Lis + Jay’s Pulp Novel Wedding Invitations

These wedding invitations are just so cool and different – well, they just make me happy.  Lyndsay from It’s a Date Design created this pulp novel invitation suite for the wedding of her friends Lis and Jay, which she made out of re-purposed Mills and Boon books.  This project turned out to be quite an international affair – with the invitations traveling from Lyndsay’s design studio in Melbourne, Australia all the way to Lis + Jay in Glasgow, Scotland!

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From Lyndsay: This project was a labour of love for my dear friend Lisa-Marie to celebrate her marriage to Jay – both are talented writers and avid music fans, so when it came to thinking about the format for their wedding invitation, a pulp novel seemed like the perfect solution!

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I commissioned good friend Dale Harris of Studio Ink to design a custom type creation for the “front cover” of the book, based on hours of research into the pulp novella genre and lots of Old Hollywood movie posters!

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The cover opened to reveal the invitation to Lis and Jay’s nuptials, as well as a short story/scrapbook of how the couple met, and closed with a little library-inspired pocket and library card inside the back cover, which guests could fill out and return to the couple with their attendance plans.

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Below the invitation was a hidden compartment which housed a little button badge pack with gift tag, registry information and fold-out map.

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Pulp-Romance-Novel-Wedding-Invitations

Each invitation was re purposed out of vintage romance novels (many a Mills and Boon was harmed, I’m afraid!) which were stuck together page by page to form the hollowed out secret section and rebound with the couple’s custom artwork.

Pulp-Romance-Novel-Wedding-Invitations

Pulp-Romance-Novel-Wedding-Invitations

The dedication page was made out to each guest in receipt of an invitation, and each book included a beautiful silk ribbon bookmark. The great thing about this suite, apart from being completely “Lis and Jay”, is that I imagine many went straight to the bookshelf for keeps – a lovely memento of a beautiful day.

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Thank you so much Lyndsay – these are fantastic!  Check out a bit more, including some work-in-progress photos, over at Lyndsay’s blog!

{image credits: it’s a date design}

Traditional Hindu Wedding Invitations

Priya recently designed these amazing wedding invitations for friends having a traditional Hindu ceremony – and I’m LOVING the gorgeous colors and floral patterns!

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I love how the invitations are both modern and traditional at the same time – using the bright pops of pink and orange with formal invitation wording.  So pretty – read more about the invitations right here!

{image credits: love made visible}

Alyson + Levi’s Vintage Botanical Wedding Invitations

Today’s real invitations come from one of my very favorite bloggers, the lovely Alyson from Unruly Things!  You might remember Alyson from her guest posts last year.  In addition to her fabulous blog, Alyson also runs a letterpress studio called Postal Press, so when Alyson first got engaged and started planning her wedding, I knew the invitations would be incredible no matter what.  Then Alyson mentioned vintage botanical imagery as her main inspiration and I got even more excited!  So as you can imagine, I’m absolutely thrilled to welcome Alyson back to Oh So Beautiful Paper  with her stunning wedding invitations!

woodland-wedding-invitations

From Alyson: When Levi {most commonly known as DLB on my blog} and I started planning our wedding, we looked at only one venue and knew it was for us.  If you know me at all from Unruly Things, you know that Levi and I have a strong love for all things nature inspired.

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Our wedding was at beautiful lake in the middle of the old growth forest in the Columbia River Gorge. 95% of our guests traveled from out of town for our wedding, so we wanted them to get a really good feel for the venue as well as our wedding style from the invitations.  We opted for fonts with a classic feel and botanical illustrations inspired by vintage book plates.

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I collected vintage postage stamps during our engagement that we used for our envelopes and contacted Kathryn Murray to write the beautiful calligraphy for our guest’s addresses.  Months before the wedding, I taught Levi how to letterpress so that he could help with the printing.

woodland-wedding-invitation

We letterpressed our invitations on brown bag paper and included fun extra details: an illustrated map to the venue, a letterpress kraft tag with hotel accommodations and, my favorite, a Columbia River Gorge wildlife cheat sheet – complete with typical specimen of plants and animals our guests might see during the event  {no one saw any elk, but we heard that one of our guests came upon a baby bear late in the evening!!}  Over all, I couldn’t have imagined our wedding any other way.  It was entirely us.

Alyson also sent over a few photos from her wedding, captured by Erin Grace Photography, including the gorgeous botanical place cards and ceremony programs!

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Stunning… seriously just stunning.  Each detail fits together perfectly, from the kraft paper invitations details to the amazing botanical elements (hello gorgeous ferns and moss!) to the apothecary glass centerpieces.  Congratulations Alyson!

{image credits: invitation photos by alyson graves brown, wedding photos by erin grace photography}

Tom Sawyer + Huckleberry Finn Birthday Party Invitations

A few weeks ago, event designer Brandi Brown wrote in seeking advice for the invitations for her twin sons’ first birthday party – Brandi’s theme revolved around the story of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, and she wanted something that would mimic the boys’ straw hats.  I suggested that Brandi use burlap as the main element, and did a quick burlap round-up that she could use as inspiration.  Brandi sent over some photos of the invitation and party, and they’re absolutely fantastic!

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To create the invitations, Brandi glued a square of burlap to a thin piece of balsa wood.  The invitation details were printed by a local printer onto green card stock and layered on top of the burlap.  A silhouette image of two boys fishing represents both the birthday boys as well as Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer.  So cute, right?!

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huckleberry-finn-tom-sawyer-burlap-birthday-party-banner

{a custom burlap banner from funkyshique}

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{LOVE the cute little menu cards!}

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{more burlap details – a burlap tablecloth above, and burlap sippy cups for littlest party-goers below}

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huckleberry-finn-tom-sawyer-birthday-party-book-favors

{the perfect favors, a personal hardback copy of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn!}

Brandi worked with fellow event planner Kate Landers, and you can check out additional details from the party on both Brandi’s blog and Kate’s blog.  Congratulations Brandi – I can’t wait to see what you do for the boys’ second birthday!

{image credits: inga finch photography}