Real Wedding: Mary-Kevin and Patrick

This week we're thrilled share these gorgeous pictures of the wedding of Mary-Kevin (founder of Luxe Paperie) and her husband, Patrick. The wedding took place on July 19 in La Jolla, California. The bride wore a beautiful gown by Jenny Yoo, and used pink peonies in her hair and bouquet. The groom wore a summer suit from J. Crew and an orchid.

The ceremony took place at Calumet Park in La Jolla, with a garden party at the lovely Darlington House. Each guest received a program and a fan decorated with a pretty DIY patterned flag that said "Welcome."

The reception was on a veranda surrounded by lovely rose bushes...

Mary-Kevin used lots of DIY details throughout the celebration. She writes:

We also made our favors, which were kraft boxes filled with salt water taffy from my most favorite sweet shop...Marini's at the beach in Santa Cruz.  We tied the boxes with brown and white baker's twine and a tag that we made using a custom rubber stamp and white tags that you can purchase at any office supply store.  My mom also participated in the diy fun...she made the beautiful champagne colored silk shantung runners that were used on the dining tables!

Mary-Kevin's stunning (and, we're sure, delicious!) cake was by Miette Patisserie, one of our favorite bakeries in San Francisco:

Mary-Kevin used our Cherry Blossom wedding invitation with calligraphy by the talented Crystal Kluge. We provided patterned papers and images from the invite, which she used to make custom rubber stamps and other DIY details.

An avid collector of milk glass, the bride used several stunning pieces to present the cake and other baked goods/sweets. The couple asked guests to fill out "Wish" tickets - such a cute idea!

These fabulous photos were taken by Carrie McCluskey.

Congratulations, Mary-Kevin and Patrick!

Real Wedding: Julia and Mathew

We were thrilled to receive photos from friend and collaborator Julia's recent wedding, beautifully shot by Jennifer Causey.  Julia and Mathew were married at The Oaks on Long Island, a beautiful estate on the water.

The classic green and white color scheme was carried throughout. We love that Julia bucked tradition and had her bridesmaids select their own dresses in various shades of green.

The wedding was full of handcrafted details featuring Julia's illustrations, of course!

Julia herself looked radiantly happy in a dress from David's Bridal and a hairpiece from ban.do.

Congratulations to Julia and Mathew! It looked like an amazing evening.

Real Wedding: Aleishall & Matthew

Thanks to Ritzy Bee for bringing our attention to these gorgeous photos of Aleishall & Matthew's wedding by photographer Mel Barrow. When we met Aleishall, she was running Olive & Peach, a delicious food site she had co-founded with long-time friend Katie Lee Joel, so it was natural that food should feature in their wedding invitation design. We created this pen-and-ink illustration of two pears, complemented by Aleishall's own gorgeous hand lettering, and letterpress printed it on coaster board.

Mel captured these gorgeous photos of their nuptials in Golden Gate Park.

Love these romantic peony flower arrangements, and the sweet little hand-made ring box below!

The intimate ceremony was followed by dinner at Greens Restaurant, a mecca for organic, eco-conscious cuisine in San Francisco. See more photos here

Anna Kuperberg

How beautiful is the work of San Francisco photographer Anna Kuperberg? We've been huge fans of Anna's for awhile now and are consistently impressed with the quality of her work. Her ethereal portraits are simply stunning.

Anna also keeps a fantastic blog of her ongoing projects!

One Love Campaign

We're thrilled to be participating in The One Love Campaign, a new initiative to promote same sex marriage which launched this week. Originating from the recent California same sex marriage ruling and San Francisco's status as a leading destination for same sex weddings, the Campaign's mission is create a national movement to raise awareness and support for all couples of decide to tie the knot.

The Campaign will showcase select high profile Bay Area businesses, of which Hello!Lucky is one, who offer a full range of luxury services for relationships, weddings, events and honeymoons for all couples tying the knot.

The One Love Campaign includes a select list of high profile local businesses representing the first group of vendors openly promoting their services to all gay & straight couples getting married. The One Love Campaign Preferred Businesses offering Wedding Services include:

Hello!Lucky: Hello!Lucky is a specialty design firm, creating vintage-inspired, artisan-printed custom letterpress, social stationary, and wedding invitations. www.hellolucky.com. In honor of The One Love Campaign, Hello!Lucky will donate 5% of each One Love client package to SF Pride, sfpride.org.

One Life, LLC: One Life, LLC established by renowned relationship expert Ali Berlin (the aforementioned co-founder of The One Love Campaign), is a San Francisco based company dedicated to visionary relationships, innovative global service and the active expression of conscious love. As One Life’s passionate leader, Berlin offers both private custom coaching and exclusive wedding officiating services for progressive couples and individuals. www.aliberlin.com In honor of the One Love Campaign, One Life will donate 10% of all One Love affiliated client services to the client’s choice of SF Pride, sfpride.org or SF LGBT Center, sfcenter.org.

Paula LeDuc Fine Catering: For twenty-eight years, Paula LeDuc Fine Catering has pushed the boundaries of what is possible, by creating unique and unforgettable events for each client and their guests. Create, celebrate, experience ~ the extraordinary. www.paulaleduc.com. In honor of the One Love Campaign, Paula LeDuc Fine Catering will donate 5% of your total event catering to the client’s choice of SF Pride, sfpride.org or SF LGBT Center, sfcenter.org.

Alison Events: With a fresh take on weddings, Alison Events doesn't just lead couples down the aisle, but helps them create unique, authentic and inspiring wedding experiences. With a down-to-earth planning process and a sophisticated take on style, we will help you create the wedding of your dreams and enjoy the process along the way. www.alisonevents.com. In honor of the One Love Campaign, Alison Events will donate 2% of each package purchased to SF Pride sfpride.org.

Lisa Lefkowitz Photography: Lisa Lefkowitz has been documenting unions since 1999 and has earned a national reputation for her luminous images and sensitive style. Her approach to weddings is photojournalistic in spirit; she unobtrusively captures each moment as it unfolds. Lisa’s work has been featured in Martha Stewart Weddings, Elegant Bride and Bride’s magazines, as well as many other publications. www.lisalefkowitz.com. In honor of the One Love Campaign, Lisa Lefkowitz Photography will donate 2% of each package purchased to SF Pride sfpride.org.

The Claremont Resort & Spa: Perched majestically on a pristine mountainside in the Berkeley Hills, standing watch over the glistening Golden Gates of The San Francisco Bay, The Claremont Resort & Spa is a San Francisco Bay Area landmark focused on preserving its tradition while conserving the future. From Signature Journeys at Spa Claremont and fitness classes at the newly renovated Club at the Claremont to exquisite Four-Diamond restaurants and the famous Bay Area views, The Claremont is a tradition, an entitlement of generations and America's quintessential grand resort. Please contact The Claremont for special packages. www.claremontresort.com

Mulberry Photography: Mulberry Photography specializes in fashion inspired weddings and portrait photography. Led by husband and wife team Albert and Tari Lewis, these two accomplished professional photographers have made Mulberry Photography an innovative and highly recognized company, with a style that is unmatched in the industry. Mulberry Photography has studio offices in Lake Tahoe & Palm Springs, but travel globally to shoot. www.mulberryphoto.com. In honor of the One Love Campaign, Mulberry Photography will donate 2% of each One Love package during 2008 to SF Pride, sfpride.org or SF LGBT Center, sfcenter.org.

TRuEStyle: TRuEStyle offers expert personal styling for fashionable weddings and everyday elegance. Founded by Teresa Kuhl, TRuEStyle translates each couple’s unique taste into a sophisticated and polished look with a flare all their own. www.truestylesf.com. In honor of The One Love Campaign, TRuEStyle will donate 5% of One Love client services to SF Pride, sfpride.org.

Sillapere: Sillapere is a San Francisco-based style lab, inventing parties and celebrations with irresistible sassiness and enduring sophistication. While providing the highest quality of service and design to clients, Sillapere also uses creativity to instill cutting-edge style with a strong commitment to sustainability for our planet. We believe in celebrating love and designing weddings that allow people to connect at a deeper level. www.sillapere.com. In honor of The One Love Campaign, Sillapere will donate 2% of all One Love packages to the client’s choice of SF Pride, sfpride.org or SF LGBT Center, sfcenter.org.

New Wedding Inspiration Boards

We're thrilled to announce a new wedding inspiration board area of our website, where you can browse through pretty, creative ideas for coordinating all the design elements of your wedding.

The boards cover a wide variety of themes and were created by the lovely and inspiring Kathryn of Snippet & Ink; they (of course!) feature our letterpress wedding invitations and paper. There are lots of fresh ideas for other wedding vendors, as well - just click on any of the images within the boards to link to its source (note the images shown above are just excerpts - click here to browse the full boards). Happy browsing!

Fall Wedding by Jubilee Lau Events

Many thanks to Jubilee Lau of Jubilee Lau Events for sharing these gorgeous photos of a Fall-themed wedding she designed last year at Thomas Fogarty Winery, a stunning Bay Area venue in the Santa Cruz mountains with views extending in every direction. Jubilee collaborated with floral designer Nancy Liu Chin to create stunning floral arrangements featuring pumpkins and squashes with flowers spilling out of them. They used oranges, golds, and reds in the color palette, which coordinated with the green winery surroundings. The couple, Julie and Jay, looked stunning, too, and the entire event was filled with joy (as a wedding should be)! Congratulations to the couple, and the Jubilee and Nancy for creating an unforgettable event!

 Photographs courtesy of Gene Higa.

Oh, How Charming!

We can't say enough about the work of Los Angeles-based event planner Lisa Vorce of Oh, How Charming!, who we had the privledge of meeting through the Bridal Bar. Lisa's versatility and exceptional eye for design and detail are first-rate. And of course we love her internationally-inspired aesthetic, which she brings to planning events at venues ranging from Los Angeles' Moroccan-inspired Hotel Figueroa to the Loire Valley in France.

Photo credits (from top): Thayer Allyson Gowdy, Aaron Delesie, Elizabeth Messina, Jon Nickson, Elizabeth Messina

Real Wedding: Kelly & Erich

Kelly & Erich's Art Deco-inspired wedding at Gaia Arts Center, Berkeley, was nothing short of glamorous. Kelly, a manager at Hello!Lucky, has a sophisticated 1940's and 50's-inspired style and dry, quick wit (think Tina Fey). Both were incorporated in her letterpress wedding invitations and save the dates, which featured custom-illustrated silhouettes of a toaster, the couple, and their faithful dog, Montana.

Kelly looked stunning in a beautiful tea-length dress with her hair tied in a fabulous side bun. The crisp palette of black, white, and yellow was carried through all the details, from calla lily bouquets by family friend Irene Birch to Uncle Billy's home-made cupcakes. Silhouettes of Kelly and Erich graced custom-printed cocktail napkins by For Your Party, as well as signage for the men's (Erich) and ladies' (Kelly) rooms by Hello!Lucky.

Congratulations, Kelly & Erich!

Photographs courtesy of Akiko Photography.

Real Wedding: Sabrina & Julian

As the co-founder of a company that is involved in the wedding invitation business, people often ask me what my own wedding was like. They're always surprised to learn that I eloped; what's more, I didn't even send out wedding invitations!

I share this potentially incriminating piece of information, as well as the visual evidence (no pictures of gorgeous letterpress wedding invitations!) because it underscores a fundamental belief I hold about weddings: at its core, a wedding is a deeply personal experience, and there is no right way to celebrate it.

Weddings present an inherent tension for the bride and groom, who are faced with the daunting task of deciding how to orchestrate the affair. On the one hand, they are an incredibly intimate, deeply personal exchange of vows (elope!). On the other, they are a celebration of the joining of families, friends and community (fabulous party!). Everyone has to find their own place on the spectrum; I've personally begun to believe that the English may have it all figured out (as usual!) with their tradition of a small, intimate ceremony followed by a larger reception (with fabulous hats!). That said, the most important thing is to do what is right for you.

Julian and I tied the knot at the lovely Ventana Inn & Spa in Big Sur, a magical spot on the California coast that had also been the site of the first weekend trip we ever took together. Because he from England and I grew up all over the world, our friends and family are far-flung and organizing a traditional wedding felt logistically daunting. So, we settled for a small ceremony with just our immediate family and a few close friends, including photographer Belynda Webb. In lieu of a traditional wedding gown, I wore a Marc Jacobs cocktail dress and a short netted veil. We stayed at the romantic Post Ranch Inn and the entire family made a weekend of it, taking in the serenity of the Big Sur coast. The experience was truly magical.

Whether big or small, simple or decadent, the experience is what it's all about!

Photographs courtesy of Belynda Webb.

Real Wedding: Shauna and Jeff

We were honestly blown away by wedding of Shauna and Jeff's wedding at the Headlands Center for the Arts in Marin last August. (Shauna is a designer at Hello!Lucky and was kind enough to invite us!). What inspired us most were all of the thoughtful, lovely, personal details -- it made for an incredibly fun, happy, and beautiful celebration.

Shauna wore a beautiful beaded cocktail dress which her grandmother had worn her own 1953 wedding. Jeff walked down the aisle to Johnny Cash's Walk the Line (possibly the most romantic song ever!), and guests received lovely (and much-needed!) vintage handkerchiefs to dry their eyes. Post-ceremony, we all indulged in "Hitched Hooch," a delicious, peachy cocktail that Jeff concocted to pay homage to his Texas roots (coasters with a cowboy boot stitch motif spelled out the recipe!).

The reception dinner was held in a rustic, cozy dining hall with an open kitchen which allowed us to see the chefs at work. The exquisite food and wine were all local and organic (Shauna and Jeff are both devoted foodies, and Jeff is a wine buyer at Andronico's Market). The centerpieces and flowers were designed by Mary Lois Hare (at Loop Flowers) and included local, seasonal flowers of yellows, creams, browns and oranges displayed in blue glass mason jars collected from the local flea market.

Shauna designed her own gorgeous, vintage-fabric-inspired wedding invitations, save the dates, and day-of stationery, which were (of course!) letterpress printed by Hello!Lucky. (Her invitation and related stationery are available for purchase here.). Shauna's photographer was the talented Marla Aufmuth

It was a truly special and unforgettable day. Congratulations, Shauna and Jeff!

Real Wedding: Matt & Sarah Adler

We first met Sarah and Matt at a wedding show at San Francisco’s Fort Mason. We were immediately taken by their adorable vintage-inspired style. Sarah has demure, impeccable taste and could be a 40s-era movie queen, and Matt is always dapper and the consummate gentleman.

To our great delight, they invited us to collaborate with them on their wedding invitations. Their inspiration was tall ships and nautical imagery. They had already designed an icon for themselves, a heart and anchor. We poured over pages upon pages of nautical diagrams and images of tall ships, and created a design that combined a tall ship, lighthouse, message in a bottle, and, of course, hearts and anchors. We letterpress printed the wedding invitations, reply cards, and map. The wedding invitation suite was wrapped in a glassine, tied with baker’s twine and sealed with a wax seal bearing Sarah and Matt’s icon. Since Sarah and Matt are very crafty (Sarah subsequently contributed a DIY card-making project to our forthcoming book, Handmade Hellos), they did the assembly at home.

The wedding reception was held at the Lodge at The Regency Center, where a Maxfield Parrish-inspired theatrical backdrop set the scene. Escort cards for the guests were fashioned after the "message in a bottle" idea with each bottle containing a personal note from the bride and groom - most of the miniature apothecary-style bottles were found at antique fairs, flea markets, and on ebay. Photographer Julie Mikos took the gorgeous photos of the ceremony and Melissa of A Simple Ceremony did the exquisite floral arrangements. The stunning black and white cake was created by Carolyn Wong.

Congratulations, Sarah and Matt! We are so happy for you! Photographs courtesy of Julie Mikos and Sara Remington.

Sara Remington Photography

We mentioned that Bay Area-based photographer Sara Remington did a lot of the fabulous wedding invitation photography on our new website. The moment we saw her stunning saturated colors, and simple, evocative compositions, we were hooked. Sara is an award-winning food photographer and winner of the prestigious Photo District News' '30 Emerging Photographers to Watch in 2006'.

There’s also good news for brides-to-be: Sara is an incredible wedding photographer, represented through the equally fabulous Anna Kuperberg (Note: this is a gorgeous website, but turn the volume on your computer down if you don't want to set off a spontaneous salsa party in your office/cubicle/immediate environment!). Sara shared the fabulous rickshaw photo above with us from a wedding she recently shot in Beijing, China, and we love her wonderful still life photos, too, of course!

She has an incredible eye for detail, is super-reliable and efficient, and puts everyone at ease!