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 New Year!

Happy 2011 everyone!  It was so nice to take a little break and unplug last week, but I’m slowly easing back into my routine.  I still haven’t really wrapped my head around 2011 yet, have you?  2010 was such a whirlwind and full of transition from start to finish.  I met some of my favorite bloggers (and make new friends) at Alt, moved to a new apartment that feels more like home, and lost my grandmother – all within the first month of 2010.  A winter storm left us with more than 2 feet of snow and kept us housebound for nearly a full week.  A bit later in the year I quit my day job (yay!), started a second blog, and then the months started to fly by even faster.  There are more big changes in store for 2011, but I’m optimistic about the challenges to come.

I’ll be back with some beautiful wedding invitations just a bit later.  But since I didn’t do my usual weekly round-up last week, I thought I’d do a quick round-up to start off the week:

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday and New Year!

{image via mary ruffle}

{happy weekend!}

Happy Friday everyone!  Yesterday we got our first real snowfall here in DC – just a couple of inches, but I love the magical feeling of the first snow of the season.  The city gets sooo quiet; and my neighborhood of Capitol Hill looks particularly pretty with a little dusting.  This weekend we’ll be finishing up our holiday shopping (I know, I know, I’m such a procrastinator), staying warm indoors, and drinking lots of hot chocolate.  But in the meantime…

…a few links for your weekend!

This week on Oh So Beautiful Paper:

That’s it for me this week!  Oh, and don’t forget to enter the New Year’s card giveaway from Wild Ink Press – the contest closes tonight at midnight!  I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and I’ll see you back here on Monday!

{image credits: honey and jam via mary ruffle}

{happy weekend!}

Happy Friday everyone!  Do you all have fun plans for the weekend?  This is a bit of a special weekend for me, tomorrow is my 5-year first date anniversary with my husband!  We have plans for a low key celebration, which is kind of perfect for us.  I’m also looking forward to this holiday art sale at the Corcoran Museum here in DC.  But in the meantime…

…a few links for your weekend!

And just in case you missed it, a quick summary of this week’s posts:

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend – I’ll see you back here on Monday!

{image credits: nulka via mary ruffle}

{happy weekend!}

Happy Friday everyone!  I don’t know about all of you, but I’m breathing a big sigh of relief in anticipation of the weekend.  No big plans, just looking forward to a bit of downtime.  Are you all up to anything exciting this weekend?  Our only big plan is to get and decorate our Christmas tree, which is pretty exciting for me since it’s the first time we’ve lived in an apartment big enough for a tree since I moved to DC almost ten years ago.  But in the meantime…

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…a few links for your weekend!

…and in case you missed it, a quick round-up of this week’s posts:

Also, just another quick reminder to check the sidebar for upcoming holiday sales and craft markets – like this pop-up holiday shop at Nightwood in Brooklyn over the next two weekends and of course the Martha holiday craft fair tomorrow.  I wish I could be there!  Have a wonderful weekend everyone, and I’ll see you back here on Monday!

{image credits: samantha lamb}