We always tell our clients that save the dates don’t have to match the wedding invitation suite. There are no hard fast rules in this department. It can be agonizing to coordinate a piece of stationery to an event that is many months away when the details have yet to fully come together. We have learned that even the best laid plans are subject to change in the months leading up to a wedding. Save the dates in particular offer an early opportunity to break out of a matchy mindset and allow for more creativity in your stationery. When possible, incorporating a few elements from a save the date into the rest of the wedding stationery creates a visual link back to the announcement which ties the stationery together.
For Dauphine Press Art Director Erin Shetterly, this was no exception. She had a date, a venue and an evolving theme. She was inspired by a vacation website about Isla Mujeres and had a fantastic caterer lined up for a Spanish-style tapas reception. Midway through the planning however, the couple had to change caterers, so the wedding ethos shifted away from a more laid back Latin feel to something more intricately ornate and romantic.
Erin says, “I went for a bolder look on the save the date design using duplex paper, a pattern on the back, colored envelopes and a custom address label. I didn’t have many of the details in place for the wedding, but I knew from day one that I wanted coral to be the “pop” color.”When it came time for the actual invitations, Erin says “I toned down the design for the invites and wedding day stationery. I have always loved the 19th century French engraving cuts from the Charles Derrey foundry, so I worked with several motifs from that collection. I wanted it to look romantic and formal, but not so traditional. Coral was still the pop color, but I moved from espresso to a more bridal metallic pewter ink as the wedding décor was moving into a vintage garden aesthetic. I carried over some graphic elements from the save the date announcement. The frame graphic was used on the favor boxes, well wish cards and thank you notes. I also used the pattern from the back of the save the date card as the pattern for the envelope liners for the invitations.”
Regarding the typography and layout of the invitation, Erin adds “Since we were among the last of our friends to marry, it was important to us to have our names on the same plane focusing on the union rather than the traditional hierarchy of a wedding invite.” You will also note that the invitation doesn’t read “Saturday, the twenty-fourth of October, two thousand and nine” as is the lengthy standard. Erin instead incorporated numerals, a subtle twist on tradition that didn’t compromise formality.
Another theme carried throughout the stationery were poignant literary quotes about love. On the back flap of the response envelope sprung a quote from Mark Twain. Another was included on the program cover.
While Erin and Todd were honeymooning in Europe, her team conspired and put together a beautiful letterpress broadside as a welcome home gift which read “Life is not measured by the breaths you take, but the moments that take your breath away.”
I love the vector design in front of the wedding stationery. I am in love with it.
Posted by: Michelle Custodio | 04/13/2010 at 07:58 AM
nice designs. i would say the choice of abstract writing in red goes well with the grey.
Posted by: Wedding | 02/10/2011 at 10:12 AM
The red/gray combination is a stunning affect. Great use of color.
Posted by: speechinwedding | 02/19/2011 at 11:38 AM