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A little behind the scenes sneak peek at a photo shoot we’re working on. I love my star confetti and foil bird props.
photo: Delphine
Many thanks to sweet Cyd for posting all about the classic tea party bridal shower that Adrianne Smith and I designed (beautifully shot by Jennifer Dery Photography). Please pop over to The Sweetest Occasion to read about our little adventure.
I used our new Charleston Stitch design for the invitations in our mai tai and dull silver inks.
Our sweet stir sticks add a pop of color to the table. And mmmm, those Cupcake Love cupcakes were so pretty and delicious.
I love the sweet tendrils in the centerpiece Adrianne Smith designed. So romantic, the dahlias and roses mixed together!
You can see loads more photos and read all about the inspiration on The Sweetest Occasion.
Special thanks to everyone who helped make this shoot possible. Especially Jennifer Dery, who was able to capture the romantic spirit so perfectly with her amazing eye.
CREDITS
EVENT DESIGN and STYLING: Adrianne Smith (www.asmithfloral.com) and Erika Firm (www.delphinepress.com)
PHOTOGRAPHY: Jennifer Dery, www.jenniferdery.com
CUPCAKES: Cupcake Love, www.cupcake-love.com
FLOWERS: Adrianne Smith Floral Design, www.asmithfloral.com
GIFTS: Dreamy, www.shopdreamy.com
INVITATIONS and PAPER GOODS: Delphine, www.delphinepress.com
PARTY FAVORS: Delphine, www.delphinepress.com
VINTAGE PROPS: Sainte Béatrice, www.etsy.com/shop/saintebeatrice
Read the inside scoop on these fun mimosa yellow and blue letterpress Hibiscus invitations we printed for Jennie and Jeremy on Oh So Beautiful Paper. Jennie and Jeremy were contest winners about a year ago; their wedding is in a few days and I’m so excited for them!
Here’s the final of the three inspiration shoots I did with Adrianne Smith and Jennifer Dery last week. While the sweet pink garden tea party is, well, sweet, and the retro rockabilly tailgate party was super fun (champagne in a can! what can be better?) this Italian-inspired “Formaggio & Dolce” (cheese and sweets) shoot was hands down my favorite. From the chic, muted, tone on tone color palette to the vintage found objects to the stunning (STUNNING) cafe au lait dahlias and arrangements, to the impossibly delicious cheeses from Dolce, this “faux” party turned into a real party as soon as the sun went down. I’m so excited to share the photos, but you’ll have to be patient while we wait for publication elsewhere (details to be announced on publication of all three shoots).
I had the truly great pleasure of working with Adrianne (Adrianne Smith Floral Design) and Jennifer Dery (Jennifer Dery Photography) last week on THREE (!!!) inspiration shoots. I’m most known for paper design, but I also looooove to design events. Here’s a peek behind the scenes at some of the props we used for the first inspiration shoot: a pretty in pink backyard garden bridal shower tea (phew …). Yes, we corked those bottles and drank them to celebrate once the shoot was complete!
Just a few little trinkets from our prop closet: a sweet peach and yellow butterfly, a darling mini guava teapot, and a few rolls from my growing japanese washi masking tape. I love the green and white stripe tape, of course.
Vintage treasures are one of my weak spots (along with chocolate chip cookies, crepes and kittens). Sarah Darcy (of Classic Bride fame) recently launched a darling shop full of vintage goodies. I’m particularly smitten with this cupid’s arrow brooch, which reminds me of my all time favorite book, The Age of Innocence (by Edith Wharton, in which Newland Archer gives his bride to be, May Wellend, a diamond tipped brooch after she wins an archery contest).
More goodies from CB Vintage: I can’t get enough of vintage keys! When I was in Brooklyn this Spring I saw lots (LOTS) of hipsters wearing vintage skeleton keys around their necks. Besides looking trés chic, Sarah explains that the keys symbolize the doors of opportunity and success! And oh, vintage globes. I have a new one in my son’s play room and he and I have a lot of fun spinning it and looking up facts about the spots we “land” on with our fingers. A vintage one would be a super prop at a wedding, especially for an international couple. How fun for guests to point out to each other where they are from?!?
More treasures. Can’t you see that vintage trophy at a seaside affair, on the bar, perhaps? Tres yacht club chic, daaahling. And I am dying to get my hands on the groovy Biology book. I love love love the graphics on the cover!
PSSSSST … Sarah is moving to Europe soon. To prepare, everything in the shop is 50 percent off! For real! So if you see something you love snatch it up before it’s too late (after June 30 everything is coming down until she returns to the States).
Just a reminder … you may click on any photo in our blog to get a bigger/better view.
This is just part of my to do list today. I’m feeling a little anxious. The light is just about ready in the sunniest room of the house, so I’m off to shoot the new greeting card collection. Here are some of the props I’ll be using:
photo: Delphine
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Haute off the press: custom monograms. Pick your favorite letter, ink color, and envelope and we’ll print it up for you in no time. Check out the personal stationery custom monogram notes … and our brand new monogram wedding invitation design here.
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Don’t you just love these colors? Alicia and Jeffrey picked a bright, bold color combo—red and robin’s egg blue—for their Meeting Street wedding invitations. I think their guests know they are in for a fun party.
We’re working on a website update and part of it is a bunch of new photos. One of the most fun parts of my job is styling the invitation photos for our website. I get a lot of questions about how I do this, so I thought I’d share a few of my sources.
I really believe in looking within the studio first, before going out to buy something special for a shoot. Open your cabinets and drawers and dig deep — you’ll find interesting goodies, I promise. When I’m out shopping I always check the clearance aisles and dollar bins. I’ve found the loveliest props for photo shoots there, and I don’t think I’ve ever spent more than $5 on something I bought specifically as a photo shoot prop.
Anyway, here are a few details from a recent shoot, along with the sources for all the props.
1. Monogram personal stationery: Mini binder from Russell+Hazel; rubber bands, Sharpies, markers & pens from deep in the drawers in our studio; John’s USMC mug; a packet of Splenda from a coffee shop; Beemans gum — I picked this up at the local grocery store over the holidays because I thought it would make a cute prop some day.
2. Kent personal stationery: custom rubber stamp from our very first Monday Morning Mimosas event; a pink eraser from the sale bin during Back To School days at Target (my favorite time of the year … I just stand there in the school supply section and soak it all in); and mini sticky notes from Russell+Hazel.
3. Arizona cactus wedding invitation: green binder clip from Staples; vintage stamps — I picked most of my collection of vintage stamps up at a flea market in Paris.
4. Chrysanthemums wedding invitation: turquoise necklace my mom made for me; MOR lip glosses from Dreamy; butterfly from Shinoda; fruit stamps from my collection.
5: Robin wedding invitation: thread, thimble and sewing supplies from Mémé Delphine’s sewing kit. The pencil is also hers — it’s probably older than me!
6. Ava wedding invitation: drink ticket from last year’s Y Conference; stamp from my personal collection.
7. Ava save the date: stamps from my personal collection; match box from the Delphine for For Your Party collection; cute 2 franc plate from the sale room at Anthropologie.
8. Meeting Street wedding invitation: bakers twine from Etsy (sorry! I don’t remember which shop); a red binder clip; markers; Stella Artois mint tin from a Riveria party goodie bag many years ago; peanuts from the grocery store; the red pastic “key” came as part of the packaging with a key cover I got for Christmas.
Check out our new slideshow. I’m super proud of myself for figuring out how to add the music (it’s “Le Plus Beau du Quartier,” by Carla Bruni, in case you’re wondering) and get it up on YouTube. I know it’s kinda grainy. I’m hoping to get a higher res version up on our website soon. Special thanks to my super talented friends Heather of Vallentyne Photography and Jessica of Jessica Davis Photography for helping with the photos.
As you have probably noticed, I love playing with color. I recently digitally printed these two samples of our Julian design in two different color combos. It’s amazing how simply changing ink colors can completely change the tone of an invitation, isn’t it? The top sample is printed in lilac and limonade inks; the bottom in red and cloud inks.
Just a few of the small props from the studio that we use to style our photo shoots. I try to separate them by color. Can’t wait to show you the new photos next week!
Meanwhile, here’s a preview of one of our newest letterpress (also available digitally printed) wedding invitation suites, Arizona Cactus.
Today we’re having a big photo shoot here at the studio. We have so many new designs and we need to update the photos on our website. I picked up a bunch of new fabrics to use as backgrounds for the shoot.
Some of the props I use to stage each photo: office supplies, candy, teacups, floral supplies and vintage books from our bookshelves.
I took a few snapshots (in the dark, with a crappy camera) to test out the composition of each scene. This one, of a digitally printed design, is my favorite so far.
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Great color combo: mai tai (creamy pinkish coral) and cloudy grey. So dreamy. Photo of the Delphine Ava design.
