Yesterday I showed you the process of designing our invitations with Jess at Magpie Paper Works, and today, I’ll share the final product! Like I said, there were a few aspects of our invitation design that made it difficult to print to a high standard: 1) The PMS color we chose is prone to scuffing 2) The tri-fold exaggerated the scuffing 3) The protective varnishes that help prevent scuffing give the surface a dull sheen, which is something I was very much against 4) I was also very much against cracking along the scores 5) The PMS color and protective varnish both take a very long time to dry Jess was so persistent in finding the perfect printer to complete this job, and though the process took longer than we both would have liked (with her sending the design out to multiple houses for a sample print), I would say it absolutely paid off in the end. No scuffing, no cracking, no sheen – I couldn’t be happier! Evolution Press in Seattle was the magical printer that made all the goodness happen. Ready to see? Okay! Here’s what guests saw when they pulled the invite out of its envelope: I love that sweet little heart! Jess drew the boxwood vine pattern — isn’t she amazing? Let’s open the first flap, shall we? Love the unexpected verse! Full of surprises, aren’t we? :) Once both flaps are open, here’s the full invitation, measuring a larger than life 9×18 inches! I love it!! Now is the perfect time to give some major kudos to our calligrapher, MM Ink. I think Moya’s work is just incredibly beautiful — classic, while still having personality — and I absolutely love her penning of our names. Here’s it all together. We chose light pink envelopes for

Hello, friends! As you know, our wedding invitations have flown the coop, so now it’s time to share! I thought it might be fun to walk you through the process today, and then show you the finished product tomorrow. Like getting married in Connecticut in September, a love for a particular wedding invitation I saw three (yes, three!) years ago was one of the only things I took into planning this wedding. Here it is: This beauty is a collaboration between I Am Always Hungry, Birdie Birdie, and Battery. My favorite parts? The light type on a dark background, the beautiful mix of fonts and neat typography, the size, the fact that it folded, the clever wording, and the overall classic aesthetic. So I tucked that inspiration away for a few years, and when it came time to design our invitations, I pulled it back out. I had been warned by a few graphic designer friends that there were certain aspects to this design that made it a very difficult print job, so I knew that this was not a project I was going to be able to tackle alone. The first and only graphic designer I thought about working with was Jess from Magpie Paper Works. I had had the pleasure of working with her on a work project, and loved her clever but classic aesthetic (sound familiar?) and her cheerful attitude. Having now gone through the whole process with Jess, there are so many things I appreciate about her, and I’d like to list a few here: 1) She was eternally cheerful, and unfailingly as excited about our invitation as I was 2) She was sensitive to our budget, and delivered within our (admittedly smaller than ideal) parameters without ever making me feel like it was a burden