Wedding Blog

Now that the invitations are in the mail, I can safely show them to you! (And in fact, as I write this I received an email about them from one of our guests. Yay! USPS two-day mail is no joke!!)

I’ve been all over the place searching for a way to turn my ideas (i.e. “shite”) into something personal, relatable and unique (e.g. “gold”). I didn’t have anything really specific in mind, just a mish-mash of themes and impressions of a color scheme all pinned to the corkboard in my head:

“Shite” Source

Originally, I wanted texture and papercutting. I got A LOT of great recommendations from readers, including Kim at Inspired Goodness who referred me to Robert Ryan. I skimmed through the dozens of great ideas you guys gave (this is why I love Weddingbee!). And then I read this comment on my post:

I went on Etsy and used the “Alchemy” feature… I put in a description of what I wanted (which was pretty vague, since I was open to anything… it was basically just our colors, season and that the ceremony may be outside). I got back over 35 “bids” from designers, all with different ideas, visions, and images. I found a woman who is making invitations that I’m in LOVE with. I definitely recommend putting in an Alchemy request and seeing who comes to you!

Firefly062

This piqued my curiosity so much that I tried it out that same day, and put this request out:

Wedding Invitations–Papercut, baroque, Laduree, shabby empire chic

I’d like unique invitations with some sort of texture. Papercutting or engraving (or another idea, I’m open). Looking for a nod towards Laduree packaging, springtime, French empire, shabby chic, English gardens with colors in muted aqua, pale green, cream, with accents of gold, red, and/or pink.

Within 24 hours, I received some 30 amazing proposals! There were several really good ones, including one from a local artist (who is also a Weddingbee reader!) and does a process called letterpress light. It’s very similar to traditional letterpress, but is a lot more cost effective and more color combinations are available. She was inspired by my description and came up with this design (I received it after I had already selected someone–but I think her work is worth highlighting!):

Source

It was hard to decide, but one person really, really stood out among them all: Lindsey Ryan. In her proposal she talked about her obsession with French Baroque style and her work included Marie Antoinette designs and other such inspired works of art… and when I checked out her Etsy shop…

Source

I WAS SOLD!

I could already see that we had the same taste and she could bring my disjointed Vintage-Parisian-flea-market-French Indochina-English-Tea-party-concept to life! Though I initially wanted tactile texture, I was compelled by the visual “texture” and graphical layering of Lindsey’s work.

As you know, Mr. P and I made the Laduree-like outer boxes for the invitations. I also was inspired by their rococo border graphics in their wrapping and asked Lindsey to create something similar for our belly band.

Laduree’s box and border. Source

Wax stamp - a thistle (typically a Scots symbol, it also generally represents protection)

We chose Stardream (all the paper is Stardream) Quartz for the “exploding” envelopes.

I wanted to have the antiqued, Parisian flea market feel with a lot of rococo flourishes, but a bit whimsical and cheeky at the same time. Lindsey made up several samples and put them in a gallery for me to view online. I chose one with a lush floral bouquet (to reflect our garden wedding) and we then started tweaking it. I chose everything from the crest to the architectural details (but she came up with the rest and added the antiquing effect and the quill–she’s a genius).

Throughout this (very quick) process, I wanted to make sure that the invitation was as representative and personal as possible (beyond just pretty). I wanted to give a subtle nod to my heritage to include old French-Indochinese (aka Colonial Vietnamese)** elements (e.g. tropical birds, vintage birdcage, and the double happiness). So after a few emails and iterations, we came up with this for the invitation.

The invitation. It’s actually more greenish/aqua than this picture shows.

In the soft damask background (which is, BTW, taken from vintage wallpaper), I asked Lindsey to include a double happiness symbol I found. She did such a great job of discreetly blending it–see it next to the flowers (so it appears to be a bit of Chinoiserie)!

A closer look at the double happiness symbol

For the insert and the RSVP card, I wanted something complementary, but not matching. There are so many wonderful images out there, and I definitely wanted a peacock and chandelier.

And BTW, thank goodness for wedding websites. The insert was kept fairly spare and was used only to point guests to our website for details and downloadable maps. It also gave them a heads-up for the rehearsal dinner invitations forthcoming.

The insert

And for the RSVP, Lindsey came up with something whimsical (characters from Alice and Wonderland–a tea party)! The only thing I asked her to do was, again, add the double happiness to tie it all together (it’s in the middle of the insert in the background, and between the rabbit and frog in the RSVP). For the menu choices, I wanted old fashioned drawings for the entrees of lamb, trout, and vegetables! She found the cutest graphics!! We worked together to choose the fonts and the wording, and she was incredibly patient, accommodating, and had plenty of great suggestions! I highly, highly, highly recommend her!

The RSVP card

Year of the Ox stamp for RSVP envelopes (we’ll always remember the year!)

So in the end, it literally was Alchemy that made these invitations happen!! (Thank you Lindsey and Firefly062!)

*My late father–part of a diminishing generation of French-speaking Vietnamese—was in fact born in French Indochina (before it became modern-day Vietnam)

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Invitation Invasion Part II: Going Postal
Invitation Invasion Part I: Boxes, Boxes Everywhere!