INSPIRATION FILE // CHURCH BASEMENT WEDDING REDUX

This post started out as a year in review type post. I did a lot of interesting jobs and projects last year and wasn't the best about blogging them. The first work I chose to look at was this photo shoot revisiting the church basement reception popularized in the 1950's and 1960's. This shoot was originally produced for Hearten, the online magazine of the Independent Wedding Association.

I couldn't boil down my work on Hearten or this shoot to a couple images so I'm turning it into an Inspiration File post. There are just too many good ideas that would make for a quaint and personal wedding reception or rehearsal dinner. I adore this invitation suite and though it was created for this shoot, I am just dying for a couple to love it and have it for their wedding. I have highlighted my stationery work for this post, but go and see Hearten for the full spread with more great ideas from this and other shoots.

Credits:

Stationery: Armato Design & Press

Food: Chow Girls Killer Catering

Pie on a stick: Cocoa & Fig

Flowers: Ashley Fox Designs

Apron: Roycraft

Photography: Becca Dilley Photography, Sarah McGee Photography

Alternative Guest Book Ideas

{guests fill out what their recipe for love is and leave a note for the bride and groom}

Recipe Card Favors

Invitation Suite

Guest Book Cards, Recipe Card Favors and Food Tags

Alternative Layout for the Cover of the Hearten Spread

Church Basement Buffet

Minnesota Shaped Pie-on-a-Stick

Floral Centerpiece

IN THE STUDIO // THE MINUTIAE OF LETTERPRESS

Letterpress // Makeready, Printing, Clean Up from Armato Design on Vimeo.

This time-lapse video shows our pressman, Tim, as he gets the press ready for printing, prints and cleans up. Approximately 70 minutes are collapsed into less than 3. {There is no audio.} The most interesting part of the video is noticing the small things he has to do to print these business cards. The little adjustments to the plate and the ink are all what makes the hand made result so beautiful and so "boutique".

IN THE STUDIO // UPTOWN MODERN

It was a pleasure to work with so many creative wedding professionals (many from the IWA) on this inspiration shoot for which I did the stationery. Though not the central focus, vendors were encouraged to be as eco-friendly as possible. With this in mind I created a stationery suite that minimizes paper use and maximizes smart design. This is most evident in the invitation which is printed on both sides and is divided in the middle by a perforation. The top of the invitation has all of the pertinent information for the wedding, the bottom has a reply post card. For the back of the stationery, the top of the invitation (the piece that the guest keeps) has directions to the event, the bottom (on the back of the reply) has a return address with postage affixed. This piece does minimize paper which makes the design of the piece that much more important. Great attention was paid to the design of the invitation as a whole keeping in mind what the pieces will look like when separated.
Other paper minimizing features include signs that replace individual place cards and a sweets menu sign. Another minimalistic consideration would be a menu sign. For this shoot, however, individual menus worked better for highlighting place settings.

Thanks to Katrina Hannemann of Studio Laguna for not only organizing the shoot but for taking the gorgeous photos.
It was also wonderful working with the following talented wedding vendors:
Grace Bridal Boutique (now available at Posh Bridal)
Five Event Center
BeEvents
Sassafras Floral Design
JWP Jewelry Design
Heimie’s Haberdashery
Fabulous Catering
Jessica’s Cakes

IN THE STUDIO // STYLE SHOT NUMBER 4

Here is the final styled shot Erica Loeks and I designed for an upcoming marketing project I'm doing. Read more about this invitation here.

A great big THANK YOU to Erica for her photographic talent. This was a long shoot but it was so fun because Erica is a great person to spend time with. If you're in need of a thoughtful, creative and upbeat photographer for your wedding or any event give her a call.

IN THE STUDIO // STYLE SHOT NUMBER 3

Here's the third of four style shots Erica Loeks and I did for an upcoming marketing project I'm putting together for Armato Design & Press. Read more about the invitation here.

IN THE STUDIO // STYLE SHOT NUMBER 2

Here's the second styled shot that Erica Loeks and I designed. The goal with this invitation was to make ginkgo leaves look winter-y. Mission accomplished. Charcoal gray will do that pretty well and the violet color is just cool enough without being predictable {a.k.a. blue}. Go here to read more about the invitation.

IN THE STUDIO // SOMETHING NEW WEDDING FAIR RECAP

The Something New Wedding Fair was a great success. Here's the link to see all the great vendors of the fair. And hey, why not "like" the IWA on Facebook while you're at it. You'll be kept in the know about what's going on in the Twin Cities wedding community with weekly round ups and information on upcoming shows and events. Go to the Armato Design & Press web site to see full descriptions of the invitations pictured above and below.

A HUGE thank you to Sarah McGee Photography for shooting the event AND making the images available to vendors. It's important work and it's great that it's done by such a pro!

IN THE STUDIO // STYLE SHOT NUMBER 1

Here's the first of four style shots Erica Loeks and I did for an upcoming marketing project I'm putting together for Armato Design & Press. This is one of my favorite invitations. See more of it here. And go here to see the work we did to get this shot.

More photos to come...

MINI SESSION REPOST // TELLING YOUR STORY

Deciding on a custom invitation can be an exciting... and daunting decision. You have decided that pre-designed invitations don't describe your story or your style, but now the pressure is on to first find a designer that can do that for you and then communicate enough to said designer to allow her to represent you as a couple and your upcoming wedding. A good designer can do a lot with color, fonts and layout, but she can not read your mind or know your history without a depth of input from you. Armed with this knowledge a "pretty" design becomes a great design that tells your story.

I offer as an example the cd favor above. Kristin and Darren wanted to give music as their favor and they chose songs that meant something to them as a couple. In talking to them about the cd insert and sleeve I found that they not only had a number of great songs that described them, but a long list of inside jokes between them. I had them send me that list and I put together a typographical illustration with the central theme of "Introducing the Garretts". These were set on the plate of each place setting at the reception. They not only were gifts to guests but they were a great conversation starter with people asking each other if they knew what "System 9" meant, etc. Not only that but the insert is a framable piece, their first piece of art for their home.


THE ARMATO DESIGN & PRESS PROCESS
Custom invitation designs begin with a simple conversation about you as a couple, the type of wedding you envision and styles you are attracted to. This conversation is an essential part of finding the perfect expression of your individual wedding. Though it is not a very romantic notion, it is helpful to remember that wedding stationery, like business stationery, is more successful when there is a single, unifying theme and look to it. That is what a designer is there to help with. You can make this process more effective by considering the following:

QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER
1. Tell me everything! How did you meet? What do you like doing together? Is there a specific motif or symbol you would like to include on the invitations? This could be anything from the lace on your dress to your location to a private joke you have between you. What kind of feeling do you want to convey with your invitations? Are you a formal or casual couple? Will it be a formal or casual wedding? Why did you choose your wedding location? What are the colors you are using? What flowers will you have in your bouquet? Your maids' bouquet? What do you want to avoid with your invitations? Do you have an interesting story about how you met? how you were proposed to? how you live as a couple?

2. What components do you want? Will it just be an invitation and reply card? Will you include a map/directions card, accommodations card, reception card? What about save-the-dates, programs, thank-yous? Will you need place cards, menus or packaging for your favors?

3. How many invitation sets do you need? Always order at least 25 more than you need. Keep in mind that it is better to have extra than to have to go back on press, which is expensive and time consuming. Also people close you often request a second copy for scrapbooks and/or framing.

4. Carefully consider the wording of each piece. Will it be formal or casual? Traditional or modern? Are there menu items to be included on the reply card? We will also need the addresses to be included: both the return address on the invitation and the mailing address on the reply if they are different.

IN THE STUDIO // PHOTO STYLING

I was lucky enough to spend last Thursday and Friday with the talented Erica Loeks of Erica Loeks Photography styling some photographs of my wedding invitations. I think both Erica and I learned enough to fill a book. Styling, while fun, is so very time consuming. I have some experience with photo styling in my previous life as a creative director for a small company, but there I was working with a pro. When it's your work and you're not a pro it just takes so much more time and the stakes are so much higher. Of course it helps to be working with a creative photographer (something that all brides should consider when hiring one for their wedding).

Here are a few things we learned:
1. It's a really good idea to do your research beforehand. This means finding out what style you are interested in for the shots, thinking about how you are going to use them, considering layout of the pieces, and
2. Be willing to go off script. You can plan and plan and plan but sometimes the best ideas just come to you on the fly.
3. Restraint. In this situation where we didn't have the use of a full studio and didn't know all the tricks of the trade, it really was best to practice the old adage "less is more".
4. Work together and plan your time. While Erica set up the lighting, I played with layout and props. Then we would come together and critique and rearrange. It was a good set up. Still each shot took and average of 2-3 hours to complete. That's right 12 or so hours for 4 final shots. I think this is to be expected for such styled shots but still it's more time than either of us thought it would be.

I suspect these are good things to keep in mind when you are thinking about your wedding shots as well {with the possible exception of number 4). I will receive the final photos in a couple of weeks and will post then. In the meantime here are more shots of the shoot {Disclaimer: I took these with my phone so the quality is what it is}.

Above: a layout that came on the fly. I love it!

A flowery layout where we had to figure out how to get large and small blooms to stand up and show themselves off.

Getting the lighting right any way we can.

Getting those small kermit mums to stand at attention with sticky gum and small pieces of card stock. Hey, it worked.

IN THE STUDIO // WEDDING BOOTCAMP

I am participating in the Independent Wedding Association's Something New wedding fair this Saturday. This is an organization I am so proud to be a part of and it's fair is top-notch. Always at the best locations, always the most creative wedding vendors the cities have to offer and always the best information a to-be-wed could want and need. This fair is offering a Wedding Boot Camp where vendors will speak on various topics like "Libations 101" and "Eco Chic Weddings".

I will be talking about branding your wedding. I will go over some of the questions I ask my clients to think about and answer when I'm trying to come up with a custom design for them. Things that couples wouldn't necessarily think about but questions that would help create an invitation that speaks to who they are as a couple. This also could be seen as a "how to communicate to your designer to get what you want" mini-session. And if a couple isn't interested in custom work thinking about these questions would help them find a pre-designed invitation easier.

IN THE STUDIO // ADP CARDS @ MITREBOX FRAMING STUDIO

I'm so pleased to announce that Armato Design & Press cards are now going to be featured in the b-e-a-u-t-i-f-u-l Mitrebox Framing Studio. Look at this shop. Simply gorgeous, or should I say g-o-r-g-e-o-u-s! If you're in the neighborhood and need to retreat from the oppressively cold weather, this store seems like the perfect escape. Here are a few of the ADP cards they will have as a part of their collection:

IN THE STUDIO // INTRODUCING AMY

I love being able to place the face with the blogger {or the business, for that matter} and love people/businesses that do that for me. I, however, like a certain amount of anonymity {plus I hate getting my photo taken}. Despite that, it was high time to give others the opportunity to place my face with my name and see the person behind the design. Here I am. And to be honest I think it's both cute and cringe-worthy. Here is the equation:

concept = cute
that I actually had to have a head shot taken of myself = cringe-worthy

It was fun to create the shot: a piece of handmade paper behind me thinking about Armato Design & Press. That part made having to pose for it a little better...but only a little.

IN THE STUDIO // HEIRLOOM MIDWIFERY

I'm back in the office more frequently now following a bit of a maternity leave. What a perfect logo to have to design postpartum, no? Heirloom Midwifery is the new business of Mandy Toavs. Mandy wanted something that referenced the age old craft that is midwifery, but also wanted her logo to look contemporary thereby alluding to her educated, trustworthy and modern practice. I think this does the job quite well. It sets her apart from her competition {most of whom have some variation of a pregnant woman's silhouette and bad typography, which is another post altogether} while still illustrating how she wants her business portrayed. Why the pear, you ask? The uterus is often referred to as pear shaped. I love logos that have a distinct meaning but don't slap you right in the face with said meaning. Congratulations on your new business Mandy!

IN THE STUDIO // PATINA, HERE I COME!

I can't even tell you what an honor it is {for a Minnesota girl, anyway} to have cards in Patina and Shoppe Local stores {if you're not a Minnesota girl you can shop online at Patina}! I have shopped at Patina for years and years and am never disappointed in the quirky, quality products they offer. This is seriously the place to go for that person who has everything...or nothing. But honestly for me the greatest thing Patina has to offer {after the merchandise} is the creative styling of their stores. I have often gone there just to be inspired.

Thanks Patina. Here's to a long and fruitful relationship {she types with her fingers crossed}.

IN THE STUDIO // INDEPENDENT WEDDING FAIR

I am very excited to be a part of the upcoming Something New: Independent Wedding Fair this February at the very chic Five Event Center in Minneapolis. Are you looking for local and independent vendors to help you with your wedding? Do you know someone who is? Do you want your wedding to stand out in a way that only a passionate professional who cares deeply about what they do can help you with? Do you know someone who wants this for their wedding? This will be the fair to attend. In the coming months I will feature other vendors and news from the fair.

Go here to get your tickets.

IN THE STUDIO // PAPER TOYS & GIFTS

With Christmas and the holidays coming up very quickly, I've been thinking about paper gifts as well as cards. Top is a thaumatrope which is a Victorian spinner toy. It will be available in the shop in October. Bottom is a cd sleeve complete with blank cd, ready for you to burn your tunage to. Available here, oh and here is another one.

IN THE STUDIO // JUST IN TIME FOR SCHOOL

Admittedly these are probably better for that college age student in your life or for yourself to protect against that lunch nabbing co-worker. In any case they're pretty funny and available here.