Windmills and Pinwheels

Our next wedding from 2013 is Lindsay and Bill's Lake Erie wedding on the beach. Woodlawn Beach is a gorgeous venue for a WNY beach wedding, and we were so excited Lindsay and Bill asked us to not only design their printed materials, but also coordinate their big day, so we got to see {and design} first hand how beautiful a beach wedding in Buffalo can be!

One of the coolest things about Woodlawn (in my opinion) is the view of the windmills down the "coast." Lindsay and Bill thought so too, so much so that they incorporated pinwheels as the major focus of their invitation and reception design, as a nod to, and reflection of, the giants themselves.

Photo by Shaw Photography

The color scheme for the wedding was based on the sunflowers they had decided to use as their main floral. So we used a bright, pearlized green layer for the invitations and programs, and the envelopes were a bright, beautiful gold. To reflect some of the rustic feeling of their event, we decided to print on a light kraft paper, and wrap everything in a jute twine, with a hint of metallic copper running through it. 

 We used a hand drawn illustration of a pinwheel throughout the design, with the watercolor-painted gold color in some places, and just the green line art in others. The oval return label on the back of their envelopes was also kraft, with green printing. 

Photo by Shaw Photography

We also had the great honor and privilege of being asked to coordinate their day. {Sidenote: to anyone getting married at Woodlawn, I definitely recommend a day-of coordinator, even if its not us! This locale has a lot of back and forth and moving parts, and it will just make your life much easier to let someone else worry about them!!}

One of our favorite parts of coordinating, besides getting to share in a sweet party on one of the happiest days in two people's lives, is hanging out with other wedding pros. Shout out to the amazing Christina and Brian Shaw of Shaw Photography. They are awesome; at what they do, and to hang out with - an important one-two-punch for choosing your wedding day photogs! If you are not familiar with their work yet, you should definitely check them out. 

Photo by Shaw Photography

Lindsay and Bill's wedding was on the beach; a GORGEOUS, intimate ceremony with a knot tying and their own vows. At the entrance to the beach, we set up a vintage picnic basket, where their fan programs sat on a bed of baby's breath, for guests to grab on their way down. It was a super hot day, so set up next to the programs was a cooler of bottled water on ice - SUCH a thoughtful touch by the bride's father!

Photo by Shaw Photography

We also made the favor tags for these adorable Coca Cola bottle and straw favors Lindsay and Bill put together themselves. So perfect, in the late June heat?? These did not last long...

Photo by Shaw Photography

Photo by Shaw Photography

Lindsay and Bill, thank you so much for inviting us to design so many parts of your beautiful day, and for asking us to be there with you to pull it all off. You guys are an amazing, fun couple, and we wish you 100 years of happiness together!! 

OH WAIT, did I mention they had a zombie cake???

Photo by Shaw Photography

 So awesome. The End.

Shades of Neutral

Well, at long last, here I am BACK AT BLOGGING!! I am thrilled to say 2013 was such a whirlwind for us that I just could not find the time {make the time} for blogging, but one of my New Year's Resolutions for 2014 is to BLOG REGULARLY!! For realsies. So, without further ado, we'll start with the beginning of last year's wedding season with Chris and Tori. 

Now I have said, more than once, that one of my favorite things in the whole world is when a client says, "This might be a crazy idea but..." Because whatever follows ALMOST ALWAYS ends up being the coolest part of their invitation! {For example, the Whitehouse wax seal.} So whenever someone says that to me, it makes me giddy, because I know something awesome is going to happen.

Chris and Tori love baseball. Not one team, just BASEBALL in general. They have been to almost every MLB park in the country... so they thought it would be cool to incorporate something about that into their invitation. Admittedly, sports is THE HARDEST thing for me to incorporate into weddings without it coming off like a kid's birthday party. But this, I love. Check out our letterpressed laces petal card. 

It was subtle, and not everyone caught it, but the ones who did LOVED it. And of course it was a special detail that meant a lot to the couple, and part of what made their truly custom invitation all about them!

Topping the folded petal card was a circular monogram featuring their initials.

When the whole thing was opened, you saw their enclosure cards tied with a delicate pale green bow. Tori has an amazing garden...  the most amazing garden you could imagine outside of the Botanical Gardens. She wanted inspiration from the garden incorporated into the design, so the only bit of color outside of their shades of nude was this green.

Since their reception was being held at the Hotel Lafayette, they wanted their design to have a cool art deco feel to it, while incorporating some floral aspects, inspired by the flowers in Tori's garden. We ended up with a design that was graphic and floral without being too feminine, and art deco without looking like it came out of The Great Gatsby. We also played around with a range of fonts, which always creates a really interesting look all on its own.

The invitation itself was double mounted, with a cream pearlized layer and a cocoa pearlized layer, to contrast with the heavy texture in the petal fold and the watercolor textured paper we printed on.

And last, but not least, the envelopes. Tori and Chris opted for our pearlized, patterned lined envelopes, and they just make me SWOON. Even after the glue and the paper cuts of lining 175 outer envelopes and 175 rsvp envelopes by hand, I still love them to death. They just add the most elegant touch.

Oh yes! We also did these super clever place cards - Tori and Chris gave each couple a mini potted succulent to take home, and in each was this little post with their name and table number on it! Such a sweet little detail, and carrying the theme through to the reception, which we ALWAYS love!

Chris and Tori, your wedding looked spectacular, thank you so much for asking us to be a small part of it. Your impeccable taste and attention to detail is what made this piece shine, and you were both truly a pleasure to work with!

{This post is SO overdue, C + T just welcomed their beautiful baby girl to the world, so DOUBLE CONGRATULATIONS to you both!!!!}