Sophisticated yet laid back. These backyard black tie wedding invitations from Ashling of Lotus & Ash welcomed guests to a barefoot, relaxed, and formal wedding celebration. We love the juxtaposition of high fashion and low-key relatability! This is such a fun suite, including nods to the couple’s collegiate days where they first met. The modern calligraphy by Nicole Miyuki and classic serif typefaces make the perfect final detail of juxtaposition to pull it all together!

From Ashling: As a wedding invitation designer, it’s what I’ve come to call the “triple crown” – a collaborative bride with impeccable taste, a film-worthy love story over a decade in the making, and a shared goal to design a suite that was traditional and timeless, but didn’t take itself too seriously.

The mature, edgy, and meaningful invitation suite was such a trifecta. The thread for their wedding weekend was “Black Tie and Barefoot,” and it lived every bit up to its promise. The couple was married in front of the groom’s childhood home, followed by an elegant black tie reception held in the backyard. The celebration ended with an after party in the pool house, and the bride and groom jumping, fully clothed, into the pool.

When Steph and Mark first came to us to design their full wedding stationery suite in less than 5 months, we were beyond excited for the opportunity, but needed to get their save the dates out quickly. Still unsure of what their exact wedding aesthetics would be, we celebrated their days as Stanford students with a save the date that incorporated watercolor university ephemera and a portrait of the fraternity house where they first met. We incorporated a vintage map of Stanford from the couple’s collection as a personal, colorful envelope liner.

As the details came together for Steph and Mark’s backyard, black tie wedding, we knew we wanted to create something that was both sophisticated and formal, yet fun and modern. Aubergine envelopes with brush calligraphy opened to reveal a Carrara marble liner and foil-stamped pocket, inspired by the wedding decor.

The letterpress announcement, printed on the ever gorgeous 2-ply Crane’s Lettra, featured modern calligraphy paired with a classic serif typeface and a blind deboss detail on both the front (the couple’s monogram) and back (a rose pattern). The suite also included weekend details and reply cards with arresting typography, dark floral photography, and haphazard black watercolor swashes, digitally printed on an Indigo press on #130 Classic Crest.

Our personal favorite element from the suite? It’s nearly impossible to choose, but the attire card takes the crown. It featured glassine envelopes filled with colorful swatches to inspire guests attire and the instructions “black tie invited, shoes optional.” In our dream world, that would be the requested dress code for all weddings!

Thanks Ashling!

Design and Illustration: Lotus & Ash

Calligraphy: Nicole Miyuki

Letterpress Printing: Dependable Letterpress

Foil Printing: JR Press

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

Photo Credits: Katrina Jayne Photo