grab your sombrero rehearsal dinner invites

we're rounding out the designs for baby sister's wedding. debuting the rehearsal dinner invites before the big invite reveal (of which i still need to photograph).

we tied in all the colors and fonts of the other designs, and added in the next element - kraft paper.

i always say, a fiesta is a perfect time to break out the sewing machine. ok, i don't always say that, but it is. especially when you want the invites to look like they have fun mexican flavored banners along the top.

how 'bout we get a little close-up of my perfect sewing lines? perfectly imperfect. just like me!

no design is complete without a matching envelope. you knew that already, right?

hosting a party soon? rehearsal dinner? wedding? let's have a little chat. i've got just the thing!

that's font-tastic - custom bridal shower invitations

wowza, has this been a long time comin'! it's time to show you, my three readers, all of baby sister's goodies. starting with her bridal shower. here's a little memory refresher of where we left off - save the date and the bridesmaid invites. de nada

{digression alert}
so, we've got these super dear friends - we're all practically sisters, and no question - mama mary was gonna host a shower for baby sister. now, mama mary's daughter has this ah.may.zing design business and it never crossed my mind that she wouldn't design the invites. so when mama mary called to tell me 'you know the style, you've done everything else, you're doing the invites to this', i hopped to it. she's not called 'sarge' for nothin'!

still with me? how 'bout we see the finished product?

if you recall, her colors were pool blue and coral. she wanted a fun design with lots of fonts - i think the trendsetters are calling these circus style. i don't really get it, but what do i know? so, fun, fonts, and fabulous? i'd say!

gotta have that matching envelope. let me just say - i don't think a design is complete without somethin' on the envelope. either printed or label, i don't care, but it just adds so much to the overall product, doncha think?

and, you know she needed thank you notes for all those prezzies. she actually used these for most of their gifts since the fonts and colors tied everything together.

what do you think? bachelorette party's coming up next. get excited!!

have a shower coming up? we totally need to chat.

showers possible

i know you, my 3 readers, are so distraught when you come here daily and there's no new post. wait, what? is this thing on? anybody out there? well, hopefully there are at least 3 of you checkin' this space out, because today we're showering the brides.

when it comes to bridal showers, there's usually some kind of cutesy theme, and my clients did not disappoint. let's start with the wine and cheese variety. these were printed on kraft paper, tucked in kraft envelopes, and show how even one color can make a majorly bold statement!

this bride is so well-traveled, it was a no-brainer the shower would be travel themed. i went with an airmail feel, tying in her wedding colors. the shower fun included laminated luggage tags, and we adorned table signs with images the bride-to-be took on her travels. i'll show ya when i get the pictures!

hello, clever idea!! my client wanted a recipe card that invitees could bring to the shower, and what better way to do that than with perforation? the size made them perfect 3.5x5 recipe cards, and i think they're super cute! we also did wraparound envelope labels in the wedding colors to match the invites.

part engagement fiesta, part couples shower, these way fun invites continue my love affair. these colors (with wedding color, mustard, at the forefront) just pop off the linen paper.

taking the plunge

'member this?

what'd you guess it was? were you thinking cannonball? maybe bride and groom? how about pool time? if you'd guessed any of those, you'd be on the right track, because it's all of the above, and it's from baby sister's save the date!

y'all, it might be the cutest dang thing evah. but, we can't take all the credit for the idea. while spending all day stopping by pinterest one day, i came across this (using this link cuz the photog's blog keeps redirecting.) on baby sister's 'someday' board. 

and, an idea was born! see, baby sister and her fiance both swam for the LSU tigers. so, seriously, how could they not do something similar? armed with dress and suit, all they needed was a pool and a photographer. well, lucky for them, our papacito just so happens to have a pool (in the perfect shade of blue) and one'a them fancy cameras that can take 4+ pics in like 2 seconds. (just a weensy important when water's involved!)

are y'all thinkin' 'quitcher yappin' and show us already!" ok, ok. here ya go...

was i right about cute? and, those pics couldn't have turned out better. these are first take, y'all! can you believe? let's take a closer look at those facial expressions.

pure giddiness right there, folks! kiddos are excited to be married! and, that cannonball picture might be pure perfection! i hope it gets framed!

now, if i'm being honest, there was a smoochy picture of the lovebirds that i reeeeealllly wanted baby sister to pick for the back, but alas, it's client's choice. we kept the back sweet and simple, leaving all the deets for their website. i love how it feels like a movie poster!

to ship them off, they got the wraparound treatment. i really don't know when i'll get tired of this label style.

see what one little idea can do? these maybe mighta been the easiest design i've ever done. i've said it before, and i'll say it again, good images make the best designs.

better give a shout out to the ol' man for takin' such fantastic pictures. (silly guy wanted credit on the save the date!)

will you be my bridesmaid?

guess what came in the mail last week??!!

i was so excited to get it, speshly since middle sissy got hers three whole days before me! excited because, 'member, i sent off the innards for baby sister to assemble herself. and, i couldn't wait to see it all done up. big, fat party in the mailbox right here!

everything was tucked in a yummy, metallic cream envelope wrapped with my favorite label style. 'to' on the front, 'from' on the back. (major tip here: you'd be surprised how often postage is underestimated, so weigh your finished project before you buy stamps and ship.)

baby sister personalized each card with a picture of each girly-girl, which slips easily out to use as a fridge reminder. adorable washi tape and matching ribbon holds it all together.

the inside gets dressed up with fun embellishments and more dang cute washi tape (um, the girl in the dress? sweet like sugar!). fun letters stamped in coordinating colors make sure no stone's left unturned (or, no envelope's left unopened).

can you say fun?? and, seriously, folks, when you get a labor of love this cutey-cute in the mail, how can you say no?

well, one thing's for sure, i'm definitely fulfilling my matronly duties...with honor!

some assembly required

more like 'all assembly required'! 

this is what's goin' on around here right now as i gather all the items for baby sister's bridesmaid cards. oh! if you think you're on the list, stop reading now! good thing middle sissy gave up the interwebs for lent.

last time we chatted, we were thinking of one of these ideas. 

well, after wasting time doing research on pinterest, the design has morphed into something that will resemble this.

cute little envelopes for sweet sentiments and such. yummy washi tape to hold everything together. stickers, ribbon, punches, paint swatches, doilies.

the workshop's been abuzz. i've been printing, cutting, scoring, folding, gluing, taping, stringing, punching. no surface is safe. and, i'm just about done puttin' it all together to ship off to baby sister, so i get at least a little element of surprise! ha!

here's the most amazing thing: i only had to buy the doilies to make those (in the words of sweet p) so, so tiny envelopes. and, i got them at the $ store! can you believe? i had everthin' else floatin' around in the workshop. ok, maybe it's not that unbelievable, but i was pretty amazed i found so much cute stuff in baby sister's colors. (um, do you see that true love ribbon? adorbs!)

once baby sister puts them all together, i'll be back with a look at the finished product. i kept a few pieces secret, so y'all didn't see it all.

my stipulation for making these was that baby sister had to assemble them herself. i hope she bought the big jug of sangria - she's gonna need it!

poppin' the question

now that baby sister's "said yes", it's time for her to do some question poppin' of her own. to her little maids all in a row, of course. she's chompin' at the bit for me to create some kind of "will you be my bridesmaid?" thing, so i put together a leetle mood board for her to check out.

after lookin' around a little herself, she decided she likes top left corner's style. i personally love the cutey-cute paper dolls, but a friend of hers just did that.

what i can't figure out is why she didn't want to recreate the works of art i sent out 8+ years ago. i had to fancy up the peechure to make myself feel better. man, my design style has come a long way! that font! i maybe mighta gone thru a ma-hajor scrapbooking phase back in the day. if you're nice, maybe one day i'll show you my invites. 

how did you pop the question? was it super cute-c (inside joke)? do tell! i promise i won't laugh (see image above).

Muy Caliente

i'm back to show you all the wedding goods from this save the date. and, it's spicy. we kept the latin flavor of the save the dates, but used the wedding colors instead. red, black and turquoise were carried throughout all the pieces.

we chose to flood all the pieces of the invitation suite with a different color. the invitation got black on the back. and, the picture does not do it justice. we decided on delicious linen paper, and the black looked amazing on it.

the rsvp was turquoise. and, check out just how much info you can fit on that little card. rsvp, meal choice, favorite song, advice for the couple. we printed the return envelope with muted wedding colors.

then, the guest information card was red. i know i've said it before, but you can use these for whatever you like. the bride chose to use her card to feature local wine bars and tap houses, because there was a 3 hour gap between the wedding and reception.

this image may do nothing for you, but i love seeing everything all packed and ready to ship.

for the ceremony program, we again featured more muted wedding colors, but with the same flourish.

the final pieces were reception table numbers and placecards. the bride couldn't decide which color she liked best, so we did table numbers in each of the four colors, and then matched the placecards to the table number. how fun is that?!

to denote the food choice of each guest, we used cute little icons - a chicken, a cow, and a carrot for vegetarian. you can see a better close up here.

we also listed the food on the back of the card, just to make sure the caterers got it right! highlighted on the turquoise card below.

i had so much fun working on this wedding suite - the colors were fantastic, and it really warms my heart to be a part of helping the bride have the wedding of her dreams.

tina and antonio were married this past saturday. i've seen a few pictures, and it looked like a blast. i wish them all the happiness and love in the world! congratulations!

Bilingual Invitations

A while back, a bride-to-be sent me a message wondering about a double-sided invitation with graphic floral patterns that could have the invitation in English on one side, and in Vietnamese on the other.

I said, of course, of course; set about searching for fonts containing the Vietnamese alphabet that were pretty enough for a wedding invitation, and created a graphic peony in the wedding colors of red, black & white.

I have to say, these invitations turned out beautifully. The colors were amazingly rich, and we chose a bright white linen paper that made the colors pop off the page.

English/Vietnamese invitation

RSVP

Vietnamese/English Ceremony Invitation

Close up of the paper texture. (Believe me, this image does not do it justice!)

All wrapped up and ready to go.

Congratulations to Khue-Nhi and Shane. I hope their day was lovely!

With This Brand...

This wedding set is all about the couple. We started working on some ideas (cute things, like initials carved in trees), but a few weeks later, her fiance surprised her with their brand. Yes, a cattle brand. (Trivia alert: interestingly enough, it's where we get that overused word in today's corporate world!)

So, of course she wanted to incorporate the brand into the design, and of course we did. That's what custom's all about, remember?! She chose brown, complemented with blue (bridesmaid dresses), with a punch of yellow to tie in sunflowers. (my FAVORITE!)

We started with the invitation. (This is so a Rosita design! Worn wood look? Grunge font? Textured paper? Yep, yep, and absolutely.)

 And, the RSVP.

Then, she asked me to do rehearsal dinner invites that she could include with the sets. So, we used the same color scheme (minus the blue). By the way, this is a great idea if your rehearsal dinner will be large, and you want to save on postage.

And, she wrapped everything up with raffia, adding to the rustic feel.

Here's all the pieces together. Isn't their brand cool? I'm so glad we included it, and no one else will ever have these invites!

For the wedding day, we made programs, tying in the designs from the invites, but making the paper the star.

And, what bride would be complete without her "something blue"?

I whipped up a hair flower for her, adding in a bit of the bridesmaid dresses so they can all match. And, it's one less "something" she'll have to find.

Beth & Teak, I wish you all the happiness in the world on Saturday, and always. Thanks for letting me be a little part of your day.

Weddings on the Brain

I have weddings on the brain. I love engagement stories. I love weddings. I love wedding dresses. I love flowers. All of it.

I have weddings on the brain, because the little workshop has been invited to help with quite a few weddings this year, and that makes me very happy.

Here's a Save the Date I did for an Early Summer wedding in Sun River. I love the colors she picked - all yummy versions of coffee (mocha, latte, espresso). And, of course, a subtle hint of Texas orange - a nod to the groom's alma mater.

Stay tuned in the coming weeks to see the upcoming weddings I'm working on.