Pretty. Purple. Swirly.

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

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

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.

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!

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

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!

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

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]

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

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

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

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

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.

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!

Katie & Tony: seating chart

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

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

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

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

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.