Monday, September 29, 2014

Message in a Bottle, Intimate Wedding at City Hall

Up next: Samantha and Mark!! In case you're not completely throwing up from hearing me say it over and over, I love the folks that call WNY their home. And I am thankful we live in an age where you can "meet" and get to know strangers in the crazy living room of Twitter in a way that was never possible before. That was how Samantha and I first met, probably volleying clever/stupid/snarky tweets back and forth, but when she asked me to do her invitations for her, I could not have been more thrilled. I had been wanting to do a boxed invitation for some time, and her intimate, extremely small, extremely personalized wedding lent itself perfectly. How to get over the shipping cost dilemma? She hand delivered each one! A manageable feat when you only have 25 invitations. Lets look, shall we?


 We wanted to tie a sort of "audience participation" element to the invites, so each package was tied neatly with a jute metallic twine, with a small, empty glass bottle on the outside. 

Once opened, there was a small slip of paper that requested that guests write on the back a message, a bit of advice, or a wish for the couple. They were then asked to roll up the piece of paper and slide it into the bottle, and keep it to bring with them to the wedding. Once at the reception, they hung it on the branches of a tree, which served as a lovely, very personal guest book.

Inside was also a feather, and a twig, tied together with the same metallic twine. The feather was a nod to Samantha's native heritage (the eagle feather is a symbol of her tribe) and the twig represented a story of her parents, who had both passed some years ago. It was a way for them to be a part of the wedding in a very real and emotional way. 


The invitation itself featured a drawing of City Hall, outlined in a metallic copper that matched the copper in the twine. Their information was short, sweet, and to the point.



Thank you, Sam and Mark, for asking me to create such a personal, emotional invitation for your wedding. I look forward to seeing your happy faces around town! 

3 comments:

  1. It's so cool seeing my invitation on here! Thanks for taking me down memory lane and brightening up my Monday. I'm so glad I met you in the virtual living room!

    For others reading this blog - Alyson is probably one of the coolest people in the world to work with and just talk to. If you're considering her to do your invitation - here's my YOU NEED TO WORK WITH HER. Any occasion in the future that requires neat little customized invitations - Alyson is my go-to artist! She makes "buying local" easy! (But if you're not local to Buffalo - she's still awesome to work with).

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    1. :) Thank you so much, Sam. You guys are seriously the best!

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  2. This is really a great article and all of suggestions are really good!! Great tips for finding venues where we can celebrate wedding reception without spending too much money. I liked your article and I will try to book this venue for my wedding. Thanks again for this posting.

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