Beckett’s Camping Field Manual Birthday Party Invitations

These birthday party invitations from Tara at Cracked Designs are so fun and creative!  Created for her son Beckett’s 2nd birthday party, Tara created a complete invitation field manual booklet inspired by old school camping manuals and Boy Scout merit badges.  Such a great idea for a birthday party theme!

From Tara: My husband and I often refer to our son Beckett as “Sass-quatch,” mostly because he’s had a case of the terrible twos ever since he turned one. When brainstorming for Beckett’s 2nd birthday party, I knew that a play on the name of the mythical “Sasquatch” turned “Sass-quatch” theme would be perfect for our little monster.

 

I’ve always loved vintage camping & Boy Scout images, and thought it would be really unique to plan a party with the idea of having an “Exploration of the Sass-Quatch” as the concept for the party invitations.  I wanted the invitation suite to feel very old school and earthy, with an overall camping vibe.  I turned the invitation into a booklet, complete with an “Official Sass-quatch Explorer Society” logo that drew inspiration from vintage girl and boy scout merit badges.

I had fun coming up with all the text for the invites, and wanted to make it feel like the guests were reading their very own Sass-quatch guidebook.  I printed out the cover of the invitation on heavyweight kraft paper.  Each invitation booklet was assembled and placed in a drawstring cotton muslin pouch with hand-drawn arrows, then placed in a kraft paper envelope and sealed with a round sticker.

 

For the actual party, we turned our house into a full on forest, complete with cardboard trees and a giant sass-quatch cut out hiding amongst the trees. Guests created their own little terrariums in vintage glass jars.  I kept the theme from the invitations running strong in all of the elements of the party, so everyone got the full sass-quatch exploration experience!

Thanks Tara!

Photo Credits: Cracked Designs

Rena + Michael’s Semi-Formal Handkerchief Wedding Invitations

I’ll always be a fan of handkerchief wedding invitations, and for this semi-formal wedding they really couldn’t be more perfect!  Created by the team at Lucky Luxe Couture Correspondence, Rena and Michael’s invitation suite combines a classic black and white handkerchief invitation with a letterpress chipboard reception card and vintage rsvp postcard.  Just gorgeous!

From Erin at Lucky Luxe Couture Correspondence: Rena is an attorney who left the big city life in Chicago to be with Michael and his 2 boys on their Ohio farm where they truly live farm to table, raising their own food.  They are having a semi-formal wedding at a stately club, but the rest of the weekend is going to be at their home on a beautiful rustic 25 acre gentleman’s farm.  They want the weekend celebrations to be casual and gracious — a family style gathering.  The suite combines screen printed handkerchiefs, letterpress on cotton paper, vintage botanical illustrations for envelope liners, address calligraphy by Holland Wilson, and vintage postcards bundled with twine.

 

Thanks so much Erin!

Design and Printing: Lucky Luxe Couture Correspondence

Calligraphy: Holland Wilson

Lucky Luxe Couture Correspondence is a member of the Designer Rolodex – you can see more of their beautiful work right here or visit the real invi­ta­tions gallery for more wedding invitation ideas!

Photo Credits: Lucky Luxe Couture Correspondence

Nick + Lindsey’s Creative Wedding and Rehearsal Dinner Invitations

Multi-talented photographer Brooke Courtney created the wedding invitations for her brother-in-law’s recent wedding – including some of the most adorable rehearsal dinner invitations I’ve ever seen!  The bride and groom wanted to keep things clean and modern, with a focus on text and contrast.  In addition to the main invitation, Brooke created a “Best Day Ever” rehearsal dinner kit with photobooth tips and a list of phone numbers to make sure nobody bothered the bride on the wedding day.  Genius!

From Brooke: Nick + Lindsey asked me to create all of their paper goods using their blue and yellow color scheme, with their only other instructions being “No flowers.  Nothing girly.  Nothing swirly.”  Ha!  They kept using the words “text” and “contrasty” when describing what they wanted everything to look like.  I feel as though I matched their wedding invitation suite to their photos really well – clean and simple.

I made Rehearsal Dinner Kits, including a wedding day schedule, bride + groom mad lib, Smilebooth basics and tips, and a list of phone numbers that people might need on the wedding day.  The “Best Day Ever” kits are my favorite thing I created for their wedding weekend.

 

You can purchase a printable version of the “Best Day Ever” PDF that Brooke used on the paper bags in her Etsy shop right here!

Thanks so much Brooke!  Check out Nick and Lindsey’s wedding photos right here for more inspiration from this fabulous wedding!

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

Photo Credits: Brooke Courtney

Ashley + Jonathan’s Seagrass-Inspired Beach Wedding Invitations

You might remember these beautiful letterpress blind impression wedding invitations from Sarah at Ten Lines Pica that I had the pleasure of featuring last summer.  Well, today Sarah is back with a sophisticated approach to beach wedding invitations.  I particularly love the subtle palm frond pattern and the way Sarah incorporated natural grass stalks in lieu of a belly band – such a great idea!

From Sarah: Ashley and Jonathan had a laid back beach wedding.  I love using natural elements, especially for outdoor events.  An abstract blind deboss palm frond was a nice way to subtly reference the tropical location in a unique way.  I’m based in Miami and design quite a few beach wedding invitations, so it’s fun to find new ways to convey this theme.

I collected the grass stalks on a walk around the grounds of my building; it’s a really economical alternative to a wrap!  And it looks just like the beach grass that grows wild on the dunes here in southern Florida.

Thanks so much Sarah!

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

Photo Credits: Ten Lines Pica

Annette + Florian’s Illustrated Floral Wedding Invitations

Happy Monday everyone!  I hope you had a great weekend!  We’re starting the week off with a gorgeous set of illustrated wedding invitations from German designer and illustrator Laura Rosendorfer.  Laura created these invitations for a nature-loving couple getting married a bit later this summer.  The groom hails from coastal northern Germany and the wedding will take place at a lake near the bride’s childhood home, so Laura filled the invitations with whimsical illustrations of boats, flowers, and hearts.  So sweet!

From Laura: Annette and Florian will be married at a lake, so we wanted there to be some elements of boats and water in the invitations.  Annette and Florian are very fond of nature and down to earth; they love clean lines, but also love cheerful colors.  When Annette told me she would have big arrangements of colorful fuchsia and pink peonies at the wedding, the whole invitation set came together quite easily.

Annette had set her heart on having a whimsical illustration of flowers, so I paired the peonies and snowballs with a cute boat, cheerful bunting, and of course hearts.  We chose four vibrant colors – fuchsia and pink from the peonies along with green and blue – and paired it with a lot of white space and dark brown lines to contrast the whimsical illustrations and give it some elegance and softness.

A heart is also the focal point of the invitation – I die cut a heart in every invitation using a small machine at home.  The rsvp card is visible through the heart; if you take it out, there is another little heart to be seen.

We chose mostly eco-friendly materials, like the beautiful brown recycled kraft paper for the envelopes and paper bands around the invitation set.  The invitations were printed using a combination of digital, offset, and screen printing methods.  The envelope liners and the map postcard with the detailed schedule on the back were offset printed on white paper.

I really loved all the small details, like the die cut hearts or the initials on the envelope liners – all of which makes a wedding invitation suite extra special.

Thanks Laura!

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

Photo Credits: Laura Rosendorfer