cape cod wedding Archives – Swiss Cottage Designs

Lindsey + Adam’s Cape Cod Wedding

January 6, 2014

And we’re back! I’m so excited to start 2014 with this fantastic Cape Cod wedding! Given my Massachusetts roots, I’m a sucker for the Cape. I love the rustic, nautical vibe but without all the cheesy details. Lindsey is your classic Massachusetts girl with a stylish edge so it was a great platform for creating a modern Cape Cod invitation suite. Lindsey and Adam were married in Falmouth this past October. For her save the date, Lindsey really wanted to work with watercolor. She loved that it felt nautical without having to be so obvious. I painted the “arm” of Cape Cod and called out their date with knockout hand lettering. I put a little heart over Falmouth as a nod to their wedding location. For the invitation suite, Lindsey wanted to keep it clean and classic Cape while still working in some unique elements. We letterpress printed the invitation and used a pop of gold foil to add some depth. I love how it looks on that little anchor! The edges are painted in a dark navy which compliments the clean spacing on the invitation. We flat printed the reply and details card in order to bring in a bit more watercolor. Lindsey wanted to play with a pop of fuchsia but didn’t want it to be a main focus. We used the reply envelope as a place to bring this in as well as the belly band. We tied the entire suite with my favorite gold glitter twine {a fun way to tie it back to the gold foil on the invite} and finished it with a cute hang tag that brought back the watercolor Cape Cod image from the save the date. I love how this suite marries classic Cape Cod with some fresh, modern twists!

I was lucky enough to work with Lindsey and Adam on all their day of elements {as well as being able to attend the wedding!} Lindsey and Adam’s entire day was stunning and filled with charming details. See below for a few snaps of their big day!

And here are some snaps from their amazing wedding day taken by the very talented Casey of Hello Love Photography. To see more of their big day, read Casey’s blog on their wedding here!

A lovely Cape Cod Wedding :: Greer + Austin

November 14, 2013

The lovely Greer and Austin were married this past October in Cape Cod. When most people think of the Cape, they think of starfish, sand dollars, whales… all of those somewhat cliche nautical elements. Don’t get me wrong, I love putting a whale on pretty much anything but sometimes it’s just nice to stray away from the norm. Since Greer was having an October wedding, she wanted to focus more on her Autumnal color scheme vs. a classic Cape vibe which I really appreciated. She was very inspired by her flowers and that dictated most of our colors and design direction. I created an inspired border made up of flowers she was using at her actual wedding. The entire suite was painted in watercolor, helping to keep the look light. If you look closely in the border, you can see a few nods to Cape culture {mussels, a seahorse, some shells and a tiny anchor…} but we kept that a minimum. I mixed hand lettering with some typefaces to help the copy compliment the softness of the watercolor. The couple was having their rehearsal dinner at a Cape Cod institution, The Lobster Pot, in Provincetown {which is a town located at the very end of Massachusetts}. This is the kind of place that all the locals know and the facade looks like it hasn’t changed since the 60’s. For the rehearsal dinner invite, I knew I wanted to play off that authenticity. I hand drew this piece with pen but added in pops of red to tie it back to the invite. Even though the invite was created in a different style, I love how these two pieces still compliment one another. This suite still feels like a Cape Cod wedding without having to play into the obvious. Greer and Austin were such a wonderful couple to work with and full of great inspiration, which I think really comes through in their suite.

Retro Cape Cod Invites: Kendall + Jeff

January 9, 2013

Kendall and Jeff were married this past summer in amazing Cape Cod. When Kendall and I first started talking about her invites, we knew that we wanted to create something that felt retro and fun. I immediately thought of a vintage travel brochure, like something you might get when planning a family vacation in the 1950’s. You’d fill up the family station wagon, pack a cooler and drive down the dreaded Rte. 3 during the hot summer months for a Cape Cod vacation. This was my inspiration for the project.

Kendall was very excited about the retro idea and wanted to incorporate illustration in the design as well. The colors were inspired by hydrangea flowers, which Kendall used on her wedding day. One of the things I love most about using a brochure for your invite is that it’s concise. Instead of giving your guests several pieces they need to carry with them, you’re giving them one piece with all the necessary information. Brilliant! For the RSVP, we kept with the retro vacation theme and created a post card for the guests to fill out and return. We wanted the design to feel like something you might find at a souvenir shop {only a little more tasteful!} Overall, this suite is fun and light but does a great job at conveying a feeling and aesthetic that would continue through their big day.