Last weekend was chalk full of weddings and I wanted to take a minute to congratulate all of our newly married couples: Carrie & Arthur, Alix & David, and Stephani & Adam. Much love and success as you begin your lives together! It was an honor to be a small part of your huge day.

Today’s blog features the paper lovin’ from Carrie & Arthur’s wedding. Their clean design was a perfect combination with the swirly font they had chosen for their wedding invitations. Although Carrie had purchased her invitations through another company, Crave Design was able to match their style and font choices to create all the “day of” stationery needs.

Another benefit to hiring a designer in your town to create the same day pieces for your wedding, is a quicker turn around. Crave Design is able to create your place cards, custom menus and programs up to one week before your wedding and guarantee them to you by your date. I realize that it’s challenging to get all your guests organized by table and some changes will come up for your wedding programs and that is why I work hard to make this step stress free for our couples. Check out Carrie’s customized menus below – each guest feels like a star with their name at the top!

Now let’s talk about those programs! The first part of a program is to honor those who are have done so much for your wedding by listing out their names and titles. I always enjoy when couples also list how the person is connected to them (ie. childhood friend, college roommate, etc.)

The other part is to let your guests know what’s going on within your ceremony. It’s common to lists songs used or passages read from loved ones. Carrie’s program below shows both within her Marriage Ceremony page. Also if your ceremony has special rituals, this is the place to list those with the meaning behind them.

There is almost always one part of a couples program that gets me misty eyed and for Carrie & Art it was their acknowledgement of those loved ones that are no longer here. The couple had flowers placed on their alter and the program shared with the guests the true meaning behind the beautiful display.

There is no limit to the love you can share within your programs. They are another piece of your wedding that guests can share and take home for years of memories. The more special you make them the more they become a treasured keepsake. Make sure and include a “thank you” to all of those who made your day magical.

If you have any questions or would like to see more samples of wedding programs, please leave me a message! What are some memorable programs you’ve received at weddings?

When I’m designing for a couple who are about to get married, the first thing we do is meet for coffee. It’s an important part of my process to meet the bride & groom and talk to them about what’s consuming their every waking thought – the wedding! Okay maybe that’s more true for the bride but you get the point. It’s really fun for me to hear about the things they’ve already picked out before they call me. One of the most important items to book ahead are the locations as they can already be filling up with other events. Also, the dress is a must – not only is it super fun to look for but it’s important to get early for ordering purposes and fittings. Then it’s on to the invitations!

During the first meeting I’ll bring a ton of samples to pick through and talk about. Anything your mind can imagine I can incorporate into a stunning invitation suite. We’ll also go through styles, motifs, paper samples, & wording. I know it may seem overwhelming but my clients have told me repeatedly that this process has been the most enjoyable part of the planning process! So never fear we are just talking over coffee about your big day and in the end you will be amazed at how your wedding invitations really are about you!

So there is always something about the invitation that tells a story about the couples. Beautiful nature graphics can communicate the setting you grew up in, a rose from a first date, or a park where you first kissed. Maybe your venue has a special significance and we can incorporate graphics for that as well. Photographs are a perfect way to use your engagement photos! We can print them directly into the invitation or design them to be separate so that guests can frame them for years to come. Monograms and color themes can easily be used throughout your wedding and can later be used for thank you cards and personal stationery.

I had a sweet couple years ago that told me they had no theme to their wedding. I asked about colors or flowers but they were pretty undecided – just fun and colorful! As we began talking I noticed that the soon to be groom kept calling his lovely fiancee, Pixie. I knew that wasn’t her name and became curious about the pet name. She blushed and told me that they met on a dating site. I could tell she was a little embarassed but come on we all know someone who met this way. So I told her it didn’t matter how they met as long as they found one another. Apparently her screen name was Pixie and it just sort of stuck. I knew immediately that was going to be the “something special” in their invitations. Each invite was colorfully adorned with a pixie stick inside. Although not everyone knew the story behind the unexpected treat, it made for a heartfelt story when the guests asked.

My couple was thrilled that they could tell their story and I was excited to put a little bit of a theme to their wedding. It really is the smallest of details that can tell your story and oh what a story it usually is! I would love to meet with you about your upcoming wedding. A chat over coffee about the biggest day of your life – what could be more fun?!

This is so exciting to be able to welcome everyone to my new and improved website and blog! Building a new website is such a turning point for Crave Design – we’ve moved from a little start up business to creating a niche in the bridal industry for beautiful wedding stationery. So I’m taking this opportunity to show and share and tell you about all the ways I love paper…I hope you enjoy it!

There’s something I must admit about myself from the beginning, I’m drawn to shiny objects. I know, I know it sounds like the punch line to some joke but really it’s so true. If I’m standing in the middle of the grocery store staring at tea to buy, I’ll inevitably pick the packaging with the silver foiling and scrolling design. Even better if it’s in a box shapped unique from the other ones beside it on the shelf. Truthfully I won’t even be able to control myself and before I know it it’s in my little basket. Can you relate?

So the “shiny” thing is kind of a part of every aspect of my life including design (and of course paper). When I’m creating invitations for a wedding there’s nothing I love more than choosing a little something special to make the design *sparkle*. If I’m using a matte or textured paper then usually there’s a little embellishment to make the upcoming event shine. I’m always trying new things to embelish invitations and find it’s these details that tell the story of the couples they’re created for… it really is all about the details.

Here are some shiny details to enjoy: