Posted by Shira Savada, Real Weddings Editor
Welcome to the first post of many in our behind-the-scenes series about Grace & Aaron's wedding. Why not start with the first thing guests see: the stationery.
Photo by Tara Donne.
Grace: When I thought about invitations, I assumed I would be doing them myself. Then reality set in and I realized how much work would be involved—I knew I wouldn't have time to produce them the way I wanted on top of a full-time job and side projects. I happened to meet Erin and Nicole at the Renegade Craft Fair last summer and it was kismet. They were showing these great message hankies and had a few mocked up as wedding invites. It was as if they had read my mind. I knew right away that this idea would be perfect for the invites, and—shocker—Aaron loved them too! I’m so used to having different likes and dislikes from him that it was really special to have him be just as psyched about the invites as I was. They turned out so well it was hard to give them away. I loved the idea that everyone got their own individual invite, and we had so much fun over Thanksgiving picking out hankies to match each guest.
Erin & Nicole of Bird & Banner: We are long time fans of Design*Sponge and were thrilled when Grace approached us about designing her wedding invitations. We loved the inspiration she gathered which included kraft paper, calligraphy, vintage details, and the beautiful location in Savannah, Georgia. Grace was particularly sensitive to her fiancée Aaron's preferences and wanted the invites to feel more southern gentleman than southern belle.
Both Grace and Aaron were interested in our French Flea Market invitations (above), which are printed on vintage handkerchiefs, but wanted to make sure that they didn't come off too girly. This was a challenge as most of our hankie collection is pretty feminine in design. We searched high and low to find the perfect collection of hankies.
Savannah was a major source of inspiration for our design ideas. We came up with variations inspired by the ironwork from the reception site and vintage postcards, but ultimately chose to highlight the ceremony location (under an oak tree with hanging moss) on the rest of the invitation package. The RSVP postcard uses an image of the tree along with the words "JOIN US." Once we began working with the tree, everything came together. We letterpressed a faux bois pattern onto the kraft paper band, which held the hankie wrapped around the RSVP card.
An early proposal using inspiration of the ironwork.
The final proposal for the invites before going to press.
Working with Grace and Aaron was more than just fun, it was enlightening. They brought great inspiration and were open to many different ideas. We were so happy with the outcome and thrilled to be a part of such a special celebration!
grace, erin, nicole...these are so perfect! i love how the inspiration was interpreted loosely and not repeated on each piece. you certainly elevate stationary to an art.
Posted by: joy thigpen | October 15, 2009 at 01:16 PM
These are so great, awesome get a peek behind the scenes at the design process.
Posted by: maggie | October 15, 2009 at 01:39 PM
Congratulations - truly a lovely, lovely suite. I can't imagine how exciting it must have been to be approached by Grace! Well done.
Posted by: Autumn | October 15, 2009 at 04:44 PM