printed on Crane Lettra Fluorescent White 220# and 110# paper. The watercolor illustrations were digitally printed and paired with two color letterpress printing for the invitation text.
The envelopes were addressed with green calligraphy to match the inside ink color and then paired with vintage stamps – many with an Idaho theme!
Thanks Michelle!
Design: Honey Paper
Printing: The Paper Place
Calligraphy: Penagraphics
Check out the Designer Rolodex for more talÂented wedÂding inviÂtaÂtion designÂers and the real inviÂtaÂtions gallery for more wedding invitation ideas!
Photo Credits: Michelle Castle
A Rainbow Unicorn Birthday Party
Both of my girls celebrate birthdays this week – Sophie turns 4 and then four days later Alice turns 2 – and we’re hosting their joint birthday party this weekend! We’re keeping the party very low key with just a couple of little friends and their parents in our teeny backyard patio, but of course I can’t resist the opportunity to do a bit of decorating! We’re going with a rainbow unicorn theme this year, with colorful honeycombs and paper party decorations, some very special cupcakes, unicorn balloons, and a few iridescent elements. Here are some of the images I’ve pulled for party inspiration!
1. Jordan’s rainbow baby shower
2. Cupcakes via Cooking Classy
3. Meri Meri ombré rainbow partyware from the Oh Happy Day Party Shop (photo via Instagram)
4. Unicorn balloon by Northstar Balloons via Pixie Dust Party Spot
5. Colorful bunting fan garland via Lark
6. DIY iridescent party favor bags
7. Fringe Streamers by Nine Photography via Ruffled
8. Honeycomb garland via Oh Happy Day
Tiki Sangria
I love Sangria. And I love Tiki drinks. So it only makes sense to try to cram them together. But this is a little tricky. Tiki drinks are based on layers upon layers of flavors, rums and citruses and spices all on top of each other. But Sangria is sort of the opposite. Sangria takes a lot of different flavors – wine, some fortifying spirits, some citrus and fruit and a bit of sugar – and melds it all together into one big mellow, delicious whole. So this took a little bit of experimenting, but I think I’ve got a Tiki Sangria recipe that works as a Sangria, while also paying homage to some classic Tiki flavors. –Andrew
Tiki Sangria
1 750 ml Bottle of Spanish Dry Red Wine
8 oz Aged Rum
8Â oz Pineapple Juice
2 oz Cinnamon Syrup
2 oz Guava Nectar
2 oz Allspice Dram
2 oz Demerara Syrup
1/4 oz Orange Blossom Water
2 Limes, Thinly Sliced into Rounds
2 cups Pineapple, Diced
Combine everything in a pitcher and let it sit for at least an hour and preferably overnight. Serve in glasses filled with ice and garnish with whatever you have on hand, like fresh mint and tiny umbrellas. Enjoy!
Now that I’ve listed out all these ingredients, it does look a little ridiculous. But Tiki drinks are, by their nature, a little ridiculous, so I’m in good company. Like I said, this took a little bit of experimenting. We tried a mix of rums, but found that the Sangria swallowed up the delicate nuances of all the different rums. So we decided to stick with just one aged rum, in place of the traditional brandy. And we replaced the classic orange juice with pineapple, to add a depth of tropical fruit to the Sangria.
But the real magic is in the layers of sweeteners. The cinnamon and allspice lend very subtle, but distinct spice notes. The guava is one of my favorite ways of adding earthy, tropical fruit to a drink and works the same here, a subtle but distinct fruitiness. And the orange blossom water, while not a sweetener, adds an exotic floral quality that is reminiscent of orgeat, that Tiki staple that blends sweetened almonds with orange blossom water.
No one is going to mistake this for a rum-heavy Tiki cocktail. It’s still very distinctly a well-integrated Sangria. But it’s a Sangria with lots of classic Tiki flavors bouncing off each other in every sip. So maybe it’s a little bit livelier than usual.
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Glassware by Liquorary
Photo Credits: Nole Garey for Oh So Beautiful Paper
Boho Glam Agate-Inspired Wedding Invitations
We are seriously envious of the lucky guests who received these boho glam agate-inspired wedding invitations! Designed by Melissa of Atheneum Creative, these beautiful wedding invitations were inspired by the agate motif incorporated throughout the wedding and the bride’s favorite nail polish color. So creative! The invitation suite features a custom hand painted agate-inspired design and stunning gold foil details, styled to perfection with gilded agate slices!
From Melissa: Jessica came to our first meeting with nail polish for color inspiration and tons of magazine tear sheets for décor inspiration. We often hear a lot of décor terms during our invitation design process, like rustic, elegant rustic, romantic and modern… the list can go on and on! We have worked on weddings that were boho inspired and weddings that had a glamorous aesthetic, but this was the first time we heard “boho glam” as a décor term. After this wedding I am sure we will be hearing it a lot more!
They wanted to use agate details through the entire wedding, so the invitation features a custom agate-inspired painting – of course matching Jessica’s nail polish color inspiration. The agate portion was digitally printed, then duplexed to give the invitation more weight and add color on the back, and finally hit with a layer of gold foil.
For this invitation, we visited our printer for a press check to try different shades of gold foil and see what would pop best off of the digital background. We also invited the client to be right there on press with us so she could get a feel for how the digital color was laying down and be able to pick her own gold foil. We even gave her the printing plate for the gold foil when we were done.
Jessica wanted the invitations to act as a gift in the mail to her guests, something they could not wait to open! So we packaged the invitation and reply card in a gray mailing box with gray paper and addressed each box with gold calligraphy.
Thanks Melissa!
Invitation Design: Atheneum Creative
Calligraphy: Boho Ink
And Atheneum Creative is a member of the Designer Rolodex – see more of their beautiful work here or visit the real inviÂtaÂtions gallery for more wedding invitation ideas!
Photo Credits: Chelsea Davis Photography