I’ve been harboring a secret. Since last Fall, I have been privy to the fact that one of my all-time favorite Bespoke Stationery clients had thrown a wedding so fabulous that it was going to be featured in the May 2010 issue of Brides magazine. Who wouldn’t day-dream about working on a wedding that receives national recognition in print?
To my delight, Maggie also told me that in her pre-feature questionnaire she answered this question: What was your favorite part of the planning? Her answer: The paper, paper, PAPER! Wowza – was I delighted, or what?!? ABCD Designs Bespoke would be getting a little love in a well respected national wedding magazine.
It’s pretty exciting because Maggie and Trevor were the ideal Bespoke Stationery client. You see, they weren’t all worried about making it wedding-y. They simply wanted me to tell their story through their wedding stationery. First, I designed a campaign logo for them. They were so delighted with it that we moved onto designing a complete wedding stationery wardrobe. The wedding industry is an incredibly cut-throat place to work. This is the second time this year that my work has been featured in a magazine without mention of my company. What a complete drag to be omitted! As a matter of fact, they almost made it sound like Maggie had DIY’d her entire wedding stationery wardrobe. Such sadness over here at ABCD Design…
I know for a fact that she gave credit to my company as I saw her answers to the Brides Magazine questionnaire. I make it customary to share the file designs with my clients after the stationery is printed so that they can continue the feel of their stationery in DIY projects – I’m nice like that. I was the one who provided those files for the table-top votives and wedding day craft projects. I am sure you can understand my disappointment in the omission.

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Did you notice the new button in the bottom navigation bar of ABCD Design? It is a link to my new storefront, the ABCD Design Boutique! Ryan from 16 Ninja’s (yet another awesome connection I made on Twitter – I LOVE it!) was kind enough to work with me again. He helped me make the shop look just like the ABCD Design sketchbook. I am quite pleased with the result!I am also delighted to share with you – the newest edition to my line of sassy letterpress cards! You remember the 2009 Sucked A$$ “Happy New Year” card and the Spooning Leads to Forking Valentine, right? Well, now we have The Perfect Pair card. (Actually, it’s a letterpress design that I brought out of the 2006 design archives!) This is a classic card design that was featured in a Southern bridal magazine. I thought it was worthy of a little letterpress love ala 2010.As I mentioned above, this folded letterpress note card could be sent with gifts, or through the mail with Happy Anniversary wishes. It could be used to announce a multitude of wedding events. It is printed in two colors on thick and luxurious, #110lb Cranes Pearl White paper. The card is blank inside, allowing you to customize it to your event specifications. They’re $5 a piece, $20 for 10 cards or $35 for 20 cards. I am happy to offer a greater discount for quantity. Simply e-mail me to discuss pricing for quantity. Because really, wouldn’t these be s w e e t as a mini-wedding program cover? You could tie the fold with a ribbon and add pages… cute!

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About a year ago, I had the wonderful opportunity to meet wedding photographer and photo journalist Neil Cowley from Make Love Real. He took interest in my Bespoke Stationery designs, the story behind my personal wedding stationery, and how I got involved in the wedding invitation design business. In his free time, Neil put together a beautiful photo montage with photos from our meeting. At long last, Neil launched the storytellers series on his website yesterday!
While the entire story behind me and Mr. D’s courtship didn’t make it into the photo montage that he put together, (you’ll get a hint of our story from the photos I selected in this post) what did get included was our conversation about wedding blogs. There are so many more wedding ideas now that there has been an explosion of wedding blogs on the internet. I think all this added information has put more pressure on brides to plan a “perfect” blog-worthy wedding day.That being said – it’s even more important to take a step back and plan your wedding to reflect your personality as a couple. My advice: don’t follow in the footsteps of the latest, greatest trend you saw on the internet. It is important to be true to yourself and your personality as a couple when planning your wedding. As you can imagine, I believe that Wedding invitations are the perfect place to tell your story and set the tone for your celebration.
For my entire life, I have always made collages and sent envelope art. I couldn’t imagine sending out our wedding invites without decorating the envelopes! I wanted our wedding guests to know that in my case, I caught the bouquet at my best girlfriends wedding less than 3 days before Mr. D popped the question. The old wives-tale came true! Those images ended up on the front of my bridal shower invitation.
That is just one example. I could go on and on about the designs I created for our wedding day. Each printed piece told a little bit about our love story. It’s true. There wasn’t a “theme” or even a color story for our stationery – or our wedding for that matter! Instead, it was the little details about us that were woven into our suite that told our story.It worked. How, you ask? Because each piece reflected us. Remember: It’s your wedding, your story and your celebration. Be YOU! Click the image below to watch the montage, hear some of our conversation and learn a little bit more about ABCD Designs Bespoke.

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Jen strikes me as more of a bold, graphic pattern kind of person. She works in fashion design and is always impeccably dressed. When we were discussing her personal stationery she expressed interest in the vintage French swashes and swirls that have made appearances in my previous designs. I figured I would give her a sampling of both graphic pattern and vintage French ~ we’ll let her decide which suits their personal style.



Do you recall the vintage postcard I got for Christmas from Mr. D’s Auntie? That inspiration led to this design:

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Last year it was raspberry and black or navy and silver. I don’t care what Pantone says about turquoise, this year it seems that every bride wants some shade of purple! This letterpress mini-stationery suite just came back from print and I think it turned out quite lovely, don’t you agree? I call it a mini-suite because it includes just two pieces – a folded invite and weekend festivity card. Everything else will be handled online for this destination wedding in paradise!

*Please note that the shade of green is the same throughout the suite, it was simply a change in the light that changed how it appears in the photograph!*

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