Graphic Design Studio and Custom Letterpress Invitations
We had a blast designing for this rehearsal dinner. The wedding was all about seaside elegance but the Friday night event embraced a more casual tone, complete with summer classic lobster rolls, corn on the cob and clam chowder. We loved playing with the red lobster iconography and an informal and friendly font for their invitation, menu, and drink coasters.
Event Planner & Designer: Bellafare
Photographer: Ira Lippke Studios
Invitations: A Day in May
Heather and Mike were planning a wedding on Cape Cod complete with sailboats, lobster rolls and sweeping sea views. To emphasize the seaside nature of the weekend, we used a classic sailor blue for the invitation and day of details. The seaside theme really shown through elegantly on the wedding day thanks to the event designers at Bellafare with the navy striped tent, gorgeous bridesmaid dresses, and hydrangeas lining the aisle.
Event Planner & Designer: Bellafare
Photographer: Ira Lippke Studios
Invitations: A Day in May
One of the many fun things in design is to see how old trends come back around in new ways. “Foil” falls into that category. Until a few years ago, foil was reserved for overly flashy pieces and perhaps the occasional New Years Eve invitation. That’s all changed and we’ve been using foil like crazy over here. Done right, it’s a gorgeous way to bring a touch glamour and fun to any design. It’s easy to incorporate the flash into the party day as well – with dessert, fashion, jewelry, and even utensils.
Tiffany Shlain is one of the the most inspiring, engaging individuals I’ve ever met. She’s an Emmy-nominated filmmaker, founder of the Webby Awards, and all-around creative powerhouse. She uses film to raise questions and engage people in discussions on everything from friendship to the pursuit of happiness. On Friday, I was lucky enough to see the premier of her new short film, The Adaptable Mind. Not only did I love the issues it presented, but it was such visually creative way to convey her ideas.
http://www.letitripple.org/adaptable_mind
This is the final post in a series of three that tells the story of Gary and Tim’s amazing wedding weekend. If you haven’t seen the previous posts yet from their welcome dinner HERE and their wedding ceremony HERE, we highly recommend checking out the amazing creativity that went into each of these unique events.
Below we have the inside scoop on their wedding reception – a beautifully rustic seven course dinner party catered by the always fabulous Paula DeLuc. To amp up the barn setting, we designed a bronze metallic brown menu cover printed with an oak tree in darker brown while Fleurs de France used a lush combination of moss covered tree bark, ferns, and flowers for the farm tables. It was a dinner party fitting for two very fun, creative and classy grooms.
Wedding Planner: Suzy Berberian Weddings & Events
Venue: Durham Ranch
Caterer: Paula LeDuc Fine Catering
Photographer: Anna Kuperberg Photographer
Paper Goods: A Day in May
Calligraphy: Curlicue Designs Calligraphy
Flowers: Fleurs de France
We loved designing the invitation for Gary and Tim’s wedding weekend. The two grooms-to-be were planning a very special weekend of events so we wanted the invitation to not only celebrate their amazing 20 year relationship, but to also reflect the importance of the occasion. Each event had its own card printed with a tone on tone illustration of its venue. We bundled the cards, wrapped them together in a plaid vellum and nestled them inside a handmade paper box. The box was tied up with twine and sealed with a G&T monogrammed tag. I can only imagine how fun it must have been to receive this invitation in the mail!
Below are some pics from their ceremony which took place in the hills of St. Helena. Upon arrival, every guest received their very own boutonniere or bouquet and watched as Gary and Tim exchanged vows under a giant oak tree. We’re obsessed with the color combinations of their patterned bowties, striped shirts and plaid jackets along with the ornate design of the Persian rugs that paved the aisle.
More details to come on G&T’s wedding dinner celebration. You can also see pics from their welcome party HERE.
Wedding Planner: Suzy Berberian Weddings & Events
Venue: Durham Ranch
Caterer: Paula LeDuc Fine Catering
Photographer: Anna Kuperberg Photographer
Invitation: A Day in May
Calligraphy: Curlicue Designs Calligraphy
Flowers: Fleurs de France
Gary & Tim’s wedding welcome party was out of a fairy tale. Held at Castello di Amorosa – a 13th century Tuscan-inspired castle and winery in Calistoga – guests were greeted by trumpeters and falconers for cocktail hour which was followed by cellar and tunnel tours. Dinner was then served in the Great Hall at long banquet tables surrounded by hand-painted Italian frescoes and medieval chandeliers. The room was cavernous yet warm, and the juxtaposition of the orange in the Renaissance murals and floral bouquets, paired with the modern aqua dinner menus gave the old-world room a very fresh vibe.
Stay tuned for more posts and details on G&T’s entire wedding weekend and invitation suite.
Wedding Planner: Suzy Berberian Weddings & Events
Venue: Castello di Amorosa
Photographer: Anna Kuperberg Photographer
Paper Goods: A Day in May
Calligraphy: Curlicue Designs Calligraphy
Caterer: Cindy’s Backstreet Kitchen
Flowers: Fleurs de France
Falconer: West Coast Falconry
Laura and Phil were planning an elegant beachside wedding on the Big Island of Hawaii. When designing for a destination wedding, we love to incorporate maps or geographical landmarks that highlight the venue. Using the very recognizable chain of islands that make up Hawaii, we drew a faint little heart around the Big Island to indicate where everyone was headed. Set in soft tropical tones of chartreuse and pink, the magic of the Hawaiian wedding really came to life the day of with beautiful succulents, tall palms, and, of course, a perfect island sunset.
Wedding Coordinator: Teri Costales
Photographer: Fletch Photography
Floral Design: Bliss in Bloom
Venue: Ka’upulehu Beach Club
Invitations: A Day in May
Font-gazing is pretty popular pastime at A DAY IN MAY. We’re lucky, San Francisco is a treasure trove of amazing fonts – everywhere you turn there are old neon signs that haven’t been replaced in decades. Some of them don’t even work anymore, but they are all so unique and telling of a different era. Some trigger memories of the jazz age and clubs from the roaring 20s while others are reminiscent of turn of the century art deco, while some are just original in their own right.
We’ve been loving the resurgence of the printed journal magazine. In this age of digital everything (and, of course, as stationery designers), we hold such value in the tangible items – a polaroid photograph, a hand written note, a letterpress card. With their gorgeous photography and thick matte covers, the beautiful pages of monthly magazines like Kinfolk, Gather, Drift, Cereal and Hearth all feel extra special and often act as coffee table books that we go back to again and again. And the best part is, their content is all focused around slow living and tangible experiences… taking the time to cook with family, gather with friends, and build communities and experiences together.
photo credit: kinfolk, gather, drift, cereal, hearth
We’ve had the pleasure of working closely with Strening Architects on some personal home remodeling projects as well as designing their identity and website. Their work is beautiful and clean, so we wanted their logo and collateral to reflect this same sensibility. Using sky blue in the wordmark and as a color block on their business card and letterhead, we created a crisp, modern identity that reflected their own work.
One of the highlights of my summer was a trip to Rockland, Maine to celebrate my Dad’s 80th birthday. Maine is so stunning and it was the perfect setting for a week of festivities. For the actual birthday party, we took over a rustic little boathouse on the edge of the water and kept the decor simple: navy checkered table cloths, jelly jars filled with wildflowers that my daughters and I picked that morning, custom napkins with a fun logo (www.foryourparty.com), plenty of champagne and of course, the perfect view.
From the dresses to the save the date to the ‘I Do’s”, this Napa wedding was simple and stylish. For the invitation suite, we designed a classic monogram surrounded by a delicate floral wreath and letterpressed it in a soft, pale gray. Event planner, Laurie Arons, and floral designer, Kathleen Deery, brought this sweet aesthetic to life on the wedding day with tablescapes covered in white florals and tea lights draped from the canopy. So chic!
Event Planner: Laurie Arons
Floral: Kathleen Deery Design
Photography: Meg Smith
Catering: Paula LeDuc
Invitation Suite: A Day in May
Calligraphy: Barbara Callow
Venue: Beaulieu Garden
Wedding Gown: Oscar de la Renta
A few years back, Eve designed a cookbook for her mother’s 70th birthday. It was such a hit, we decided to turn the basic design into a “Do-It-Yourself” cookbook and sell it on our Etsy page. In it we provided all the ingredients to make a homemade cookbook… a cover, some blank recipe pages, dividers, binding posts, instructions… and it was all letterpress (thanks to the team at FULL CIRCLE PRESS). We loved creating it and as an added bonus, we even got the chance to talk about it on the Martha Stewart show!
It’s hard not to swoon over this countryside wedding in Tuscany. We wanted Kathleen and Gaetano’s invitation design to reflect the romantic, rustic surroundings, so we created a neutral white and brown palette, subtle florals, and beautiful calligraphy by Tara Jones. The wedding day, set in the garden with dusty tones of blush and pink and the perfectly weathered Villa Vignamaggio in the background, just looked incredible!
Event Planner: Efffetti
Event and Floral Design: Stems, Inc
Venue and Caterer: Villa Vignamaggio
Photographer: Andrea Corsi
Calligrapher: Tara Jones Calligraphy
Invitations: A Day in May
Wedding Dress: Mira Zwillinger from Mark Ingram Atelier
I just got back from a week in Red Horse Mountain Ranch in Idaho. It was the most perfect way to detach (no cell service!), relax and soak up the beautiful outdoors in a pair of cowboy boots. It was truly spectacular. (Someone needs to have a wedding here!)
I was recently visiting some friends in New York City and while strolling along the Brooklyn waterfront I quickly became obsessed with these bright red benches scattered around Brooklyn Bridge Park. Known as Modified Social Benches, by Danish artist Jeppe Hein, these witty sculptures reinvent the idea of the park bench. Simply by changing up it’s original shape and color, these benches turned into an imaginative and evocative work of art. Viewers are encouraged to “Please Touch the Art” and it was so fun to see people interacting with them… climbing on them, taking photos with them, laughing over them. In a city that can feel fairly isolating at times, it was a playful reminder to everyone about spontaneous expression and social connection.
Read more about this installation at: publicartfund.org
My husband and I celebrated our wedding anniversary last week with a trip to Sons & Daughters in San Francisco. The restaurant has 83 acres of dedicated farmland in the Santa Cruz Mountains and you can taste it in every bursting bite. They have cornered the market on new veggie hybrids such as pluots, limequats, lime basil, etc, making the dining a true adventure. Then as if the food, wine and atmosphere wasn’t enough, they brought their very cool business card to our table along with the check, and of course it was letterpress. They have great taste, so what else would it have been?
Beaulieu Garden is known for it’s incredible grounds and elegant setting in Napa County. Their tree-lined entry is jaw-dropping and noteworthy (and also the perfect backdrop for wedding photos), so we wanted to highlight this feature in the invitation design. We created a romantic, yet traditional monogram for Kristin and John and printed that in dark gray upon a softer gray letterpress illustration of the trees. The bevelled edge painted in gray and the soft gray envelope liner helped bring the entire invitation suite together. JBD Events and Atelier Joya really brought this sweet and traditionally elegant garden wedding to life with some added tones of blush and soft, natural greens.
Photography: Larissa Cleveland Photography
Event Planning: JBD Events
Floral Design: Atelier Joya
Stationery: A Day In May
Catering: Paula LeDuc Fine Catering
Cake: Sweet On Cake
Wedding Dress: Monique Lhuillier
Bridesmaid Dresses: Amsale
Venue: Beaulieu Gardens
Vintage Car: Classic Convertible Wine Tours
Also featured on Carats & Cake and Style Me Pretty
Having Full Circle Press as friends is pretty spectacular – especially come birthday time. They sent me a stack of trimmed paper – drilled and prepared for book-making. It was the perfect craft for my daughter’s 8th birthday party. Accompanied by goody bags of string, crayons and colored pencils, the paper kept the group enthralled for hours. Thank you FCP and happy birthday to Tessa!
