We have to hand it to Christa at The Knot Magazine for styling this fresh new spread for their Spring/Summer issue, showcasing a yummy lime and cherry color combo. The spread features our L'Oiseau wedding invitation (note to brides: you can have this color combo at no extra cost), and coordinating cocktail napkins and matchbooks available right here from For Your Party. We also love the way they used Toord Boontje's Until Dawn Curtain as a backdrop (available at Unica for $123).
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.
Ann Wood Handmade
We've adored Ann Wood's handcrafted birds ever since we first stumbled on them in Kim Johnson's lovely boutique, Johnson, in the Lower East Side. Each one has its own unique personality, outfit, and name. (We bought a tweedy creation for our grandmother, an ornithologist whose last name is also, coincidentally, Wood).
Ann now has an adorable little online shop, in addition to her fabulous blog, where you can keep tabs on all her creative projects. Brides and grooms, Ann also makes delightful little caketoppers to order!
DeAnna Gibbons Millinery
We can't say enough about San Francisco milliner - her stylish, whimsical, hand-crafted hats for men and women are museum-worthy pieces that inspire make us to put on party dresses and paint the town red!
We visited DeAnna in her studio this week to pick up the fabulous red feathered and netted custom hat shown above. The hat is so ridiculously fabulous that we squealed with delight again (and again!) as DeAnna showed us all the different ways to wear it. DeAnna regularly creates custom hats for fashion designer Erin Mahoney, and was also in the midst of gorgeous polka dotted numbers for Barney's.
Idea for brides: Have DeAnna create a custom hat for your reception dress, or a netted number for a Jackie-O-style get-away outfit!
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.
Hello!Lucky Wedding Day Accessories at Foryourparty.com
We’re thrilled to announce a new partnership with fabulous folks over at Foryourparty.com. We first met Sari and her team when we were working on Style Editor Shana Faust’s garden wedding for the Fall 2005 issue of Martha Stewart Weddings. Sari created cocktail napkins, favor bags, and coasters to match our invitation design, and the idea for a partnership was born!
You can now order personalized cocktail napkins, matchbooks, stir sticks, coasters, and more to coordinate with our LOiseau, Antoinette, Oak, and Honeysuckle wedding invitation designs (which are also available with matching letterpress menus, place cards, seating cards, wedding announcements, and save the date cards). Both your wedding invitations and your accessories can be customized in the colors of your choice. It’s the busy bride’s answer to pulling together a unified look for the entire wedding day! (Tip: Just be careful to not get too match-y – mix solids and complementary patterns and textures in things such as linens, favors, and programs). To shop for Hello!Lucky accessories, click here.
Letterpress Wedding Invitations: It’s All About Style
We have to admit it – we are style-obsessed over here at Hello!Lucky. We love seeking inspiration from all over world and from every medium imaginable, from vintage packaging to old spurs to haute couture in pursuit of creating the perfect custom invitations.
Plain and simple, style and good design give enjoyment and meaning to our lives. What we wear, how we decorate our homes, the objects we surround ourselves with, and what we write on (of course!) all contribute to the day-to-day experience of living. Our aesthetic environment shapes our psyche - great style and design can shift our outlook from stressed out to serene.
A wedding is a (sometimes daunting!) blank canvas for expressing your personal style and creating a joyful experience for your closest friends and family. The pleasure of that experience will be emotional, to be sure, but it will also be aesthetic – from the flowers, to the dress, to the invitations, and the photographs. As such, the wedding should have a design or a style to make it cohesive, positive, beautiful, and unforgettable.
Wedding invitations are the first step to creating the style of your wedding day. They are the first thing that guest will receive, and first impressions do matter. The invitation will indicate whether the event is formal or casual, what guests should wear (your guests, appropriately attired, will become immortalized in your wedding photos!), and what to generally expect from the experience. And, of course, they will showcase your fabulous taste!
Wedding invitations should be approached thoughtfully and imaginatively. Feel free to look far and wide for inspiration– from fashion to textiles to home décor. Reach beyond traditional wedding resources, and find something truly meaningful to guide your vision. Once you’ve decided on your style and theme, focus on quality design and craftsmanship, which is all in the materials and details. With wedding invitations, as with most things, great quality comes at a price or (if you are inspired to do-it-yourself) through a labor of love. The key is thoughtful consideration in creating a truly special experience for your guests.
One the wedding invitations are in the mail, you can turn your attention to styling the rest of the wedding day – it’s all in the special detailed touches, everything from flowers to food to favors. Keep these design elements in mind as you’re picking out our invitations and choosing vendors. Stay focused, organized, and seek help from experts if you’re feeling overwhelmed…it may sound clichéd but the wedding day you create truly could be the best day of your life!