Carrie + Barrett’s Wood Veneer Mountain Wedding Invitations

Today’s real invitations come from the fantastic design duo of Bird and Banner, who created an amazing set of wood veneer wedding invitations (and ceremony programs, menus, favor labels, and table numbers) for Carrie and Barrett for their Jackson Hole, Wyoming wedding last year.  This suite is one of my favorites from the Bird and Banner portfolio, largely for its wonderful mix of different materials and typography styles.  Erin and Nicole, the talented ladies behind Bird and Banner, stopped by to describe the creative process behind these lovely pink and brown wedding invitations, so I’ll turn things over to them!

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From Erin and Nicole: Neither Carrie nor Barrett are from Jackson Hole but the couple had shared many special times there.  They knew it was the perfect place to celebrate their wedding.  Held at the Crescent Ranch, the inspiration was rustic yet elegant which included a formal BBQ menu and a fiddler band.

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Jackson-Hole-Wood-Veneer-Programs-Menus

Because it was a destination wedding Carrie and Barrett wanted to highlight the location in their invitations as much as possible.  This led us to explore using new materials and formats that would help introduce their guests to the location.

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Our initial idea was a muslin bag filled with wooden postcards.

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We loved the idea of mixing Carrie’s palatte of bright pink and brown with wood.  Working with language describing the location, we planned to use a mix of type styles.

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Unfortunately the design started to look like a “Most Wanted” poster!  So we scaled back, and then everything came together.

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Carrie and Barrett had a full weekend of festivities planned so we also created an itinerary for guests that included hand drawn illustrations of the various Jackson Hole event locations, including the arch in the town square where they got engaged.

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From the bride, Carrie: Erin and Nicole from Bird and Banner are so amazingly creative; I never had to reiterate the feel/mood we wanted to convey to our guests more than once.  Awesome!  The itinerary, invitations, packaging, etc., are what I was most proud of in the wedding planning process — even though they did all the work, they made me feel like we were a team in creating the PERFECT presentation.

So, so lovely — and a beautiful mix of rustic and modern design elements that create the perfect invitation for a wedding in Jackson Hole.  I love the attention to detail throughout the invitation, from the line illustrations to the tiny hearts and border details.  Thanks so much to Carrie, and of course to Nicole + Erin from Bird and Banner, for stopping by to share these gorgeous wedding invitations today!

{image credits: reception photos by Carrie Patterson, all others via Bird and Banner}

Letterpress Prints – Dee & LaLa

Good morning everyone!  I am so, so excited today because I've got a fantastic set of real wedding invitations to share with you a bit later this morning, but first I thought we'd start the day off with some sweet little letterpress prints from Dee & LaLa:

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Aren't these just the cutest little prints?  They come in the four versions below — either individually or as a set — and I think they would be a wonderful addition to any room, whether a child's bedroom or modern wall artwork for a living room. 

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Check out these prints and lots of other letterpress goodies over at Dee & LaLa.  And don't forget to check back a bit later!

{image credits: Dee & LaLa}

Hello Handmade Holiday 2009

I really can't think of a better way to start the week off than with two new holiday items from one of my favorites – Hello Handmade!  For those of you who might not remember their totally amazing 2009 calendar and valentines, Hello Handmade is a wonderful collaboration between calligrapher Betsy Dunlap and artist Shanna Murray.  They're back this holiday season with a beautiful tea towel calendar and holiday print:

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Hello-Handmade-Holiday-Print

Both the calendar and print will be available in the Hello Handmade shop this morning.  The Laureled calendar is printed in black ink on snowy white cotton fabric, and of course can be re-used as a tea towel once the year is over.  The O Tannenbaum specimen print is printed in black and white (with Betsy's lovely calligraphy) on sturdy kraft paper.  Shanna and Betsy will also be adding additional items and downloads, including an advent calendar, bunting, and ornaments, as we get closer to the holidays, so be sure to check out the shop for updates!

{image credits: Hello Handmade}

{happy weekend}

Hi everyone!  I’m heading out a bit early to get a head start on some projects I’m working on for next week, including a super-fun collaboration that I can’t wait to tell you all about.  I’ve been noticing, as the days get shorter and shorter, I find myself trying to squeeze out every last drop of sunlight possible, making the weekends more and more precious.  Is the same thing happening for you?  Well, in the meantime…

Here are a few things that I’ve enjoyed this week:

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend – I’ll see you all back here next week!

{image credits: samantha lamb and katherine elizabeth}