Rachel’s Southern Vintage Engagement Party Invitations

Rachel from Benign Objects sent over her “southern vintage” engagement party invitations – which she of course designed and printed herself and are absolutely lovely!  Here’s what Rachel said about her invitations:

They were really fun to make.  I reworked some vintage-y artwork and added color.  I created a custom monogram, looking to old monogram books for inspiration:

Engagement-invitation1
I put the host’s name on a seperate card and had the back printed in a rich, deep red so it could do double duty as a belly band.  I then secured it to the invitations with a wisp of satin ribbon:
Engagement-invitation2
I used kraft envelopes and printed out labels on my computer:
Engagement-invitation3
I had Roberto Sand make the monogram into a custom rubber stamp for only $14!  I used a gold stamp pad to stamp the monogram in the middle, giving it a sort of salty finish that I really like:
Engagement-invitation4
Rachel says she loves the way the designed turned out – really pretty, but not too sweet and not at all stuffy – definitely the southern vintage vibe that she was aiming for.  I particularly love the pattern detail in the background, which you can see really well in the last photo.  Check out more over at Benign Objects right here – thanks Rachel!
{photos by Rachel from Benign Objects}

{rubber stamp business cards}

I'm just about in awe of these business cards made using rubber stamps:

Stamp-business-card
Stamp-business-card2
I love everything about this business card design – the bold font, slightly angled text, and particularly the definite handmade vibe that comes from using a wood handle rubber stamp.  I have no idea how the designer got all of these to line up so perfectly (other than lots and lots of practice), but I'm definitely inspired to give this idea a try myself in a future project.  
Learn more about the printing process over at FPO right here.
{images by sassen design via FPO}

Wedding Menu Card Ideas

I love the idea of providing menus for guests at a wedding.  Your guests will appreciate knowing what they’re eating, and it’s a great way of continuing the design elements from your invitations or your wedding theme/style.  And even if you don’t have the time or budget for a menu at every place setting, you could easily display one or two per table or next to the food for a buffet-style reception.  So I thought I’d round up a few of my favorite menu ideas for those of you in need of a bit of menu inspiration:

Menu - MSWeddings
Of course, you can’t go wrong with these templates from Martha…


Also from Martha, a tutorial on a clever way to combine place cards and menu stands

These fortune-teller menus were used by Mrs. Peacock for her wedding

Vintage_glam_cootie_catcher_menu

Luckily, Vintage Glam blog created a template for these menus, which you can find and download here

Smp_menu

I love this idea of framing your menus on top of patterned fabric or paper, found via Style Me Pretty

Chewingcudmenu

Viola from Chewing the Cud incorporated a fake quiz into her menus for fun twist

For a garden wedding, consider displaying your menus in wire stands next to your centerpiece arrangements. Menus can either be displayed on each guest table for a sit-down dinner, as done by Tara from In this instance (above)…

082

…or can be displayed next to the food for buffet or food-station style receptions, like I did for my wedding (photo by Punam Bean)

More wire inspiration from this wedding via MS Weddings

A vintage-inspired menu from serendipity

These two menus above – a vintage-inspired hand-written menu from RubyPR and a calligraphed menu from Brides – both found via Snippet & Ink are a great way to bring beautiful handwriting into the reception (just make sure your guests can read the handwriting!). If you don’t have the budget for calligraphy, just ask a friend (or a few) with good or unique handwriting to help out

The menu above (via Tec Petaja) would be easy to recreate using a Gocco or rubber stamps from Paper Source – the text could be printed on your home printer on Paper Source card stock.
{images via their respective sources}

Place card & escort card ideas… continued

As promised… here are a few more ideas for place cards and escort cards!  First up – escort cards hung from a clothesline have been a staple of outdoor weddings for the past several years, but are also really easy to customize to suit your wedding style and theme:


{images above by Bethalee Photography via In Style Weddings, from brides.com via Snippet & Ink}

Instead of hanging escort cards in the air, these escort cards are attached via miniature clothespins and twine along a flat table surface:


{via Wedding Paper Divas}

One charming wedding featured escort cards in the form of a handwritten note to each guest from the bride and groom – such a wonderful and personal touch!


{via Bird Dog Press}

If you plan to work with a calligrapher for your place cards (or even plan on doing the calligraphy yourself), stamps are a great way to dress up standard tented place cards. Paper-Source carries a great selection of stamps featuring floral patterns, animals, and other designs, but you can also try searching ebay for vintage stamps.


{via Bird Dog Press}

If you’re not planning to use calligraphy, try Kathryn’s suggestion of using individual rubber stamps to spell out guests’ names, or try using an every day object, such as these old playing cards, and label them using pre-printed or hand-written names on store-bought labels:

Stamppc_2

Playing_card_pc
{both via Snippet & Ink}

Continuing the rubber stamps idea, I’ve always held a particular fondness for this constellation idea, as well as using small bunches of lavender as escort cards:

  

Martha Stewart Weddings

Last for today, in addition to making fun Save the Date cards, post cards can also serve as a fun option for escort cards, with guests’ names and table number written in place of an address:


{via Elizabeth Anne Designs}

I’d love to hear your ideas – what are you doing for your escort cards or place cards?

{images via their respective sources}