We loved spotting our Anais letterpress wedding invitations in the latest issue of Martha Stewart Weddings (see the feature here), so today we’re sharing close-ups of the entire invitation suite that we created for Tara and Dan. We collaborated with Jennifer at Invited to create the set, which included letterpress save the dates, invitations, and reply cards in watermelon and taupe inks on our white cotton paper. Coordinating envelopes were printed for each piece, including inner and outer envelopes for the invitations (which also featured taupe envelope liners and hand calligraphy by Butler’s Pantry). To carry their stationery style through to the wedding day, Tara and Dan created an amazing string art escort card display that mimicked both the invitation design and color palette! Visit Martha Stewart Weddings to see more of their modern wedding day details!
Photographs by Shaun Menary Photography courtesy of Invited.
The summer 2016 issue of Martha Stewart Weddings is on stands now, and in it you’ll find a real Bella Figura wedding! Tara and Dan worked with our friends at Invited for their invitations, and chose our modern Anais design by Ian Koenig to set the tone for their spring wedding at the Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden. The wedding was filled with chic DIY decor – including an elegant string + brass nail escort card display that echoed the invitations. Be sure to check out the latest issue of Martha Stewart Weddings for all the details!
Paige and Jon Mark customized our Anais design in a romantic color palette of gold matte foil and desert ink for their modern Nashville wedding at The Bridge Building. The couple paired their invitations with our jute envelopes for a rustic meets glam look, and the gold baker’s twine and white calligraphy addressing by Jenna Rainey made for beautiful finishing touches. Featured recently on Green Wedding Shoes, we love that the bride (a creative director) drew inspiration for the colors, textures, and overall design elements from a cactus! The couple’s advice to those currently planning a wedding? “Keep your guests in mind. You want them to enjoy the night just as much as you do!”
photography: Taylor Lord // venue: The Bridge Building Nashville, Tennessee // event design: Jessica Sloane // event planner: Leah Kutil with The Bridge Building // florals + flower crowns: Melissa Broadwell of Vintage Florals // wedding dress: BHLDN ‘Laverne’ Gown // hairpieces: veil by Veiled Beauty // earrings + reception belt: BHLDN // shoes: BHLDN // bridesmaid dresses: various vendors chosen by bridesmaids // hair + makeup: Elaina Karras of Lucy Pop Salon andAmanda Gros // groom suit: Indochino // videography: Anchor Heart Films // paper goods: (the bride) Paige Foley Design and Bella Figura // calligraphy: Jenna Rainey // catering: Infinity Restaurant Group // cake: Dessert Designs // music: Party of Five // welcome boxes/favors: Kaldi’s Coffee // chalkboard artist: (the bride) Paige Foley Design // linens + chairs: Liberty Party Rental
Today we’re going behind the scenes and chatting with one of our designers, Ian Koenig. Ian is the designer of Neo Luna, our February design of the month (on sale through 2/28 for up to 20% off!), and was kind enough to share a little inspiration behind this design, how he got started and where he’s drawing inspiration from these days.
Tell us a little bit about yourself and your work.
I currently live in Chicago with my wife Melinda and our four-year old son Lukas. I work at VSA Partners and teach design at the Chicago Portfolio School.
What was your inspiration behind the Neo Luna design?
Neo Luna was a continuation of an idea I had in an earlier design called Anais which was to try to get as much color into a design through an array of rules. With Neo Luna, I wanted to have a bit more fun than I did with Anais so I made the language and typography a bit more playful and introduced the Cupid idea through the arrow and heart elements.
Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
Still having Friday night movie nights with my family, still working at VSA, still teaching and still designing invitations for you guys!
Who are you inspired by?
My current design loves: A Montreal-based firm named Paprika; The Book Cover Archive; the art direction of John Gall’s Nabokov book cover series; Designspiration; the illustrator Jonas Bergstrand; the designer Paul Sahre, the album All Day by Girl Talk.
How did you get into design? Was there a defining point in your life that helped shape you as a designer?
During my last semester in college, I took my first art studio class. With two weeks to go before graduation, I was on my way to class and saw the graphic design student’s work on the walls. I knew instantly I could do this type of work and was then a bit bummed that I had not made that walk four years earlier!
I rediscovered design a little while later after I quit my first real job. A friend of a friend was opening a children’s restaurant and I offered to draw him a logo. He liked it and gave me the opportunity to design the uniforms, menus, signage and the business cards. That small introduction to design was all I needed. I am still hooked.
As part of our “Do Good in March” promotion (where you have the chance to win a grand prize of 100 free invitations and everyone who enters gets 25 free invitation sets with the purchase of 50 or more!), we’re hoping to inspire others to get out and do good this month. Service work can mean the world to the people you help, but you’d be amazed at how good it will make you feel, too! We rounded up some of our favorite quotes to inspire you and have paired them up with some of our favorite designs — check them out!
Modern Garden
Anais
Jack and Jill
Flit
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Earlier this year, we worked with Alice and Beth from Alice G. Patterson Photography on an amazing project we’re really excited to share. Featured recently on Green Wedding Shoes, this collaboration features some of our most popular letterpress invitation designs alongside some incredible miniatures. Alice and Beth set up these picturesque scenes and we were completely blown away with the end result — take a look!
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Our AMAZING friends at Gus and Ruby Letterpress in Portsmouth, New Hampshire submitted this letterpress wedding invitation set to us. We were thrilled to see the Harbor Beach design, by Jessica Tierney, used in combination with the Anais design, by Ian Koenig. The final product was styled perfectly using pewter and navy inks, clean lines and bold text. It was no surprise that this nautical yet urban design won first place in the Bella Figura Design Contest!
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