After all the crazy weather we have experienced over the last week and a half, this invitation suite brings me right back to summer with beers on the back deck and the sun on your face. Joanna and Peter got married this past Labor Day weekend on the island of Martha’s Vineyard. Joanna’s family has a home in Chilmark and she really wanted to capture the essence of the Vineyard as well as Menemsha, the port by their house.
With the design, we started with hand lettering. Joanna was really drawn to the organic style of hand lettering and wanted that to be a main factor in the invite. Because the invitation suite only consisted of one piece, she liked the idea of the invite feeling like a letter someone personally wrote to you. We also worked with watercolor. Since college, watercolor has been my medium of choice. I love the versatility that it allows you. Here, we kept the illustration style very loose and simple which I think perfectly compliments the hand lettering. On the front, we created a seafood heart complete with lobsters and citrus. The couple’s wedding date fills out the center spacing creating a really lovely design. On the back, I did an illustration of Joanna’s pup, LuLu, who is holding a banner that says “Come Hungry!”. We decided to have the invitation be a square shape so it felt more unique when the guests received it in the mail. The card opens and on the inside you have the proper invitation with a simple fishing boat illustration. We put the entire card is an inner glassine envelope for an added nautical nod. I revisited the fishing boats for the front of the envelope and created a custom frame to set the guest addresses in.
We used an anchor pattern for the liner and other supporting elements within the suite. We also created custom stationery to match the invitation with two whales at the top and the anchor liner. Overall I love the looseness and whimsy that this suite has. Sometimes you don’t need a million pieces in your suite, one really awesome piece can sometimes do the trick!
