Image courtesy of Iris and Light

So, I have a thing for paper.  Nice paper.  With adorable fonts and maybe even a hand-painted edge.  I’m that person who keeps cards and invitations I get for months, sometimes even years, and displays them on a bulletin board in the kitchen.  I’m that person who might just appreciate your $30 per person invitations (I might think you’re crazy for spending that much, but I’ll like them).

With that said, I wanted a memorable invitation for our wedding.  And while I love a classic invitation just as much as the next girl, I knew I wanted something a bit off the beaten path for our invites.  I mean, we got married 2 days before Christmas — not exactly a “traditional” time of year to have a marital soiree.

I started searching for someone to do our invitations, and found the lovely and talented Lindsay Ward of Borrowed and Blue Invitations on Etsy, through a friend.  As luck would have it, Lindsay and I went to high school together (and more “knew of” each other than really “knew” each other).  So through the powers of Facebook, we were reunited nearly 10 years later for purposes of invitation-making.

I sent Lindsay what inspiration I’d conjured up, really having no clue how everything might come together.  I liked the idea of doing something sort of vintage and Christmas-y, while sticking to our color palette of creams, greys, and red.

source

source

source

source

I loved the vintage Pepsi image (which we were unable to use due to copyright issues), and had a sort of vague idea of using a wreath similar to the one in the second image.  I liked the mix of fonts used in the third image, and the general color scheme of the fourth.

I have no idea if all this inspiration was helpful to Lindsay; but somehow she took my jumbled set of ideas and created something better than I’d ever imagined.

source

I loved all the little details Lindsay incorporated, from the thermographed wreath, the the whimsical mix of fonts, to the rounded edges and vintage Christmas paper liners.

In sticking with the holiday theme, Lindsay and I found vintage Christmas postcards on Etsy (all from prior to 1920!), which Lindsay scanned and used as the front image for the RSVP cards.  She made each RSVP card an actual folded card, so they looked like little holiday greetings.  There were 10 different designs in all, so it was a fun little treat to get them back in the mail and see who had gotten what design.

Images courtesy of Iris and Light

The RSVP cards were also a bit funny too, as the response lines were “Accepts with merriment” and “Bah, Humbug!”  (I have to admit, I did feel a little bad that those who couldn’t make it had to check the Scrooge box, but I think most people understood it was all in good fun.)

I wanted the invitations to be like getting a little gift in the mail, so we (meaning me, a couple of my lovely bridesmaids and 2 very nice friends) wrapped up each bundle with red and white twine and tied on a small tag before stuffing them into their envelopes for mailing.

Image courtesy of Iris and Light

Lindsay also created our rehearsal dinner invitations, modifying a Christmas party invite she had already created, to say “Eat, Drink, and Be Married” rather than “Eat, Drink, and Be Merry.”

These were backed with red cardstock, and then mailed in cream envelopes with a different vintage Christmas liner.

Image courtesy of Iris and Light

All in all, I felt like the invitations were a wonderful embodiment of the wedding to come.  They were festive, fun, and very personal — all elements I worked hard to incorporate into our wedding day during the planning process.

If you’re in the process of planning your own wedding, or simply need stationary for some other type of event, I would highly recommend that you check out Lindsay’s work over at her Esty shop.  She’s immensely talented and a complete joy to work with.

Image courtesy of Iris and Light

An overview of our other vendors coming up tomorrow!