Invitation Suites ~ Felts

This invitation suite was designed using my flourished Spencerian script. I created it a few years ago for a bride who wanted a very elaborate and intricate invitation.  It was later submitted to a magazine and my engraver was kind enough to engrave in in several colors.  I am posting only a few.  They were all so gorgeous, but the French Blue, Copper and Sweet Pea were my favorites.  Other yummy choices were Pink Petal, Wisteria and Chocolate.

  

Asheville Watercolor Map

I had such a great time creating this map for one of my favorite couples! 

Well not at first! ...I have to say, when I started this piece, I offered the bride her money back as I just did not feel my sketches were up to my standards. I had never drawn a map and couldn't create the look I was going for.  Here was her response, which cheered me on.~

"Oh Dana, I just love it!  I am trying hard to see the flaws and be critical and constructive -  but I honestly got little goosebumps and teary eyed I love it so much!  I really think it’s wonderful. I showed it to my mom and she was asking when we get it because she wants to show it off to everyone!  Hopefully this gives you a bit of a boost! I am honestly just so excited to have this hand-crafted piece of artwork representing the town I love and by an artist I admire – even better it represents a time in my life that is so special! I LOVE it! I just can’t wait to share it with everyone! So I thank you again for your honesty and your integrity, I just respect you so much for the hard work you put into what I know is a job that can be thankless and difficult at times! I can’t wait to frame the map and put it in on the wall in our first home as newlyweds (which we started to move into today, how fitting!). So thanks again, I am VERY happy and so excited. You don’t even know, all this special attention has just made it even more special and beautiful – so thank you for making that happen. YAY!"

So that did give me the boost I needed and I felt if she liked my sketches, she would like the final piece - and she did!

"We are just in love with the map, we’ve been showing them off and everyone loves loves loves it!  We loved working with you, too, it was such a special process. And thank you for making all of this happen, and for making it feel like such a wonderful collaborative process! It is rare you get to work with a true artist, and I feel so lucky to get to do it for one of the most special events of my life! So thank you!"

I am so happy I continued to work on it, as it turned out to be one of the most fun projects I have done. I loved adding in little, fun details that were meaningful to this adorable couple. Now I feel ready, and eager, to create more! The maps (or just a collage of favorite places) would make great house warming, wedding or holiday gifts or really a gift or keepsake for any occasion or time of life as you can make each as unique as you like.  They also make great Save the Date cards. My husband now wants me to create one for us!

I cannot wait to share their wedding photos with you. I loved the invitation I designed for the couple, as well as their reception pieces. It truly was one of the most fun weddings I have been a part of!  As soon as I get the professional photographs, I will share ~ or I may share a few I took as a sneak peek soon. :)

Fête with Fabric ~ Martha Stewart Weddings Summer Issue

I was so excited when Martha Stewart Weddings asked me to calligraph seating cards for their Summer 2011 issue.

 This is a page from the magazine, showing a portion of the cards.

I love doing this fun script!

Or you can go here to see more...

 ...and if you look really, really closely, you can see the dessert signs I made.

~Bonne Fête~
*(I think that can translate to Happy Celebration, Happy Birthday or Happy 4th of July, so whichever ~ have a Fun, Festive week)*

Your Presence is Key ~ no. 2

For brides not wanting to add an actual key to this save the date style ~ a hand-painted, illustrated key is the key.

The formal invitation and reception pieces from this wedding coming soon...

Also, I will be posting my J and K - from my alphabet project - together in a few weeks.  For now ~ little time for painting and posting as I am penciling, penning, planting, pruning and pulling. 'Tis the season for spring weddings, time spent working in my gardens and not enough hours in the day!

~~

Featured Wedding ~ Emily & John

What an adorable, sweet couple Emily and John are!  I had the great pleasure of working with Emily and her mother last year.  As I said in the "Sneak Peek", the couple were both students at Wake Forest but did not meet until they studied abroad, some years later, in Sicily.

After leaving Sicily, John wrote to Emily in his journal every day for a month and later sent this journal to her.  He also sent her a journal on their wedding day, as well as a watercolor of the breathtaking Mediterranean view they had as students in Erice, Sicily.  How romantic is that?

I love Emily's dress, which was designed by Monique Lhullier.  The tulle skirt is detachable, making it appear that she wore an entirely different dress at the reception.  So gorgeous!

Rings by Tiffany & Co.

Breathtaking bouquets by The Bloom Room

John and Emily were married at the Basilica of St. Lawrence.The Catholic church has the largest freestanding elliptical dome in North America.  The stunning stained glass windows were made in Munich, Germany.
Wedding programs by me ~ A Fine Line Studio

Asheville Historic Trolley transported the wedding party from the Basilica to the Biltmore Forest Country Club for the reception.

With Sicily being so dear to the couple, each table was named after different regions they visited in Sicily, which I calligraphed onto each hand-painted table number I created.  I also calligraphed guests names on tiny cards, which were tied to little vases or pinned to pears. I also designed the couple's married monogram and used it at the top of each menu.

Tara Jordan, the amazing event designer with Wedding with Tara, sprinkled more touches of Sicily throughout the wedding reception with an assortment of gelato, served along with the wedding cake...

...and Limoncellos given as favors.

Emily dancing with her dad as her sweet mother watches on.  I have to say, Emily's mother is truly one of the sweetest mothers I have ever, ever worked with!  She was so appreciate and complimentary of everything I did for them. I have the kindest notes from her, which I saved and will always treasure.
I love what Emily's mother told me - she said they were "thrilled Emily and John found one another and this is coming from her parents who married later in life and told Emily she could not even date until she was 30!"

The couple honeymooned in the Turks and Caicos and now live in an old candy factory, converted to loft apartments where she is working on her Ph.D. in psychology (she is also a ballet dancer) and he is in law school.
I have no doubt, they will live happily ever after!

I hope you have enjoyed this spectacular photography by Abigail Seymour. Click on each image to better see her work.  I really had a difficult time narrowing my choices to only these!

~Have a beautiful weekend.~

Invitation Suites ~ Pendergrast

This is an invitation suite I created for the most precious bride last year.  Even though the couple attended the same university, they did not meet until much later, when they studied abroad in Sicily. It was not until after we already decided to do an illustration of sweet peas on the invitation that we found sweet peas are native to Sicily ~ serendipity!

The suite is also engraved on Italian paper - making it more meaningful to the couple.

The bride asked me to have the invitations engraved in an ink that coordinated with the swatch of her bridesmaid's dresses and to paint the sweet peas the color of this small piece of ribbon she sent to me. I don't think I could have gotten any closer!

She also wanted the watercolor to shimmer, reflecting the envelope liner, so I hand-painted the sweet peas on each invitation and reply card.

More on this beautiful wedding in my featured wedding this weekend.

~~~

Sneak Peek: Emily & John

Emily is truly one of the sweetest brides I have ever meet. Working with her and her mother was the most wonderful experience.  Clients like this make me love what I do even more!

Here is a "sneak peek" at this adorable couple in their engagement photo shoot. 

Check back this weekend for the wedding of this cute pair...

 ...and more of their invitation suite.

 

photography ~ Abigail Seymour