When I met with Tess and her mom, Monty, to discuss her upcoming wedding, I knew we had a stunner of a stationery suite in the making. An all-star dream team was putting together a picture-perfect day filled with ginger jars, lots of organic, natural flowing greenery, and pops of pink with peonies. (Basically, all my favorite things!) I’m so glad I got to work on their ginger jar inspired custom wedding invitations!
Designing Tess’s Ginger Jar Inspired Invitations
I didn’t waste any time dreaming up ways we could work together to bring an invitation suite to life, along with programs for her wedding ceremony! We also planned on a live wedding painting at Meredith Chapel. This eventually had to be shifted due to Covid, but it came out picture perfect nonetheless.
After our initial consultation, I put together a lookbook and a color palette and set off to design a sketch of what her invitation might look like! After some tweaks to the design, we landed on a winner – a handpainted version of their Shuler Studio monogram inside of a custom shield with blue hydrangeas and florals surrounding it. Their wedding date was also added in roman numerals in a banner below. We chose to incorporate the couple’s duogram with white ink addressing as well on their navy blue envelopes.
Creating a Custom Wedding Crest
Whenever I create a custom wedding crest, I like to create multiple iterations. I keep some simple and have some that are more elaborate, but they’re always consistent. That way, we can use different versions throughout the suite and day-of items for visual interest. In Tess and Clay’s ginger jar inspired wedding invitations, we used a simple duogram of their initials on the front of the invitation, and the full shield illustration on the back.
Meanwhile, we placed the simpler duogram on a blue background for the RSVP card’s backing. I always design with the flatlay in mind. I like to think of the suite as a cohesive set of individual designs. Then, a photographer can mix, match, and flip over multiple pieces in order to create visually interesting flatlays and detail shots. Rachel McDowell Photography nailed the flatlay and included the couple’s rings so sweetly.
Making Adjustments
Also included in Tess and Clay’s flatlay is the backside of a “Change of Plans” card, which included a blue card background with the full crest and shield. Due to COVID restrictions, the couple needed to move the ceremony to a new location after they’d sent out the invitations. Fortunately, by choosing to work with a stationer, they could easily remedy this with a coordinating postcard I pulled together from their already existing designs. This change of venues for the ceremony also necessitated a change in the program plans.
While COVID changed the location, it also changed our options with a live painting since the original location is what the bride was hoping to have painted! Instead, I created a custom keepsake floral painted mat to coordinate with her bouquet and surround her wedding invitation. I love how it turned out!
Tess and Clay’s Wedding Day
For the programs, we changed it up by including a line drawing of the church they hosted their ceremony in. We kept the fonts and style in coordination with the suite, and it matched perfectly.
After the picture-perfect ceremony, the couple celebrated with their friends and family at The Maxwell in Raleigh, NC. Their reception was a stunning light-filled, airy setting. They had ginger jars, peonies, and roses all over, and their crest was scattered throughout their day-of items.
After the celebration of their dreams, we worked together to also create custom notecards Tess and Clay could use for thank you notes. That’s the beauty of a wedding monogram. Even after your big day, the two of you can include it in your correspondence stationery and decor in your home.
Creating Tess and Clay’s ginger jar inspired custom wedding invitations was so much fun, and I enjoyed working with this amazing couple. My goal is always to bring my couple’s vision to life and create a cohesive suite for them. I would love the opportunity to help you create the wedding stationery of your dreams!
Vendors:
Photographer: Rachel McDowell Photography
Venue: The Maxwell
Videographer: Oak City Films
Florals: Meristem Floral
Planner: Premier Party Planners
