It’s now Siete de Mayo, but can’t we celebrate Mexican heritage and pride anytime of year? Check out these festive invitations from years past for weddings destined for Mexico.
My husband and I just bought a new home, and although moving can be very stressful at times, the creative remodeling projects are right up my alley.
Before the official move in date, we had to address a few key issues – the first being a hideous wrought iron staircase that is not only the first thing you see when you walk through the front door, but also follows you up three flights through the middle of every level of the house.
The solution was simple — remove the entire bannister and replace it with a much cleaner and sleeker style. We chose straight cut wooden balustrades and painted them white to match the risers on the stairs. We then paired that with a similarly clean lined bannister which we stained a nice gray-brown to match the floors and the steps. The combination made for a very cohesive feel with the rest of the house and really tied all of the levels together in a contemporary and clean way. (And, don’t worry, we’ll address the light fixtures later.)
To finish it off, we added a herringbone carpet runner with gray edging. Check out the completed pics below. A quick and easy makeover with a dramatic impact. Such a transformation!
The supremely talented Lisa Abdalla, of Lisa Abdalla Interiors, was instrumental in selecting the herringbone carpet runner on the staircase. Thank you for your indispensable interior design eye, Lisa!
We’ve always loved the rural simplicity of this save the date for a wedding at Buttermilk Falls Inn — a Hudson River estate with a working farm. We love barns and farms as wedding venues for their simple and rustic settings. For Romy and Jesse, we tried to evoke the feeling of pastoral Hudson Valley, New York through color and simple silhouettes.
There are tons of fantastic farm venues, but below are a few our our favorites:
1) Long Meadow Ranch Winery and Farmstead in Napa
2) Blue Hill at Stone Barns in New York
3) Stone and Flowers Retreat in Santa Cruz
4) The Inn at Round Barn in Vermont
We are sad to see Easter come and go so quickly this year. The kids just love dying eggs and hunting for them, eating chocolate bunnies, and playing with baby chicks and rabbits. There is nothing cuter than a little bunny, right?
Check out these baby announcements and thank you cards from years past where we’ve incorporated our sweet furry friends.
photo credit: eggs
My friend Yasmine invited me over for a special dinner on Saturday to celebrate her birthday – just four ladies, champagne galore, and amazing food. Walking into Yasmine’s Sausalito home feels like I’ve walked into a French cottage (don’t you just love those dog statues at the foot of the stairs?). With a perfectly distressed farm table, mason jar glasses, and a giant chalkboard menu (written in French no less), Yasmine has great style – it’s the perfect combination of the rustic and the refined. This style is also reflected in her fabulous online boutique Maison Rêve, by the way.
Being the fantastically creative hostess that she is, the birthday girl used very cute block letters as place settings. Such a fun and unique way to indicate your spot at the table. The four course meal was delicious and prepared in precise and delectable portions. We topped off the night with a decadent birthday dessert of honey tuiles and strawberries.
Thanks for a great evening, Yasmine!
I went to New Orleans for the first time this weekend and fell in love with all of the Southern charms of Louisiana. From the music to the food to the architecture to the big hats (it was Easter Sunday afterall), I was so inspired by the deep heritage and colorful traditions of the city. Below are just a few highlights from a fun weekend in The Big Easy.
photo credit: street, crawfish, hat, tiles, cemetery, second line, oaks, bbq, sazerac
It’s always fantastic to work with an event planner that pushes you as a designer. This is the first time we explored using handmade paper as envelope liners and we feel like it’s opened up a whole new world of design options for us. Sofia Crokos takes risks with pattern and color that are always successful, and you can see below how the turquoise blue waters of the Caribbean came to life at Elizabeth and Efrem’s beach chic wedding in Turks and Caicos.
Event Planner: Sofia Crokos Events
Photography: Dave Robbins Photography
Venue: Hotel Gansevoort in Turks & Caicos
Linens: Designing Linens
My nephews love to draw, and I wanted to make their handmade work a permanent fixture in my home somehow. So I decided to frame a few of their pieces of art and hang them on the wall of my daughters bedroom. And to always remember who did which drawing, I stamped the boy’s names on the matte board.
I bought simple frames and mattes at Photograph & Frame an inexpensive frame shop on Chestnut Street in San Francisco, and I found the lettered stamps at Paper Source. I used a gold metallic ink pad (also from Paper Source) for a little flair.
http://photographandframe.com/
http://www.paper-source.com/
We’ve been thinking about retiling our bathroom recently and have been having so much fun researching all the different shapes and pattern options. Repeating patterns like the bathroom wall pictured here are such an inspiration for letterpress details like these designs from over the years.
photo credit: bathroom
Some might say Cay Lemon has a certain, ummm… zest for weddings. We had so much fun working with Cay to develop a playful logo and identity system for her event planning business Zest. Here are some of the fun pieces we created and some snaps from a few of Zest’s recent weddings.
http://zestproductions.com/
Photography: Adeline & Grace Weddings and Catherine Hall Studios
I’m obsessed! Who knew that such a simple object could be so fabulous? I love these Gigogne tumblers. They come in two sizes – just right for big hands and little – are virtually indestructible, and stack beautifully. Perfection.
http://www.duralexusa.com/Gigogne-Tumblers-cat6.html
Living in the Bay Area, we are blessed (or cursed depending on how you look at it) with the perfect climate for successfully growing succulents. For some (read: me), they have become an obsession to grow and to highlight in your home and garden. And why not use them in your wedding, too? Check our these gorgeous and unique approaches to incorporating succulents into your special day.
photo credit: boutonniere, centerpiece, table, bouquet, cake, chair arrangement, table setting, terrarium
We really love what we do, but it makes it extra special when the groom is as involved in the design process as the bride. Julia and Jeff were such a fun duo to work with and so clearly bananas over each other – and Nantucket. From the proposal on the beach to their wedding day, the island is a special place for them both. Take a peek at all the printed pieces from their wedding. A little slice of Nantucket!
Photography: Brea McDonald Photography
Invitations: A Day In May
My husband and I recently spent a fun evening at Saison, an amazing restaurant in SoMa. Our table had viewing access to the kitchen where we watched the chefs in action as they prepared our 10-course dinner. Each course was impeccable, unexpected and delicious, and every dish was creatively plated and displayed like little works of art.
At the end of the meal, we were presented with the menu from the night sealed in a kraft envelope with a red wax stamp. A nice keepsake to take home to help us remember the special night and every tasty bite.
If you happen to have something to celebrate, I highly recommend a night at Saison.
Eve and her girls recently got into the “what’s your favorite color” discussion. They were stunned to hear that black made Eve’s list. Ok, scientifically, black and white are not colors, but let’s not get technical. There is something so elegant and determined about strong black and white design. Case in point:
1) Ralph Lauren Spring 2014 collection
2) Ace Hotel collaboration with Timothy Goodman
3) Napa Valley wedding invitation by A Day in May
4) Vogue Magazine, June 1950
5) Jo Malone’s branding
6) New Orleans wedding invitation by A Day in May
photo credit: ralph lauren, ace hotel, vogue cover, jo malone
Photographer extraordinaire, Jose Villa, hosted a workshop recently in a romantic and historically rich Tuscan villa. A Day in May was invited to design the invitation suite, thank you notes, menus, and day-of details for the faux formal wedding in the Italian countryside. See the gorgeous details featured this week on Style Me Pretty.
Photography: Jose Villa Photography
Event Planner: Laurie Arons Special Events
Calligraphy: Tara Jones Calligraphy
Invitations: A Day in May
From giant toothpick sculptures, to beautifully designed play structures, to “make-your-own-tornadoes”, the Exploratorium entranced us in from the moment we stepped through the doors. We could go back again and again and still find something exciting and new. (And did I mention that the sushi in the cafeteria is pretty fantastic too?)
Gray is far from blah. There are warm grays, cool grays, silver grays, white grays, blue grays… We love the perfect combination of different shades of gray on gray on gray in cakes, bouquets, outfits, and other fun wedding day details.
The blending of grays works well in print, too, like in these Napa wedding invitations, where we fused different gray papers, gray lettering, and gray design details.
We loved working with Katharine and Matty on their wedding. The neutral colors of white, gray and gold created the perfect palette for this black tie event in the city of San Francisco. Here’s a peek at their wonderfully elegant wedding.
Event Planner: Stacy McCain Event Planning
Photography: Gertrude and Mabel Photography
Invitations: A Day In May
After nearly 13 years, and designing everyone else’s logo, we felt it was time that A Day in May updated it’s own look. We’ve had so much fun redesigning our logo, as well as our blog, into a more modern and fresh aesthetic (and we are currently working on updating our website, so stay tuned for the launch later this year).
The blog will continue to be the home for showing you our latest work In the Studio and featuring Women Who Inspire, but it will also include some more personal posts with the addition of the Homelife and Inspiration sections. We’ll be sharing tidbits about the beautiful chaos of life at home as well as daily inspirations outside of the house – fashion, travel, food, culture, design, nature…
We hope you’ll stick around for the fun.
xoxo
Eve and Lesley
