Kathryn + Ryan’s Timeless Winter Wedding Invitations

You guys, if there’s anyone out there that loves paper as much as I do, it’s Kathryn from Snippet & Ink.  I’ve been poring over each and every detail from Kathryn and Ryan’s winter wedding (you can see the full series right here) and I’m honored that Kathryn decided to share the inspiration behind her gorgeous wedding invitations here today!  Kathryn partnered with Jill from PS Paper to create wedding invitations that truly represent her personal style – elegant, timeless, and totally stunning.

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From Kathryn: Our save the date design was a collaboration between me and Jill Sassa at PS Paper – I liked the idea of a vintage San Francisco postcard, so that was what we started with.  We used two vintage postcards for the save the dates, one of the Golden Gate Bridge for a note to our guests and one of a cable car for hotel and travel information.

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Jill added the tiniest bit of glitter to the postcards, tied them together with bakers twine, finished them off with a little tag, and then mailed them in a glassine envelope with a wrap-around address label.

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For the invitation suite, I wanted something that was both elegant and playful.  After collecting inspiration and discussing the design with Jill and Laurie Arons (my planner), I played around in Photoshop with different fonts, motifs, colors until I got very close to the look that I wanted.

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The final design, brought to life by Jill and letterpress artist Alan Hillesheim, used gray and red ink on thick 100% cotton paper from Crane’s in pearl white.  In addition to the red and gray letterpress, we incorporated a blind press wreath in each piece of the suite.

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Red hand-painted edges on the invitations and envelope flaps were a simple touch that added a pop of color.  We wanted guests to receive something that they’d be excited to open, which I think we accomplished by using Betsy Dunlap‘s calligraphy and vintage stamps from The Paper Nickel.  Other playful details: on the invitations, our first names were the only thing printed in red; our reception cards were coasters, hinting at the supper club feel of our venue; and the RSVP cards gave guests room for personal responses (my favorite response was from my teenage cousin who wrote in gigantic capital letters: I WILL BE THERE. THAT’S A PROMISE.).

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Can I just say how much I’m in love with this red, gray, and white color palette?  So perfect for a winter wedding – sophisticated and festive without being overly Christmas-y.  In addition to stunning wedding invitations and save the dates, Kathryn had some of the most adorable paper details at her wedding – from beautiful glittery menus to playful calligraphy button escort cards:

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Thank you Kathryn!  You can read more about Kathryn’s invitations (and the printing process) here and here, and see all of the amazing images and details from Kathryn’s wedding right here.

Invitations and Save the Dates: PS Paper

Wedding Invitation Calligraphy: Betsy Dunlap

Vintage Stamps: The Paper Nickel

Letterpress Printing: Alan Hillesheim

Escort Card Calligraphy: Maybelle Imasa-Stukuls

Photo Credits: Elizabeth Messina, with the exception of the save the date photo by PS Paper

p.s. If you haven’t seen Kathryn’s wedding video… it’s the most beautiful wedding video I’ve ever seen and I dare you not to tear up while you watch it.  Go. Now.

{happy weekend!}

Yeesh… this week went by in a complete flash, at least for me.  Which is good as I try to get through the remaining months until my husband comes home (in late summer, sigh), but also kind of scary when I think about the fact that the National Stationery Show is just over a month away.  Time is going by so fast!  I have a couple of fun things coming up soon that I can’t wait to tell you all about, but you’ll have to wait until next week for details.  But in the meantime…

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Photo Credit: L’antipodeuse

…a few links for your weekend:

This week on Oh So Beautiful Paper:

That’s it for me this week!  I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, and I’ll see you back here on Monday! xoxo

Gradient Color Wedding Invitations

I’m loving the subtle gradient color shift in these invitations from Dingbat Press.  The invitations were printed using a letterpress technique called split fountain, in which two ink colors are distributed on the press at the same time so that they gradually blend together.  I’ve seen this done a few times before and I always think the results are stunning.  The gradient pattern reminds me a bit of watercolor, don’t you think?

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You can see a few more images and read more about the split fountain technique over on the Dingbat Press blog right here.

Photo Credits: Dingbat Press

*Dingbat Press is a sponsor of Oh So Beautiful Paper; for more on my edi­to­r­ial poli­cies please click here.

Kelly + Sean’s Scratch-Off Surprise Wedding Save the Dates

Now THIS is a fun idea – scratch off wedding save the dates!  Courtney from Swiss Cottage Designs designed these cute and clever save the dates for a recent couple, creating an instant game for each recipient!  Guests were invited to guess the wedding location, which was then revealed in the scratch off area at the bottom.

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From Courtney: The couple was wanted something really unique to their story. We created the card so the guest would guess where the wedding will be based on all the locations relevant to the couple, then scratch off to find out.  Every save the date came with a penny in a glassine bag so the guest could play instantly!

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How fun!  Thanks so much Courtney!

Photo Credits: Swiss Cottage Designs

Megan + Mike’s Chevron Stripe and Stitched Save the Dates

Megan from Ruby the Fox sent over the save the dates for her wedding this fall, and I’m completely in love with every. single. detail. From the lovely calligraphy to the zig zag stitching to the chevron stripe envelope liner – the entire concept had me at hello. And even with all of those details, Megan manages to pull everything together into a save the date that is creative yet simple and elegant in its presentation.

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From Megan:  When I got engaged in October to my amazing boyfriend of seven years, I knew I would be designing my own paper suite!  With an October Chicago wedding in the works, and a color palette of “muted Autumn” I knew I wanted the Save the Dates to portray our fun personalities but also be a preview to what our eclectic, organic wedding would bring.

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The inserts were letterpress printed with grey ink onto basic white luggage tags and tied with inexpensive jute twine.  The calligraphy was done by the insanely talented Angelique Phillips of Angelique Ink.

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Each of the cards were sewn, lovingly, by my mom with peach thread.  They were then slipped beneath a thin vellum strip.  The outcome was exactly what I had hoped for: a fun and creative yet elegant preview to the upcoming festivities!

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So lovely Megan!  For more of Megan’s work, check her out over at Ruby the Fox!

Photo Credits: Ruby the Fox