Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Design, Coordination, and Mandatory Dancing

OKAY, let's keep this blog train a-rolling! (Alright, to be fair 2 posts in one month wouldn't really be considered "rolling" but let's go with it, shall we?)

Next up we have Amy and Steve. Sometimes weddings make me sad, because they mean the end of a really long, fun road I get to go along with - often - a new friend! We started with Amy all the way back in 2012 with her Save the Dates, and when our first meeting took almost two hours (they usually last about 45min to an hour) I knew we were kindred spirits. Ridiculous, hilarious, kindred spirits.


The paper they chose, and used throughout the whole wedding design, was this beautiful bright white, column textured paper. It was such a nice compliment to the classic black and white designs.



We were lucky enough to be asked to do Amy's total wedding design, from the invitations, to the centerpieces, the flowers, even the linens. But first, the invitations! Amy and Steve decided on a black, white and silver color palate, with touches of deep kelly green. Colors that coordinated beautifully with their chosen venue, Asbury Hall.

We are by no means a "letterpress studio" but my little Kelsey tabletop does give me the opportunity to offer touches of letterpress to our digital designs. Enter this gorgeous silver monogram. Pressed into the already textured column paper, against the black and deep green, it adds a spectacular little pop of sophistication.




There was a lot of info to convey with these invites, so we opted for a black pocketfold. We weren't quite sure initially how we were going to display all those cards in a horizontal pocket, until one morning in the shower the idea struck me to have each card tiered and at an angle! {Doesn't everyone do all their best thinking in the shower?}


We had an additional silver letterpress element on the inside! We pressed Amy and Steve's names onto each of the invitation cards, which were then mounted on a green layer, and then a silver one. 


Here you can see each of the cards, along with a place card, and the program. You can see we letterpressed their monogram again on the programs, hooray!!
I think my favorite part of the cards is where it says "Mandatory Dancing."  

SO, we didn't necessarily attend Amy and Steve's wedding to coordinate as much as we were invited to attend as guests... I mean what greater feeling in the world is there to get invited to a wedding you've helped design? There is none, FYI. We did do a bit of "making sure everything ran smoothly," but we also did our share of partying and "mandatory dancing."

SIDENOTE on the "mandatory dancing": Amy and her sister were long time dancers, and as adults teachers at a dance school. Seeing an entire bridal party and half the guest list do the Thriller dance from beginning to end = perfection.

Photo by Nickel City Studios

As for the rest of the details, I told you already Amy is hilarious. She's also really smart, and loves books, so obviously for her centerpieces she had to get roses made from the pages of the Princess Bride. {What? Yes.} 
All the guest and entry tables had these hand made paper flowers {I cannot for the life of me find the link to the Etsy seller who made them!!} 

Photo by Nickel City Studios

So remember last time when I said sitting at the vendor table is pretty much the funnest part of my job? Especially when its with awesome photographers? Rich and Alyssa from Nickel City Studios  are definitely one of our favs because they are so much fun and seriously, they always make what we do look so cool... Thank you to them for these gorgeous reception photos. Asbury Hall is dark, and not very friendly to regular {read: iPhone} cameras.

Photo by Nickel City Studios
We did half of the centerpieces high, with these lovely tall vases, wrapped in lace and satin. The other half were lower, with urns filled with white sand and taper candles. Here is a terrible photo of it from my iPhone (I'm sorry, my photos will be better next year, I promise!):


Also, as you can sort of see in the above photo, but better in the photo below, we had silver free-standing numbers for the table numbers. They really popped against the black linens and white candles... Speaking of, thank you to the lovely ladies of Thelma & Louise Catering for the lovely linens, and for not killing us for returning them covered in white candle wax. :)

Photo by Nickel City Studios

More detail shots:

Photo by Nickel City Studios

Photo by Nickel City Studios

Photo by Nickel City Studios

Photo by Nickel City Studios

Photo by Nickel City Studios




Oh, we also did these flowers:
Photo by Nickel City Studios

Since Amy and Steve opted for paper flowers at the reception, we did simple baby's breath bouquets for the girls, a white rose bouquet for the bride, and baby's breath boutonnieres for the gents. 


Amy and Steve, we have loved getting to know you, and your families, we are beyond honored and thrilled to have been invited to be such a huge part of your big day. Thank you for being beautiful people and I'm sure you will spend the rest of your lives making each other happy. You absolutely deserve it.