i do invitations

Pretty. Purple. Swirly.

2011-08-01T22:06:00.001-05:00

Pretty purple swirlies have become very popular. I know why - they're beautiful!

Michelle and Tim are more friends from Truman. Michelle and I were bridesmaids together in Joanna's wedding (another purple girl!) and I remember her talking about her future with Tim. A couple years have passed, and Michelle's back in STL, and she and Tim are MARRIED, and Joanna and Adam brought their baby to the wedding! So crazy.

Another Michele! (but with only one "L"). Michele and Matthew found me through the longest chain of referrals I've had so far. Here it is: Chelsea Brandel-Harrison is one of my best friends from college. Her sister Erica Brandel-Bruns lived with Megan Buechter-Marty, whose invitations I did. Laura Fretschel-Stavas found me through Megan. Danae Koopman-Eitzmann found me through Laura. And Michele found me through Danae! And Michele is from St. Louis! None of the others are... so it's funny that the chain made it all the way back here. Like all the others, I've loved getting to know Michele as well. I got to meet with Michele and her mom twice last week, and they're just wonderful! Michele had the idea to do purple on white for the invitations, and the reverse for the enclosure cards. I LOVE how they turned out!

Thanks ladies! I love your style!

Fun designs

2011-08-01T21:24:00.000-05:00

I love designing invitations. One of my favorite parts about it is that I get to work with all different types of brides. Some brides want swirls, elegant lines, ribbons, or fancy papers. And some have really fun ideas in mind that go along with their wedding themes. I've recently done a few really unique designs that I want to share! [I apologize for the poor quality of the pictures... I was in a hurry to get some before I left town and my camera is having issues!]

Lauren and Lee wanted dragonflies for their fall wedding. We used kraft paper for the backing.

Melissa and Rob wanted hibiscus flowers for their Hawaiian theme.

Ashley is another friend from Cardinal Key at Truman! She and Tyler had a really cute idea for a tree with their initials "carved" inside a heart on the tree trunk. Adorable!

I have a few more really unique ones that I didn't get pictures of yet. But I spread them out on my coffee table so I'll have to take pictures when I get home :)

Jordyn & Mitchell: invitations and lined envelopes

2011-08-01T21:05:00.000-05:00

Jordyn and Mitchell found me through Erica. They had an idea in mind for the invitations, and when I met with Mitchell's mom, she mentioned wanting lined envelopes as well. She had found a fabric she really liked and wanted something like that printed on the liners. She sent me a picture of the fabric, and I was able to print a pattern that looked very much like her fabric. In the past, I have stayed away from lined envelopes. But I think these turned out so beautifully and made the invitations more elegant... I think I'll be recommending them now! They really don't require a lot of extra assembly either. Worth it!

I love the contrast of the simple invitations with the ornate lined envelopes. The invitations are printed on textured paper.

More seating boards.

2011-08-01T19:33:00.002-05:00

Summer. I thought it would be my opportunity to finally catch up on blogging. What was I thinking?! Of course not! This summer I've been out of the country, city, and state more than I've been home. I've been designing, printing, and cutting invitations in the few free minutes that I have in STL. So the blog, (as usual I've started to notice) has gotten pushed to the bottom of the list. Right now I'm in New Jersey, hanging out with my grandparents, and I've got a few minutes, so here we go!

Seating boards. A fantastic way to let your guests know where to sit at the reception! I've been doing more and more of them and while there are similarities, each one is unique. Here are a couple I wanted to share!

Janine and Robert had a fall wedding and we used a copper foam board for the background.

Megan and Matt arranged theirs by table instead of alphabetical order. This way everyone can see who they're sitting with! We used all Stardream paper as well... so beautiful!

I've been busy!

2011-05-01T21:20:00.000-05:00

So I've lost count of how many weddings I'm working on this year. I have a cute little ribbon clothesline in my room with a card for each wedding... but somehow I still can't keep track. The number is more than 15 now though! CRAZY! With the school year coming to a close and the spring weddings in full swing, my blog has been completely neglected. I have pictures of some great stuff though... hopefully I'll get a chance to post in the next couple weeks. The paper and envelopes have completely overtaken my house though. I definitely need a crafting/designing room for this "little" business I've got going. Someday!
Here's what my coffee table looked like a month ago:

Megan & Mike: Rock & Roll wedding

2011-03-16T14:49:00.000-05:00

I'm on spring break, so of course I have to use the opportunity to do a little blogging! I worked with Megan and Mike at Spanky's Frozen Custard for several years. We always had a great time together! Megan started talking with me last summer about doing invitations for their "Rock & Roll" themed wedding. She said they were having a hard time finding invitations that fit. I was nervous and excited to try something totally new! We ended up including Sailor Jerry swallows and tattoo-type fonts. I was happy with how they turned out :)

Thanks you two! I had so much fun with this!

I love Save-the-Dates!

2011-02-03T21:23:00.000-06:00

Save-the-dates are still some of my favorite things to design. I just have so much freedom with the designs and I love mixing in pictures of cute, happy couples! Here are some of my more recent designs - I just love them! I especially like these because I know all these brides personally :)

First up, we have Jess and Jon. Jess' twin sister, Jen, was my roomie for three years! So, I got to spend a lot of time with Jess too :) I love these two!

They chose to do a colored back for their postcards, and we included another adorable engagement photo watermarked in the background. LOVE IT!

Next, we have Jenna and Jeff (more J's!). Jenna is a good college friend of Maria, who is my best friend from forever. I've known Jenna for awhile, and I love her unique style! Jeff proposed during a photo shoot, so they included a photo of them actually getting engaged on their magnets! Adorable.

Now to Kacey and Keith (so many alliterative couples!). Kacey and I got our education degrees together at Truman. We both got to spend a fantastic summer in Kirksville teaching summer school :) I love their colors!

I really love how we set up the text on the back. So fun!

And finally... Michelle and Tim (no alliteration here!). I met these two at Truman and I've had so much fun working with them on their wedding projects. Michelle and I were in Joanna's wedding together, and we recently planned her baby shower together! Goodness! Everyone is growing up.

With that, I'm done for the night :)

Ashley & Daniel: invitations

2011-02-03T20:53:00.000-06:00

Here's another client referred to me by Erica at Bella Sera Wedding Designs. I always love working with Erica!

We used kraft paper and black ribbon to create a kind of folder around the invitation that held the enclosures in place. These were really unique!

Thanks again Erica!

Ali & Josh: invitations [finally]

2011-02-03T20:45:00.000-06:00

Today as I was taking photos of some of my more recent designs, I realized I STILL never posted Ali and Josh's invitations. Obviously it's LONG overdue; I've posted their baby announcements months ago, and that little boy is turning 1 next month! Still, these invitations are some of my favorites and I wanted to post them!

Ali and Josh met at Champagne Jewelers, where Ali worked. That's also where he proposed :)

So, champagne was a natural and beautiful choice for a theme!

Just like champagne, everything was sparkly and bubbly :)

I got to design a map for them! I was pretty happy with how it turned out :)

We also did coordinating programs.

They chose to include the story of how they met inside the program, which I think is adorable! I just love their story too :)

I love you Ali and Josh! (and baby Aidan of course!) It was an honor to be your "reader/stationer/calligrapher."

Ellen & Daniel: invitations & programs

2011-02-03T20:25:00.000-06:00

Since I've been off school for THREE days in a row now, I decided to take a break from hanging out with friends, designing, emailing, facebooking, cleaning, laying around, crafting, and all the other random things I've been doing and finally update the blog!

We'll start with Ellen and Daniel. Ellen is the daughter of our school nurse, and working with her was delightful! Everything was so classy and beautiful. We used a blue Stardream paper for the backing as well as for a band on the back that held the enclosures in place.

These were her programs.

Diana & Mike: invitations

2010-12-09T21:54:00.000-06:00

Diana is my sister's best friend... since forever. So, it was fun, and strange to design her invitations. Strange because I still think of her (and Maggie) as little... even though they obviously aren't!

She chose a long style, with a perforated RSVP/directions/reception information card slipped behind the invitation.

Katie & Aaron: invitations

2010-12-09T21:41:00.000-06:00

Katie contacted me this summer (yep it's been that long since I've posted...) about designing her invitations. She had already gotten some invitations elsewhere, but decided she really wanted something different. Her wonderful friend, Heather, recommended me! I'm glad I was able to help her get what she really wanted.

We layered Stardream papers and did a monogrammed band... some of my favorite details.

Liz & Lucas: ceremony and reception details

2010-12-09T21:17:00.001-06:00

Liz is a friend from Truman who contacted me about helping her out with programs and reception details. Her fantastic theme was peacock feathers - soooo pretty! We used metallic Stardream paper for everything, and I think it turned out beautifully.

Some of these photos are borrowed from Liz and Lucas' wonderful photographer.

We did simple, single-sheet programs.

A first for me... ribbon wands! Liz asked if I could help her out with them, and I was excited to try something new. She assembled them all with friends, but I got the beautiful ribbons and wands together. Guests waved them when the couple left the church.

Gorgeous place setting with the peacock feather, menu tucked into the napkin, and place card.

I got to do another seating board. Love these!

Liz and Lucas, I so enjoyed working with you!

This is getting silly.

2010-12-09T20:57:00.001-06:00

I have not blogged in FOREVER and I have SO MANY weddings to post!

So I'm sitting here, watching the hour-long Office Christmas episode, and have to decide once again whether to grade papers or blog. I guess we can all see which I prefer :)

At this point, it's been so long I don't know where to start! I had a ton of fall weddings, so I think we'll begin there.

Theresa is a friend of mine from Cardinal Key at Truman. Of course I was excited to work with her... and I LOVED her style. Monograms, Stardream paper, swirlies, Tiffany blue and brown... :)

It was so much fun working with you Theresa!

Whew!

2010-09-26T22:47:00.000-05:00

It's been a SUPER busy month! With school starting, six September weddings, and two October weddings... I've been a busy girl. I'm hoping to catch up with some blogging and designing in the next few weeks... so stay posted :)

For now, I'll be super random and post a photo of my favorite (and only) puppy ... who's actually an old man. This is Fred. He's my little buddy. Lisa did an amazing job capturing his adorableness.

Katie & Tony: seating chart

2010-08-11T01:06:00.000-05:00

Katie and Tony gave me the opportunity to make a seating chart for them. This works in the same way that escort cards, but it's a little less work :)
I think it turned out fantastic!!! I suggested that they add some of their green ribbon from their programs across the top, behind their names, and they did (but I don't have a photo of it, so just imagine!)

I'm working on one for another bride and groom now... and photos are forthcoming!

Rachael & Gabe: invitations

2010-08-11T01:01:00.000-05:00

Rachael and Gabe got married this past Sunday, so I decided to (finally) post their invitations. They were really fun and kind of whimsical, with some cute love birds and a pretty tree.

For their programs, we did cute little fans... but pictures of those will come later... lovely Lisa Hessel was their photographer :)

Brittany & BT: invitations

2010-08-11T00:55:00.000-05:00

Summer is flying by! I say that in present tense, but really it's already over for me :(

I completed a lot of "projects" that I had saved for summer, but one that only got partly finished is catching up on my blog and creating a website. It's just going to have to wait... and I'm going to try to find some time once school starts.

Anyway, I still have some photos I want to share :)

You've seen some photos of Brittany's programs and save-the-dates; here are the coordinating invitations. She chose to use beautiful stardream paper and swirlies - a combination I always love.

We also got to put a swirly printed band on the back to hold the enclosures in place. Pretty!

Thanks Brittany! It was so fun to work with you :)

Lara & Matt: invitations

2010-07-18T00:21:00.000-05:00

I showed Lara's programs here, and these are the beautiful coordinating invitations. Again, she and her mother were a joy to work with!

programs

2010-07-18T00:08:00.000-05:00

Since I'm so far behind on the blog, I decided to do a little categorizing and combining. Here you'll see a bunch of new programs I did recently. Lots of different styles and ideas! Programs can be really fun and creative, really simple and elegant, and anything in between. It's neat to see the personality of the bride and groom come out in those beautiful little (or big) things!

First up is Katie and Tony's programs. Ellen referred Katie to me for her programs, and she just loved the knot idea, like we did here. So we went with a simple long program, with beautiful fonts, and some gorgeous green ribbon. Katie was so sweet to work with!

Next up - Lara and Matt. She chose knotted ribbon for her invitations (pictures are coming...), and we used the same color ribbon on the programs. She loved the little booklet idea though, and wanted a monogram. Lara chose black stardream paper for the covers - love it.

Here are some more that I really like... Brittany and Brandon's (invitation photos still coming too... goodness!). Brittany is a friend of Megan, and Lara is a friend of Brittany. A bunch of lovely ladies!

On to Paya... she loved the scroll idea. She had several different colors throughout the wedding, so she used several different colored ribbons. They turned out really fun. We used her flowers on them as well.

Whew! So many programs. More to come still... but here's one more tonight. These are from my good friend Joanna's wedding. I'm thinking about her because she's ANOTHER friend who's going to have a BABY! Ooooh a baby Harrold - I can't wait! Penny at Twin Springs Photography did their photos... she's done a fantastic job for some of my KC friends! And she's so much fun.

It's been awhile...

2010-07-17T23:34:00.000-05:00

I've been so busy designing, printing, etc. lately that I have neglected blogging for awhile! I also had the end of school, moving to a new classroom, summer school, and family vacation... BUT, I've got lots of new stuff to post, so keep checking and hopefully we'll be up to date in the next week or so :)

I couldn't decide where to start... so I decided to post about one of my favorite babies in the world. This year my friends started having babies! Alison and Josh asked me to do announcements for baby Aidan. LOVE that baby! We did postcards.

The back is actually my favorite part I think... We used a photo of Aidan and put a little box for the "to" address. It looks like Aidan is looking at the address though! So adorable!

Thanks Ali, Josh, and Aidan! Love you guys :)

I just realized I never posted photos from their wedding invitations... be on the lookout for those too!

Shanna & Matt: invitations

2010-04-04T21:58:00.000-05:00

Tonight I was faced with a decision that is becoming more and more common for me: grade papers OR blog/design/etc. The blog won again just now; at least it's going to happen first, further postponing entering grades. Part of the reason I chose to blog first though is because I'm so excited to post pictures of Shanna & Matt's invitations. Shanna is a dear friend of mine from Truman. We were suitemates together for a year and we got really close through CCF. Matt and I got to enjoy some business and accounting classes together... what a great time ;) It's been a joy to help them with their invitations. The wedding is fast approaching! How exciting!
We originally started with swirlies... but then Shanna decided she wanted something that looked lacy. So we went with it... and here's what we got! These invitations are so unique and so Shanna. So neat!

Some of the details :)

They are "matchbook" style with multiple pages. The second page is larger than the first so that the bottom page actually looks like blue cardstock. But as you'll see in the following photo... it's not! It's the edge of the directions/RSVP card. This piece is perforated so the RSVP card can be removed and returned.

Love you Shanna!

Paya & Shawn: invitations

2010-04-02T16:03:00.002-05:00

Paya was my mentor for my full year of student teaching in Clayton last year. I could not have asked for a better mentor. She is an incredible teacher and we had so much fun. I feel so blessed to have been placed with her; I wouldn't be the teacher I am without the ideas, support, and help she gave me last year. Last February we went on a trip to a reading convention in Arizona. We had a lot of funny, crazy experiences and we came back with a lot of strategies to use in our second-grade classroom. Paya had just started dating Shawn when we went on the trip, and they talked on the phone a lot throughout the trip. I just knew she was falling in love ;)
So... last summer when they got engaged, I was more than excited to help out with the invitations. These two are adorable. We played around with a lot of different flower ideas and weren't finding the perfect thing. I knew that Paya was artsy, so I asked her if she thought she could draw the perfect flower for the design. She drew a few and I was able to scan them in and put them into the design. I LOVE that her art is part of her invitation design.

Thanks so much Paya... for everything!

Megan & Eric: invitations

2010-04-02T15:46:00.001-05:00

When Megan emailed me a couple months ago wanting help with some purple swirly invitations, I was totally in :) I can't help but love purple swirlies! She also went with the ruby Stardream paper, which I always love!

Megan was so fun and wonderful to work with! Congratulations!

Crystal & Rex: invitations

2010-03-06T20:40:00.001-06:00

Chelsea's sister, Erica Bruns, recently started a wedding planning business (Bella Sera Wedding Designs) with her husband in Columbia, Missouri. It's been a wonderful connection; Erica has referred a couple of her clients to me for their invitations. One of the couples was Crystal and Rex, and we made some beautiful invitations! I did the designs and printing, and shipped them to Erica and Dave, who assembled. When Erica sent me these photos of the finished products, I was so excited! We ended up using really wide purple ribbon and knotting it in the center. I love these.

I made a monogram with their initials that we put on all of the enclosures as well as the invitation.

Thanks so much Erica!

Christmas cards!

2010-02-20T16:43:00.001-06:00

I know it's a little late for posting Christmas things... but better late than never. Right? Hopefully...
I got to do a Christmas card/baby announcement for Nicki, a 3rd grade teacher at my school. I also designed my dad's Christmas card, that featured photos by none other than Lisa.

What a cutie!

And my dad's card...

i do invitations tags

2010-02-20T16:32:00.001-06:00

Now that I'm working on 12+ weddings for this year, I decided I'd do a little "branding." I made some tags that I can attach to the stacks of invitations and enclosures before I ship or deliver them. I love how the beautiful stacks of paper look when they're all cut and ready to go!

Brittany & BT: save-the-dates

2010-02-20T15:58:00.001-06:00

My wonderful friend Megan referred one of her wonderful friends, Brittany, to me for wedding stationery design. Brittany has been so much fun to work with. Take a look at her FANTASTIC save-the-date postcards! Aren't these two adorable?

We're working on their invitations now... they're going to be beautiful!

Ellen & Jay: invitations & programs

2010-02-20T15:51:00.001-06:00

I've mentioned Ellen and Jay several times now; they are so wonderful! I loved designing for their wedding. And congratulations to them - they are expecting a baby! I've posted their save-the-dates, bridal shower, bachelorette party, and wedding video - and finally (!) here are her invitations. Photos by - my favorite - Lisa Hessel.

The "love bird" theme was so cute!

The programs were made like matchbooks, and they had an engagement photo that Lisa took printed on vellum as the cover. The fall colors are so pretty.

Joanna & Adam

2010-01-08T18:25:00.002-06:00

One of my favorite friends, Joanna, married one of my favorite people, Adam, this past summer. Lucky me got to do the invitations, programs, favors, thank-yous - and be a bridesmaid. Being in KC with Jo before the wedding was one of my favorite times of the summer. These two are absolutely adorable and a perfect couple.
Jo was my first client to do #10 sized invitations, and they turned out beautifully! We mounted them on purple Stardream (metallic) paper.

We printed the response postcard, reception info, and directions to the church all on the same card. Then we perforated it so guests sent back the reply card and kept the directions and reception info. It's similar to what we did with Anna & Micah's, except the layout is different. They also had guests write in song requests on the reply card, which they then downloaded and put on an ipod that their "DJ" used. I love that idea!

I had snow days yesterday AND today, so I'm getting caught up on designing and blogging!

Anna & Micah

2010-01-07T23:09:00.002-06:00

Back in the day, Anna and I had a freshman chemistry class together. We were in the same homework group, and we spent quite a lot of time together. She was also in nursing classes with most of my roommates throughout college, and she and Micah went to CCF with me. I was super excited when they asked me to do their invitations, as I was just starting to design. They chose a simple green design with a Z-folded invitation. The last section was perforated (and mine is detached in the picture), for guests to keep the reception information on the top and return the reply card on the bottom. It was a neat setup!

Megan & Lee

2010-01-07T23:01:00.001-06:00

A couple of my good college friends Megan and Lee were in town this weekend - and I got to see them! It reminded me of the good times we had my sophomore year when Lee lived across the hall and the two of them started dating. Both of them are very special to me. I was honored when Megan asked me to design their wedding invitations and programs for their wedding last summer.

Lee read Megan this verse when he proposed to her. Cute.

Love you guys.

Heather & Andrew

2010-01-05T21:46:00.001-06:00

The past few months have been very exciting. I've begun my teaching career and I've started to get really busy with wedding invitation design - two things I love! Because of referrals from some wonderful people, like Ellen, I've begun to work with brides-to-be that I didn't know before! Because of Ellen, I've gotten to work with Heather and her fiance, Andrew. Their wedding at the Butterfly House will surely be beautiful! Here are some photos of their invitation suite.

I love Tiffany blue.

On the back, we did a printed band that holds the RSVP postcard in place. It's a pretty way of making sure the enclosures don't slide around inside the envelope.

Heather is in Nebraska right now... she hasn't even seen the final product in person yet. I'm excited for her to see them!

Save-the-dates!

2010-01-03T20:28:00.001-06:00

Save-the-dates are some of my favorite things to design for engaged couples! They are a great way to help guests plan for your wedding on their calendars, tell them your wedding website address, and show them how adorable and in love you are! Here are a couple I've done. These are both magnets, but I do postcards too. This reminds me that I need to post photos of Ali's invitations... hopefully I'll get those up soon! With school starting again tomorrow... who knows?!

Of course I love Ellen and Jay and those photos by Lisa :)

And there's my college roomie Ali and her wonderful husband Josh! She had a wonderful photographer in KC.

Friend Cousins

2010-01-03T20:12:00.002-06:00

I have six wonderful cousins who live in Ohio and it's always amazing when I get to see them! This year I've been spoiled by seeing them twice - at David's wedding, AND at Thanksgiving. David is my age and he married a fantastic girl, Megan. I was honored to help them out with their first Christmas card that chronicled their outrageous Christmas Tree adventure. Here's the card...

And check out Megan's blog for the details of the tree adventure. I love you guys!

Christmas fun!

2009-12-20T22:15:00.002-06:00

Two more days of school before Christmas break and I'm going a little crazy... but I think I'll make it! Today I spent the day making Oreo balls for some of my colleagues at school. I brought Oreo balls to the staff holiday luncheon and everyone loved them so much I thought I'd make them some more.
I took some extra time to make them as cute as I could with some gift tags, chinese takeout boxes, and paper bags. Take a look!

I found these cute downloadable gift tags at PaperCrave.

A close-up of the goodies inside the boxes!

Mmmmm! Merry Christmas!

Ellen & Jay video

2009-12-05T11:52:00.004-06:00

As I've already mentioned, I got to help Ellen out with all kinds of things... save-the-dates, invitations, AMAZING programs, and place cards. When she sent me the link to this teaser that her videographer did, I was so excited to see my work in it several times! The video is great... check it out.

Enjoy!

Lisa's got part 1 of Ellen's photos up on her blog... with a nice little link to me :) How could you not love her?

Kim & Ben

2009-11-28T18:43:00.001-06:00

Kim and Ben just had their first baby on Wednesday. In honor of them, I am posting pictures of their invitations that I did 3 years ago! Their invitations were the first I ever did. We printed these on my inkjet printer and assembled them in my dorm room. Kim was my first friend to get married and the first to have a baby :)

Kim LOVES purple... can you tell?

Kim and Ben's thumbprints make the heart. Cute, right? Their wedding was at Kim's parents' house in Virginia. Spending the week with my roomies and the Church family was one of my favorite weeks ever. VAbeach!

Thanks Kim and Ben for helping me start my dream!

Audrey & Josh

2009-11-28T18:27:00.002-06:00

Back in the day ... my friend Audrey married her sweetie Josh. I worked with her on her invitations for the wedding and her shower. I also got to be a bridesmaid :)
I recommended Lisa to Aud, and Audrey's beautiful wedding was the first time I met Lisa! The whole thing is a very interesting story... ask me about it sometime!

The shower invitations ...

Her wedding invitations were in a pretty black linen paper folder, with their names on the front and a band holding the RSVP and reception cards on the back.
front inside back

Aud had a super fun wedding and reception. Thanks friend!

Ellen: bridal shower and bachelorette party

2009-11-28T16:35:00.002-06:00

My college roomie's best friend from home, Ellen, asked me to do all her wedding stationery, from save-the-dates to place cards. I had so much fun working with Ellen, and I'll post photos of her gorgeous things whenever I get them from Lisa Hessel (great choice, Ellen!). Ellen's wonderful sister, Katie, asked me to design the shower and bachelorette party invitations. I had so much fun with these!

Shower invitations that displayed the fall theme.

The bachelorette party invitations showed how much Ellen loves DANCING!

Thanks Ellen and Katie!

Kelly & Jason: programs

2009-11-23T19:40:00.004-06:00

Another BFF and roomie from college, Kelly, got married last summer. I got to help out with the programs, "calligraph" the envelopes, and read some verses at the wedding. Kelly's sweet mother cried when she saw the programs!

I think I'll stick to design. I'm not much of a photographer . . .
Kelly's programs were the inspiration for Elizabeth's programs. Who wouldn't love those beautiful satin bows?

Chelsea & Kevin

2009-11-23T19:21:00.008-06:00

This summer I got to do the invitations for one of my best friends ever! She's the other half of raCHELsea and I love her so much. I was honored to do her save-the-dates, invitations, programs, favors, and thank-yous. Her theme was so bright and fun, just like her. The wedding was gorgeous and ridiculously fun!
The invitations. She chose a lot of color and a long style. Beautiful!

I loved the wording on the reply postcards.

Chelsea's programs. It was an outdoor wedding so we assembled them like fans.

She included a sweet note in memory of her Dad.

Finally, we did postcard thank-yous with a photo from the wedding. The ceremony was at the this cross behind the K-Life house where they met and fell in love :), and this is the spot where Kevin proposed.

Thanks Chels for letting me be so involved with your day!

Elizabeth & Jacob

2009-11-13T22:54:00.004-06:00

My good friends Jakes and Elizabeth got married this summer. They also had photos by Lisa Hessel - incredible! Elizabeth and her mom made sure that every little detail followed the pink and brown swirlie theme. Because they set an invitation out on the welcoming table, Lisa was able to take some photos of it with the rings. Love it!

I love the satin ribbon Elizabeth used to tie the cute little booklet programs.

Thanks again, Lisa!

Where to start?

2009-11-13T22:03:00.026-06:00

I wanted to add photos to my blog in chronological order from my first designs to my most recent designs. Unfortunately I don't have nice photos of my earliest stuff yet, so I'm going to go ahead and add things as I get photos of them (not in order of when I actually made them).

I cannot, however, think of a better way to start my blog than by posting pictures taken by the amazing Lisa Hessel. She is my absolute favorite photographer and I have had the privilege of designing invitations and/or programs in three weddings she has photographed. I basically tell everyone I know about her, so it's no coincidence that we've done some of the same weddings. I hope this pattern will continue!

A special thank-you to Lisa for making me a CD of these files so I could post them :)

Jessie's scroll programs - in a fancy basket just as I envisioned them! I had some help from my BFF Maria Casaleggi with these programs. We're a great team!

A close-up of the program and the rings. How fantastic is Lisa? And how adorable is Jessie for choosing this quote?

i do invitations. designs by rachel.

2009-10-30T20:43:00.003-05:00

Yep. I'm starting a blog.