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Thought I’d pop in from hibernation to wish my beloved a belated happy fifth anniversary! On November 13, Dave and I celebrated 5 happy years of marriage. Time flies when you’re having fun…
my favorite wedding picture
our wedding announcements
We’ve come a long way from that autumn afternoon on Orcas Island. In fact, today is a very big day for us. We just closed on our first house!
don’t worry, it’s bigger than it looks
We cannot believe our luck…
Not only did it tick all our “must” boxes, but it’s only 12 minutes from Dave’s workplace. That is a huge relief. The best part, however, is that it’s on a full acre, wooded lot. When we first moved to Seattle, we were in love with the trees. We loved everything about the area, but mostly our time on Orcas Island — that’s probably why we got married there. We always stay try to stay at the same little rental house in Olga, about as far away from the ferry dock as you can get. With beautiful territorial views from every window, this place feels like a little piece of that.
Right behind the house is our very own creek, which runs into a nearby pond called Swan Lake. Beyond the creek lies what will become an ideal, 700+ square foot letterpress studio. A studio you can visit! Right now it’s just a fairly dilapidated shell of a shop, but we’ve already got calls into contractors to get it more or less up to snuff for me and my gear by the end of December. A few repairs, insulation, drywall and flooring should be enough to move everything in and get back to work. After that I have visions of a flower and vegetable garden on the north side of the studio, with rows and rows of lavender in the summertime.
Here’s the catch: It’s definitely a fixer-upper. It’s certainly livable, but very outdated (dare I say fugly?) in places. Every room needs work. We have lots to learn, and more to do. But luckily we have imagination, each other and (from what I can figure) all the time in the world.
I can’t wait to show you more, but I have to go celebrate!
–Tara
Just in time for Valentine’s Day, I thought I’d blog about Amy and Tim’s lovely raspberry red August 2008 wedding. I just love the colors in those flowers… so pretty and pink without being too feminine overall. Of course, we made sure to match Amy’s raspberry fabric swatches in the ink for the invitations… She went with a modern, dotty version of our Vintage Flourish design, and paired it with a raspberry damask envelope liner.
Our calligrapher, Brigitte, did all the addressing — it was a rich gold color on deep brown envelopes. She also got to help Amy directly with place cards and miscellaneous signage at the wedding. Check out the “Bride” and “Groom” scalloped-edge chair labels below.
Amy and Tim also made the cutest table number signs — instead of a plain old “7,” they got creative and included old photos of themselves from age seven. The photos on table 8 were from age eight, and so on. Love it!
And finally, one more fab photo of the happy couple on a San Francisco beach. Thank you so much to Amy and Tim, and Jennifer Kloss Photography (Bay area) for sharing these photos with us. You pulled off a stunning event!
–Tara
As you know, I love seeing pictures from the weddings of the couples I work with — but look at this one!
This is Anna and Min wearing their gorgeous hanbok during part of their wedding celebration — the Korean Paebaek Tea Ceremony. Anna was kind enough to forward me the explanation of the ceremony from her wedding programs:
In Korean tradition, the marriage between a man and a woman represents the joining of two families, rather than the joining of two individuals. This ceremony was originally intended as a way for the bride to pay her respects to the groom’s family, with whom she traditionally lived after the wedding.
In a private room, the bride and groom will enter together dressed in ceremonial Korean wedding attire. Their parents will be seated in front of a table laden with various edibles and tea. The bride and groom will first bow deeply to the honorees, then kneel to pour tea. Once each honoree drinks the tea, they impart wisdom, advice or a wish for the bride and groom’s future.
Finally, the honorees will throw dates (symbolizing girls) and chestnuts (symbolizing boys), which the bride will try to catch in her skirt. According to legend, the number of dates and chestnuts caught signifies how many children she will bear. Later in the evening, the bride and groom are supposed to eat the dates and chestnuts that were caught.
The Paebaek ceremony was originally a way to pay respect to the groom’s family. Since brides no longer live with the groom’s parents after the wedding, many couples have modernized the tradition. Relatives on both sides of the family are often invited to participate and offer blessings to the couple.
I would love to have seen them trying to catch the dates and chestnuts! Here’s the bride in her wedding gown:
And of course, the invitations!
Thanks to Anna and Min for sharing your story with us, and to photographer Henry Chan (New York) for the great pics.
Best,
Tara
I feel like we’ve been a bit heavy on the green around here lately, so here’s something to mix it up — our cute Floral Whimsy design in a combination of wine and antique gold for Jennifer and Geoffrey’s September wedding in New Jersey. These two are adorable together, so their invitations had to match!
The Feel Script typeface Jennifer fell in love with goes perfectly with this design. Brigitte did her usual calligraphy magic by matching the typeface perfectly when she addressed the accompanying envelopes in a great purply-wine gouache. Of course, I have no picture. I promise I will start taking pictures of the calligraphy she does — it is to-die-for!
These two love cupcakes, so the cake above was actually designed by Pink Cake Box to look like 3 large cupcakes on top of each other. The ruffles represent cupcake wrappers, and are made from glistening fondant with a tiny little dotted swirl pattern, à la the invitations. How cute is that?!
My favorite thing about this wedding is pictured below: the seating “cards” Jennifer made for each guest. The rocks are something you can buy in any craft-type store, and she simply used a metallic Sharpie to label them with each guest’s name and table assignment. Definitely labor-intensive, but what a great visual impact for minimal cost.
Jennifer and Geoff — thank you so much for sharing all these with us. It was a pleasure working with you, and I wish you all the best in your new house! Wedding photos courtesy of Patten Photography (New Jersey).
–Tara
Green has always been a favorite of mine, so I am naturally in love with the pale colors of Sarah and Hamish’s August wedding. We started with an apple green dahlia ornament, and added a little brown bee for a touch of whimsy. That bee buzzed around everywhere, including the front of the invitation envelope.
I adore their cake design below as well — from the slightly minty green tint to the little champagne-esque bubbles rushing up from the bottom tier — so cute!
And so scrumptious!
Thank you so much to Sarah, Hamish and Hy Studio (San Francisco area) for sharing these wedding day photos with us.
–Tara
Just a quick post about Shanea and DeWayne’s intimate Vegas destination wedding last October. Some of their favorite details were the bright colors of the bride’s bouquet (by Blossoms of Las Vegas) and the colorful candy buffet. I never knew chocolate brown and shocking pink could look so good together. I will admit I had my doubts about it, but I was wrong. Hot pink and hotter orange are a fun twist for fall, and definitely apropos for Vegas.
Another reason I like this project so much is that Shanea was really smart about maximizing her budget: This is a 1-color design, as each item is printed in only 1 color of ink — it just so happens that 2 of the items were printed in chocolate ink, and the other 2 were printed in gold ink. We only charge a small fee to do an ink change half-way through the run. The shocking pink vellum sleeve is also a really fun, modern, and inexpensive way to protect everything within one envelope, and add another shot of contrasting color for more excitement. And of course, if hot pink is not your cup of tea, there are lots of colors to choose from!
Shanea and DeWayne — thanks so much for sharing these photos with us! It was a pleasure to work with you two.
Many thanks also to Henri Sagalow Photography for letting us post the wedding photos above! Letterpress invitation photos by La Luz Photography.
–Tara
P.S. Does anyone else want gummy bears now? Like real bad?
Amy and David were married last fall on the Autumnal Equinox, and their invitations are still one of my favorite projects. Fall has always been my favorite season, and I am totally envious of their gorgeous day!
A full year before the wedding, Amy couldn’t resist some beautiful fall decorations she saw at Bath and Body Works – copper and gold glass acorn and leaf ornaments on a brown velvet ribbon. They were actually part of the store’s seasonal décor, but Amy asked nicely and was able to get the decorations and thus the inspiration for the whole wedding (for free!). It just so happens that acorns are symbols of longevity, prosperity and good things coming to those who wait – perfect!
The invitation card featured a lone acorn motif, and elegant, classic typefaces in a very simple, understated design. The couple saved money with a reply postcard with another set of acorns on a branch. This idea of an “evolving motif” is a favorite of mine – just a little twist like that can make the whole thing more interesting and thoughtful.
As the reply postcards came back in from guests, Amy recycled them into thank you cards by cutting out the acorn motifs and mounting them to copper cardstock and then onto blank cream-colored folding cards. I got one in the mail and thought it was such a smart idea – what a great way to recycle, save money, and tie everything together.
As you can tell from the photos, the wedding looks like it was just perfect. Amy was stunning in her Ulla-Maija Couture gown. I am happy to say that I am the one who recommended florist Anne Fordham to Amy, and she did an amazing job on the bouquets, decorated the pews with the fall ornaments that inspired everything, and even decorated the cake with tiny fall apples (cake by Wagner’s European Bakery and Café in Olympia). The newlyweds took a horse and carriage ride around downtown Olympia and then entered the reception by treating their guests to a spectacular first dance full of dips, spins and lifts. (The bride’s cousin, Tawsha Connell, choreographs special wedding dances – handy!)
Amy and David – thanks so much for letting us share your day with our readers – I wish you all the best.
Many thanks also to Susan Berman of Whimsical Photo and Design for letting us post her gorgeous photos! (Whimsical Photo Design is available throughout the entire Bellingham – Seattle – Portland area! You should call them.) Letterpress invitation photos by La Luz Photography.
–Tara
