Save the Dates Archives – Page 2 of 3

Pop Art Save the Date

December 7, 2011

When Lauren and I first started brainstorming ideas for her save the date she mentioned that she was interested in doing a play on 60’s pop art. I thought the idea was genius and when Lauren suggested the out-of-the box idea of doing the design as a comic book, I was sold. It was the perfect solution to incorporating all the elements that Lauren was hoping to include: hand drawn illustration, a creative way of showcasing the couple’s love story and of course the pop art theme. After deciding on what moments to include in the save the date story, Lauren provided me with actual photos to help support the various scenes. With inspiration in hand, all the illustrations were digitally created and rendered into the comic book layout. We stuck with a sleek neutral color scheme to keep things from getting too gimmicky and added a touch of red in each frame for a fun splash of color. To compliment the illustrations, we kept things classic with a black and white striped liner. Kraft colored envelopes and designed-to-match return address and guest addressing really perfected the look. I have to say, this is a good one.

Sorry, my dance card is full…

December 2, 2011

Among my friends, it’s no secret that I am an old soul at heart. I love all things retro, vintage and straight up dated. I’ve always loved the idea of old fashioned dance cards and secretly hoped I could eventually find a way to incorporate one into a custom suite. For those of you who aren’t up on the dance card lingo, it’s a little paper card or booklet that became popular in the 19th century as a way for women to schedule their dance partners during a formal event. The women would wear them tied around their wrists and as men asked for their hand in a dance, they would pencil in the man’s name onto their dance card, assigning each partner a song. {Can you even imagine that happening now? I’m having a total flash back to our 6th grade dances in the local Church basement… yikes.} When fun loving Kyla and Caley approached me for custom save the dates and mentioned they were dance lovers, I knew I had finally found the couple to make my dance card daydream into a reality.

For Kyla and Caley’s save the date, we created a custom silhouette of the two of them for the cover. Inside on the left are the couple’s favorite songs with their name’s on each line. The little joke is that “their dance card is full” meaning they found the right partner. We used an amazing silk ribbon from BHLDN as a nod to the classic dance card style where the ribbon would traditionally tie around the woman’s wrist. Kyla also wanted to create a custom logo to use throughout their wedding elements. Being that we were dealing with a couple that is torn between Red Sox and Yankee loyalty, it was only natural we use this playful rivalry as part of our custom logo. The last little detail to this save the date is the tiny vintage photograph of the adorable couple that we slid right into the dance card. With the unique design and a certain whimsical feel to this save the date, Kyla and Caley set a great tone for what is to come.

Hand Drawn Italy

November 21, 2011

Sometimes you just get lucky with your clients. They get you, they have great taste and above all they want to do interesting things! Kate was no exception. She is having an amazing destination wedding in Umbria, Italy and wanted to do something that would set the tone and showcase their personal sense of style. The entire save the date is hand illustrated and all the lettering is done by hand. The illustration on the front is the actual venue where they will be married in Umbria {beyond jealous…} and on the back I created a vine border to compliment all the greenery on the front. We took the vine border to the front of the envelope for the guest address and created a custom logo for the return address. The save the date was flat printed and we used a double thick stock to add some weight. This one just makes me happy.

Custom Scratch Off Save the Dates

April 5, 2011

A custom scratch off Save the Date? Um… yes. Kelly and Sean are a fun, quirky couple from Brooklyn who really wanted to wow their guests with their save the date to help set the tone for their wedding. The couple has lived all over the U.S. and wasn’t quite sure on where to have their wedding. They knew their guests would be just as clueless so they decided to play on that a bit, once they chose a venue, with the scratch ticket. The guest has to guess where the wedding is based on all the locations then can scratch off to find out the answer. So fun! We included a penny in a glassine bag so the guest could play instantly without having to dig through the junk drawer for change. I love how fun and playful this is.

Howdy Stranger

March 20, 2011

I seem to fall in love with every place I end up drawing a map for, doing an illustration for or designing an invite for… it’s contagious. And this save the date was no exception. After doing this fun save the date for a Jackson Hole wedding, I am for sure going to make it out there this summer. Jackson Hole is such a fun, eclectic place giving us a lot of to work with for the wedding pieces. Stay tuned on this one, we have the invites in the cooker and they are going to be CUTE!

Swiss Cottage in BRIDES mag!

February 21, 2011

Hot off the presses! Swiss Cottage was featured in the March issue of Brides Magazine!

It’s super exciting to see ourselves on the pages of such a classic mag with so many other great vendors. They featured one of our custom silhouette save the dates. This one was done with really bright, punchy colors. I love the distressed envelope liner- it’s a cool contrast to the modern design.

Thanks for the love BRIDES! Go get a copy today and check it out!

Maggie & Eric- 10 years strong

February 8, 2011

I thought this save the date would be fun share with Valentine’s day in the air {and can’t I stop eating conversation hearts…}

Maggie and Eric have been together since the 8th grade. They really wanted to play up their long relationship and sense of humor in their save the dates. Maggie had a great idea of merging their childhood photos together to create one picture and act like it’s from their first date. It’s so fun & simple. Have a look at these original pictures- the background on Eric’s pic is priceless!

Welcome 2011!

January 3, 2011

Happy New Year everyone! I have a good feeling about 2011, I think we’re all in for a very good year! Granted I say this every year, but you know – trying to keep it positive!

I wanted to open the first post of this year with a lovely watercolor save the date. This was another great collaboration with Love, Jenna. Her calligraphy glides effortlessly along the card while the soft watercolor compliments it. The client wanted to use one of her Grandmother’s watercolor paintings as the envelope liner. Such a sweet homage to her family, I love this detail! {you can even see her Grandmother’s original signature in the bottom right hand corner of the liner}

Pet Love

December 3, 2010

Betsey and Rich have a huge heart! This couple has 3 rescue pets that have become the most important members of their family. The “kids” (as they call them) are Carly, George and Little Bill. The bride wanted to feature them prominently on their save the dates. The flowers around their collars are drawn based off the bride’s bouquet. Simple and sweet, I really love how personal these save the dates are. Wait till you see what we do for the invites!

Calligraphy meets Watercolor

October 12, 2010

This project was great for a lot of reasons. One of which being I was able to collaborate with the amazingly talented calligrapher, Love, Jenna. I had been wanting to try hand painted type for sometime and once Jenna and I talked about doing a project together, I knew she’d be the perfect partner for this idea. We matched her beautiful calligraphy with my hand painted type and low and behold we came up with a pretty fantastic save the date. I love how Jenna’s calligraphy flows from blue, to navy to sea foam without missing a beat. The hand painted type was actually done with the same ink Jenna used, just a different treatment. I think the sailboat Jenna drew on a whim pulls together the coastal theme we were going for {and makes a great envelope liner!} All in all, I think this save the date is amazing. Thanks Jenna!