Fresh Love Wedding Invitations from Yours Is The Earth

I’ve enjoyed the foodie-inspired art prints, cards, and tote bags from Allie and Jamie of Yours Is The Earth over the last year, and I’m so excited to see that they’ve launched a new wedding invitation collection called “Fresh Love.”  The designs are inspired by their affinity for local and organic foods, as well as the beauty of nature – combined with fun details like bright color palettes, unique illustrations, and hand-lettering.

So cute!  Check out the full collection right here – Allie and Jamie have also created an adorable stop-motion video showcasing the new collection, which you can view here.  Thanks Allie and Jamie!

Photo Credits: Yours Is The Earth

Shelby + Mike’s Modern Illustrated Boston Wedding Invitations

Today I’m thrilled to feature these wedding invitations by the talented ladies at Gus & Ruby Letterpress!  Samantha and Whitney worked with the bride and groom to create invitations and day-of wedding stationery inspired by one of my favorite cities, Boston!  I love the illustrations of local landmarks combined with fun details like subway map envelope liners.  So great!

From Samantha and Whitney:  The suite was designed for a sweet couple getting married in downtown Boston.  They wanted their stationery to reflect their love of the city while combining both the contemporary, urban sides of Boston with the rich history of the city.  We played off photographs that Whitney turned into line-illustrations of the Boston Common and Zakim bridge (blending a Boston historical landmark with modern engineering).

We then used bold jewel-tone and autumn colors, color backing papers, and contemporary fonts to punch up the look.  Each invitation had blind-printed cobblestone patterning on the back side, which paid homage to the city’s oldest streets, while a custom MBTA subway map envelope liner spoke to the modern transportation of Boston.

The beautiful envelopes were calligraphed by the uber-talented Jenna of Love, Jenna Calligraphy.  Of course, all the pieces were lovingly letterpress printed by hand on our antique press (c. 1896) on beautiful, textural, super thick 220# 100% cotton paper.

 

The couple named each table after a T stop, so day-of pieces featured MBTA sub-way stop inspired graphics, more cobblestone and the Zakim bridge graphic to tie it all together.

Thanks Sam and Whit!

Design and Letterpress Printing: Gus & Ruby Letterpress

Calligraphy: Love, Jenna Calligraphy

Gus & Ruby Letterpress is a member of the Designer Rolodex – check out more of their beautiful work right here or visit the real invi­ta­tions gallery for more wedding invitation ideas!

Photo Credits: Brea McDonald Photography for Gus & Ruby Letterpress

Sarah + Jeff’s Modern Wedding Invitations and Save the Dates

It’s always a great day when something from designer Kate Holgate shows up in my inbox!  Kate created these awesome wedding invitations last year, and today she’s back with another gorgeous suite.  Kate combined letterpress and digital printing, along with geometric patterns and lots of fun color, to create a modern and truly unique invitation suite for Sarah and Jeff’s Chicago wedding.

From Kate: Sarah and Jeff will be married in Chicago next month.  They wanted a unique design that combined lots of texture, geometric patterns and interesting typography.  Their gorgeous color pallet consisted of navy blue with accents of aqua and fuchsia.

Sarah and Jeff were a dream to work with; they had impeccable taste and were very open to ideas.  Their production budget allowed for two of the pieces to be letterpress printed; we chose to letterpress print the save the date and invitation packet cover piece.  Both incorporated a blind impression and navy blue ink.

 

The rest of the suite was digitally printed.  We alternated patterns and colors on the backs of the individual pieces for a fun, colorful effect.  Sarah and Jeff love to kayak on the Chicago River together, so I subtly incorporated paddle icons to personalize the design.  Custom calligraphy gave a nice finishing touch.  Overall, I think that the invitation suite turned out elegant and fresh.

Thanks Kate!

Letterpress Printing for Save the Date: Paper Mill Designs
Letterpress Printing for Invitation Cover: Ladybug Press
Design: Kate Holgate
Calligraphy: Danica Cindell

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

Photo Credits: Kate Holgate

Meg + Bryan’s Plant Marker and Plantable Save the Dates

Happy Monday everyone!  We’re starting the week off with an unusual (and very cool) save the date from Meg at Belle + Union.  The bride and groom were inspired by the concept of putting down roots with their wedding, so they decided to incorporate handmade ceramic plant markers and letterpress printed text on plantable paper.  The bride also created a video of the printing and assembly process that you can watch below!

From the bride, Meg: Bryan and I had been dating for over six and half years when we got engaged.  Since we’ve been all over and done seemingly a thousand and one things in our six+ years together, the concept of “roots” and “growth” were really strong in our conversations, which paved the way for the entire aesthetic direction of our wedding.  We plan to incorporate a lot of natural elements and plants and herbs in lieu of cut flowers in the decor.

 

We really wanted the save the date to set the tone for the wedding.  I remembered something called seed paper, and Meg and I eventually decided on a rich french blue paper letterpress printed with gold ink, combined with handmade clay plant markers stamped with our date and tied to the paper with sparkly gold and white twine.  The idea was kind of perfect – you could actually plant the save the date and watch it grow roots.

After a weekend of printing and crafting,  I flew back home with a giant box of goodies and spent the next weekend cutting, tying, stuffing envelopes with my best friend and my fabulous mother.  All the while, I was documenting the process, which I edited into this video.  The video has become something really special for us – since we’re encouraging our friends and family to plant their save the dates and not keep them as mementos, we will all have this video and the flowers that grow from them instead.

Thanks Meg!  You can check out more from Belle + Union right here!

Design and Letterpress Printing: Belle + Union

Photo Credits: Pat Furey Photography

Friday Happy Hour: A Trio of Cobblers

No, this is not a pie, but it does involve fruit – lots of fruit.  The results can be fantastically complex, but this is one of the simplest to make and best drinks for improvising on a hot summer night.  Throw together some spirits, a little sugar, and a ton of fruit and ice, and you have: The Cobbler.  Here are three basic recipes to get you started, but play around with this one.  It’s hard to go wrong!

Cocktail Recipe - The Cobbler (22)

Read below for the recipes!

Sherry Cobbler

4 oz Dry or Amontillado Sherry
1/4 oz Sugar
2-4 Slices of Orange

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Blackberry-Bourbon Cobbler

2 oz Bourbon
1/4 oz Sugar
1 Handful of Blackberries

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Brandy Cobbler

2 oz Brandy
1/4 oz Raspberry Syrup or Raspberry Liqueur
Handful of Slices of Orange, Lemon, and Pineapple

Cocktail Recipe - The Cobbler (24)

Combine the spirits, sugar, and fruit, then shake really well with ice.  (You can muddle the fruit first, but I find shaking gets plenty of flavor out of the fruit by itself.)  Strain into a highball glass filled with lots of crushed ice, then garnish with lots and lots of fresh fruit.  Plunk in a straw and enjoy.

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If you prefer a cleaner-looking drink, strain before you garnish.  This is easiest with a 3-part shaker called (what else?) a Cobbler Shaker, with a separate cap and strainer.  Though it’s not traditional, I’m a big fan of just pouring the whole thing, fruit and all, into the glass.  Garnish with whatever fits the drink or, better yet, whatever’s in season – blackberries and raspberries are usually a good bet.

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Here’s what you’ll get: a smooth, refreshing drink with lots of outstanding fruit flavors that don’t overwhelm your choice of spirit.  A Bourbon Cobbler is definitely a Bourbon drink, and a Sherry Cobbler is very much a Sherry drink.

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The Cobbler is an old drink, dating back at least to the 1830s, and was once one of the most popular in America – David Wondrich writes in Imbibe that, in an 1840 in New World article, one author called the Sherry Cobbler “the greatest ‘liquorary’ invention of the day.”  And not just America – Wondrich adds that French customers at the 1867 Exposition Universelle de Paris were going through 500 bottles of Sherry, most in the form of Sherry Cobblers served up at the Exposition’s American Bar.  I don’t know why this fantastic, easy-to-make drink went out of fashion, but I implore you to do your part in reviving the Cobbler.

Cocktail Recipe - The Cobbler (1)

Photo Credits: Nole Garey for Oh So Beautiful Paper