Green Calligraphy Details

When planning a wedding, it’s important to remember that your color palette doesn’t have to be restricted to your flowers and bridesmaid’s dresses. While I’m not recommending a purple overload, feel free to use purple in some unexpected places.

They popped the question, you said YES, now what? It’s time to set the date and share the happy news with your friends and family! Photo save the dates are more popular than ever, and we’ve teamed up with Minted to show how you can let your personality shine through with your save the dates, and incorporate your engagement session too!

Annie and Ben’s wedding at Skokie Country Club, just outside of Chicago, is full of heartwarming details—least of which, the fact that this couple wed on the same green Annie’s parents did so many years before! How sweet is that? We love the elegant floral arch under which Annie and Ben exchanged their vows, a creation by Virginia Wolff Inc., who also designed Annie’s beautiful cascading bouquet of lilies and roses. Following their outdoor ceremony, guests dined al fresco, enjoying small bites stations and a dessert bar! Then guests joined Annie and Ben on the dance floor, where they danced the night away to the sounds of High Society, an orchestra! How perfect!

There may be nothing we love more than classic hand lettering. Whether it’s that little moment of joy when we see a thick, luxurious hand-addressed envelope in our mailbox, or that lovely keepsake escort card from our best friend’s wedding, we simply swoon over calligraphy details both large and small! At the top of our list? Elegant white ink. Beautiful on paper from soft dove to bold black and every color in between, white calligraphy is our current crush!

The St. Regis Deer Valley is a breathtaking locale on its own, but when you add in a gorgeous bride in a stunning Marisa gown topped with an ethereal Monique Lhuillier capelet, it’s a total fairy tale!  Cameron and Ryland took full advantage of the Park City resort’s natural beauty with an outdoor ceremony (check out the amazing aisle and altar!), lush, seasonal arrangements by Honey of a Thousand Flowers, and fresh green Monique Lhuillier bridesmaids dresses. We just adore the perfect pairing of elegant and rustic, and all of the beautiful images from Paul Johnson Photography!

The picturesque shore of Lake Leelanau in Traverse City, Michigan, was a lovely gathering ground for the wedding of Ilana and Matt, who had family flying in from both coasts as well as overseas. The couple wanted a laid-back party for their “favorite people in the world,” and this one was full of style, too—from the custom sash made of feathers, moss and bark around the waist of Ilana’s J.Crew wedding gown to the casually elegant wildflower and herb arrangements from Bloom. An outdoor ceremony at Crooked Creek Ranch took advantage of the water views, while the property’s rustic barn was a gorgeous woodland scene for the reception, including a delicious four-tier cake from Aunt B’s embellished with a cascading fondant branch and leaves. These images from Harrison Studio make it clear this was one fun event—from the spirited dancing to Lady Sunshine and the X Band to the groom grabbing the mic to serenade his bride with “(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher.”

It took a minute to catch our breaths when we first caught a glimpse of the understated sophistication at Lindsay and Jonathan’s Palm Beach wedding. Classic Old Florida style ruled in the form of an intricate gown by Vera Wang Luxe and traditional ceremony at Episcopal Church of Bethesda-by-the-Sea before guests descended on the romantic, tropical paradise reception at a private club, complete with the beautiful parrots who make their home in the venue! Bold, lush arrangements brimming with exotic blooms from floral designer Bill Beers set the tone for a night of lively dancing to music by Simply Irresistible. These images from James Christianson perfectly capture the glamour of the day!

There are no words to truly express how head-over-heels we are with Julie and Sam’s wedding. Not only does it have the most gorgeous color palette, but the florals by Chestnut & Vine are also nothing short of phenomenal. White clematis, astilbe, raspberries, succulents, dahlias, and among several others, orchids? Amazing. Watercolor stationery and hand painted signs by Julie Song Ink? Melt. Colorful hanging cranes? Stop it. All of this and a beautiful couple who absolutely beam with adoration for each other? We’ll be swooning over this wedding for quite a while! Bravo to the incredible team of vendors who put it together and to the incomparable Jose Villa for capturing these stunning images!

Laura and Josh wanted a romantic wedding that drew inspiration from Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” Art Nouveau, and classic English gardens.  Portland’s stunning The Governor Hotel was a perfect choice for their theme!  The couple accessorized the hotel’s ballroom by mixing high and low all-white arrangements by Germanium Lake on their gorgeous banquet style tables.  Laura made all of their beautiful stationery, including thank you cards at every place setting. She even made her own veil! But it was her glamorous ball gown from Bridal Exclusives that made us completely fall in love. We can’t tear ourselves away from these gorgeous images captured by Amanda K Photography!

View all of Juel’s previous recap posts here!

Garden weddings are so very of-the-moment.  Infuse nature’s color palette with shades of pinks and purples and you have a romantic and timeless event.

After the church and reception venue were booked and the date was set, it was time to think about our Save the Dates.  Matt and I were talking one night and decided that we wanted to create a map chronicling the paths we each took to find each other and where we are now.  We both went off to college, moved across the country after graduation, and met as two midwestern kids in NYC before getting engaged and moving to Memphis. And now we were planning a wedding in Louisville. Whew.  It wears me out to just write it.  I mentioned our idea on Pretty Bride and soon Laura Hooper came to the rescue.

I feature a lot of calligraphy both here on EAD and on Oh So Beautiful Paper, and that’s mostly because I just can’t see enough calligraphy myself!  To me, beautiful calligraphy is truly a work of art, one that can definitely enhance an already beautiful wedding invitation.  When trying to decide on a calligrapher, I recommend trying to find a calligrapher whose style matches your overall wedding style – from modern handwriting calligraphy to traditional calligrapy with lots of wispy flourishes.  I was recently introduced to the calligraphy portfolio of Grace Edmands, and I absolutely fell in love with her lovely style of traditional calligraphy with a touch of whimsy:

A package came this week, full of envelopes. Envelopes addressed by someone else, someone who took a great deal of effort to coordinate her lettering with one of the invitation fonts. Someone I miss very much, and her calligraphy makes me miss her and her husband more. They were my “college parents,” bringing me chicken soup with matzo balls when I was sick and scolding me for bad boyfriend choices and inviting me to Jewish holidays even though I’m not at all Jewish. I miss them.

This week I’m highlighting the work of one of my favorite calligraphers, Bryn Chernoff of Paperfinger Calligraphy.  Bryn’s calligraphy has a wonderful modern sensibility and is absolutely beautiful without being overly formal or fancy – making it perfect for informal and modern weddings!  So, just in case you aren’t familiar with Bryn’s work, I thought I’d gather together a few examples from her portfolio.

While invitations are undoubtedly the most important element of a wedding stationery suite, it’s equally as important to not forget about other wedding paper ephemera – like seating cards!  Whether place cards or escort cards*, seating cards can help carry design elements from your invitation suite or wedding theme through to the reception and create a cohesive wedding style.  Here are a few of my favorite seating card options:

I’m not a professional designer, but I am among the growing population of brides who plans to create her own wedding invitation suite. It’s more affordable, more personal, and with help from tools like Gocco, it’s actually doable. (If you’re still on the fence about Gocco, just check out these amazing ideas from Cyd. I bought mine from the lovely Amy I. just a few weeks ago, and I can’t wait to start crafting!)

I may have mentioned, once or twice, how we initially planned to handwrite our invitations. How we had bought the cards and the envelopes and had a stamp designed with a peacock image to complete the look.

I clued you in last night that we had an awesome giveaway coming today!  We love both Laura Hooper and Project Wedding so we are very excited to partner with them to give away a custom-designed Laura Hooper map and 50 5×7 prints!

You guys, I have been so excited to show you one of my favorite DIY projects from the whole vow renewal – our time capsule guest book.  When A. and I were brainstorming and this idea came up, it was like “yes, that’s perfect!”.  We were celebrating ten years together and many years of friendship with our guests, and what better way to do that than by creating a treasure box of memories that we will have for the rest of our lives?