Search Results for: invitations

Printable Papel Picado Wedding Invitations from EM Papers

It’s always so fun to hear the story of how a designer was inspired to create a particular design.  Today, Eleanor from EM Papers is sharing the story behind one of her printable wedding invitation designs – a gorgeous red and white invitation suite inspired by the traditional Mexican folk art known as papel picado.  I love the bold red and white color palette and hand drawn motifs!

From Eleanor: Several years ago, when she turned 30, my sister decided to throw herself a ‘Treintañera’ since she had never had a Quinceañera.  I designed the invitations for her, using traditional design elements found in papel picado and native Mexican folk art motifs, and my dad printed them letterpress. I later turned the invitation into a blank card but always felt that the design was ripe to be extended into a full wedding suite.

One of the challenges when designing my download and print wedding stationery, is that I have to anticipate all of the constraints my customers might have.  For example, not everyone has a home printer than can do borderless printing, so I don’t use full bleeds on items like programs and table numbers.  This design had so many little elements, like the hand drawn lines and sun/starburst figure that it was easy to pick them up throughout the line and keep the whole suite coherent.

Thanks Eleanor!

EM Papers is a member of the Designer Rolodex – you can see more of Eleanor’s beautiful work right here or visit the real invi­ta­tions gallery for more wedding invitation ideas!

Photo Credits: EM Papers

*EM Papers is one of my fab­u­lous spon­sors; for more on my edi­to­r­ial poli­cies please click here.

 

{happy weekend!}

In all the hubbub of Alt last week, I kind of forgot about an important personal milestone – the anniversary of my husband’s deployment to Iraq.  He’s now been home as long as he was deployed, but I still wake up every day feeling grateful that he’s here.  Everything felt so chaotic and overwhelming this time last year; a feeling that continued up until the day he came home.  So if you know of anyone with a spouse or family member deployed overseas, give them a few extra hugs – I’m sure they would appreciate it.  I’m looking forward to enjoying a weekend here in DC before heading up to NYC on Sunday for the New York International Gift Fair and to help judge the 2012 Louie Awards.  But in the meantime…

…a few links for your weekend!

This week on Oh So Beautiful Paper:

A big welcome to the newest Designer Rolodex members!

As usual, we have a fun cocktail coming up for you this afternoon, so check back a bit later for the recipe!  I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, and I’ll see you back here on Monday with some favorite finds from the Gift Fair! xoxo

Photo Credit: Madelene Lindqvist

Amanda + David’s Whimsical Accordion Fold Wedding Invitations

Amanda sent over the invitations from her wedding in Minnesota last summer – I absolutely adore the whimsical calligraphy and accordion fold layout!  Amanda worked with local stationers Watermark Stationery to create an invitation that was elegant yet non-traditional, ultimately settling on a sophisticated design with a playful pop-out for the main invitation.  The entire suite was letterpress printed in a single color and embellished with gorgeous calligraphy from Crystal Kluge.  So pretty!

 

From Amanda: The invitation sets the tone for a wedding, so we wanted to show our invited guests what type of event we had planned: formal, fun, glamorous and somewhat whimsical.  I worked with Gretchen Berry of Watermark Stationery in Excelsior, Minnesota to come up with a fun, unique way to present our wedding invitation.  We knew we didn’t want a traditional invitation; we wanted something unique, different and fun.  

 

Once we came up with a design that we loved, we had some of the text elements custom done by local calligrapher, Crystal Kluge.  We loved the combination of the whimsical, yet formal letterpress calligraphy paired with our over-sized main invitation.  The invitation was paired with a mini envelope and fold-out accordion invitation, reply and direction cards, and a dark gray outer envelope with white ink calligraphy – all tied together with a white silk ribbon.  It was truly our dream wedding invitation.

Thanks Amanda!

Design and Letterpress Printing: Gretchen Berry, Watermark Stationery
Calligraphy: Crystal Kluge

Check out the Designer Rolodex for more tal­ented wed­ding invi­ta­tion design­ers and the real invi­ta­tions gallery for more wedding invitation ideas!

Photo Credits: Matt Blum Photography

Mauro + Emmy’s Travel-Inspired Destination Wedding Invitations

Lindsay from McMillian + Furlow sent over the beautiful wedding invitations and save the dates that she created for her brother’s wedding last fall.  Lindsay was inspired to create a destination-inspired suite, from postcard save the dates to passport-style invitations.  Lindsay also created a beautiful wedding logo based on the bride and groom’s initials; the logo was incorporated on nearly every detail, from the invitations to lavender sachet ceremony programs, and even the groom’s suit!

From Lindsay: We were inspired by the idea of having a mini destination wedding on Shelter Island, and by the rich history of the Pridwin Hotel.  I also developed the M&EM logo – a play on their initials – to use on all the materials, either printed or stamped on with the custom rubber stamp.  Mauro even had it embroidered into his suit jacket!

Working with the color palette that Mauro and Emmy had chosen, I designed the save the dates to be a sophisticated play on the classic “Greetings From…” postcards.

Traveling has been a way of life for them ever since they began dating, so it was natural that this passion would be incorporated into the wedding.  The invitations were designed as passports, issued on the day of Mauro and Emmy’s engagement.

They included all the information guests would need to know – from ferry schedules to and from Shelter Island, historic facts and maps, to ceremony information, lodging, and activities.  This proved to be very useful for all the guests that would be traveling from out of state (and Italy!)

Photo Credit: Joe Sanfilippo

The menus were tied together with a family remembrance card and a timeline of all their travels together.  The string was carefully chosen for it’s reference to the classic Italian pastry boxes.

Bags of lavender were stamped and tied with all the ceremony information on the back.  This was our clever way of avoiding the use of a standard wedding program.

Photo Credit: Joe Sanfilippo

Thanks Lindsay!

Check out the Designer Rolodex for more tal­ented wed­ding invi­ta­tion design­ers and the real invi­ta­tions gallery for more wedding invitation ideas!

Photo Credits: Except where noted, all images by McMillian and Furlow

{happy weekend!}

Woah, this was quite a week.  The end of the weekend saw me completely flattened by a terrible 24-hour virus, which left me unable to do anything but sleep during the early part of the week.  Ugh.  Thankfully I recovered in time for my flight out to Salt Lake City for Alt Summit – which is where I am right now!  I’m enjoying the beautiful mountains and catching up with friends before heading back home to DC at the end of the weekend.  But in the meantime…

Photo Credit: Aaron Huey

…a few links for your weekend!

This week on Oh So Beautiful Paper:

Finally, don’t forget to enter the Valentine’s Day giveaway from One Plus One – the contest ends Sunday!  And as an added bonus, One Plus One is offering free shipping from their Etsy shop from now until Friday, January 27!  Yay!  Just use the code LOVEISINTHEAIR at checkout!

Check back soon for today’s cocktail recipe!  I’ll see you back here on Monday! xoxo