Weddingbee Blog

Time to catch up on some paperwork. We knew we definitely wanted letterpress from the beginning. Well, I knew I wanted letterpress; after a quick primer and seeing some samples, Mr. L was on board, too.

I got estimates from a few different presses and exchanged a number of inquiries before deciding to go with Tara at Ephemera. Being somewhat less established, she put together a package that was substantially less than the others I’d considered.

Plus, to be honest, I just dig her personality. And I like how she approaches the project. We wanted a custom design to go with our Sweetest Type of Love theme, and she asked good questions. Not just about formality and fonts, but about the overall aesthetic I want. “Do you insist on symmetry or do you like things off-center? What keywords come to mind for your invitations? If your invitation were a celebrity, who would it be?” Ok, maybe not that last one.

In September, we started bouncing around ideas for the save-the-dates. I knew I wanted something pretty casual for these. I just like how the sophistication of the letterpress can anchor a simple, or even playful, design. I cobbled together the roughest of rough sketches in Paint, sent it to her, and she dutifully interpreted:

She used the silver/graphite and pink colors of our palette and just made a cute, if basic card. Then, she had her “in-house” calligrapher Brigitte work her magic on our envelopes, in a beautiful slate grey ink:

The stamp is Mr. L’s parents’ wedding picture, stolen upon pain of death while they were on holiday. It was worth the risk; they were delighted by the surprise. As were their friends-and-relations, who comprise most of our guests. (By the way, doesn’t she look kind of like Jennifer Jason Leigh?)

Of course, once we mailed them out, a handful of long-forgotten or newly acquired friends popped up on the radar. I commissioned local calligrapher, the very sweet and accommodating Betsy Dunlap, to address our extras. I forgot to take pictures, but you can see samples of her work on Miss Petunia’s last post.

After we’d mailed those, of course, another handful of must-invitees surfaced, so I’m scheduled to pass over more blank envelopes to another local calligrapher, Lianda Ludwig (whose name sounds to me like a Harry Potter character), in a few days.

In the meantime, we’re anxiously awaiting Tara’s invitation creations!