...How Your Paper Goods Bring Your Mood Board to Life!...

Over the years, I have been asked to work many weird and wonderful details into wedding invitations, from handcuffs to cats, dragons to golf, James Bond to Willy Wonka....every couple has a dream and the wedding stationery suite you choose is a fantastic way to bring it all together.

When clients visit the studio to talk about their invitations I like to find out as much as I can about them - how they met, what’s important to them, who they are. I also want to get to know their wedding plans - at this point, the vision is coming together and the wedding stationery plays a crucial part in combining all these elements...

Top - Ruthie getting ready, hair and make up by Andrew and Liz Collinge; centre - give us a twirl! Gorgeous 1950s style dress from Look Darling; bottom - the devil is the detail! Iain's shoes were clearly purchased from shoe heaven (even my hubby wants a pair of these!), Ruthie's shoes were dyed by Elegant Steps.

One of my favourite weddings of 2012 was been Ruthie and Iain’s wedding in the Lake District. Ruth and I have been close friends for many many years and this was a wonderful opportunity for me to really get involved and make something gorgeous for a dear, dear friend. 

Clockwise from top left - The invitation with a plume of coloured ribbons and a tangerine orange envelope; the happy couple - yes the deed has been done, don't they look happy?; slates collected in Snowdon by Ruthie and Iain and used as signage on the day

At our first meeting to go through their requirements, we managed to nail the brief. It came as no surprise to me that the summary it boiled down to was… ‘Doris Day goes Hiking’! Ruthie loves her ‘50s styling (although always with a contemporary twist) and we needed to reflect Iain’s passion for hiking and the great outdoors. So, we needed a  ‘50s feel with a rustic twist, plenty of colour and something different and quirky. Hmmm, was this a big ask?! We chose a heavy kraft board which gave a rough, stamped feel when printed. Vintage design elements and carefully chosen typefaces gave the invitations a quirky  ‘50s feel, with a textured, 100% recycled paper for the inserts giving a light touch and even more feel good factor!  On the day, many, many jam jars were filled with gorgeous bright dahlias and gerberas, as well as vases filled with. To bring these rich, bright colours in we decided to finish the invitation with a plume of multicoloured ribbon, topaz, rust, poppy and plum. Yum yum!

(Nearly) all photography by Sam Clayton www.claytonphotography.co.uk

As you can see on these gorgeous pictures* we continued the theme throughout the on-the-day stationery. The wedding took place at a gorgeous hotel in the Lake District (The Swan at Newby Bridge) and the use of colour within the venue complement Ruthie carefully though out styling perfectly. For the stationery, use of kraft board, manila, heavy black print and the same colourful palette brought everything together, and worked excellently with the newsprint confetti (sourced online) and jewel coloured paper pom-poms which sat on the tables alongside the wild flowers. There were some really lovely touches such as the manila seed packets and the slates, collected by Ruthie and Iain when out hiking around Snowdon together, which were used as notice boards, place settings and little signs around and about. The pictures of the couple climbing their favourite mountains (and in some cases, looking frankly exhausted!) made perfect comedy table name signs!

From the Bride’s custom made birdcage veil to the groom’s red shoes, the styling on this wedding was all about quirky details, and the feeling on the day was all about heart. The bride’s parents had preserved their original royal icing cake topper which was used on the cake (made by mum!) and displayed next to a photograph of the original. Such a lovely thoughtful touch. Ruthie made the gent’s buttonholes using buttons and felt, which added yet another fun, brightly coloured detail. The three little bridesmaids in their pretty red dresses ran around until they fell asleep and for me it was such a pleasure to design wedding stationery which truly complemented such a well thought out, fun and fabulous day.

Couldn't resisit including this picture as the little bridesmaids in the pretty red dresses are Ruthie's gorgeous niece Jasmine and my two little tykes, Daisy and Alice. I was a very proud Mummy that day!