We love sharing photos of the real weddings and letterpress invitations that our fabulous Bella brides send us, but we especially love when we get to feature the wedding of someone we know personally! For today’s real wedding, we worked with Lin Logan of The Stationery Company in Denver and her daughter Jennifer for Jennifer’s letterpress wedding invitations, and we are so thrilled to share details from the big day! Jennifer chose our elegant Jolie design for her October celebration, and we letterpress printed her wedding invitations in pewter and champagne inks. Spencerian hand calligraphy accents by Debi Zeinert added a gorgeous touch of elegance to the sophisticated set, which included a festive reception card and a handy info card that let guests know about accommodations, transportation, and the couple’s wedding website. We are completely smitten with this gorgeous fall wedding — read on to learn about the inspiration behind this fabulous event!

Can you share with us a bit about your wedding and your inspiration for the event?

Our absolute favorite time of year is the fall, so John and I decided that we definitely wanted a fall wedding. With so many of our friends’ weddings taking place in the summer months, we felt like having it at this time of year would allow us to really be creative and different and also give our guests an evening they would never forget during a time when life seems to move at a bit slower pace.  That really served as our inspiration for the entire event. We wanted to find a venue that truly showcased the beautiful fall colors of Colorado while also conveying a sense of casual-elegance that would make everyone feel right at home. When we came across Crooked Willow Farm, we felt no other venue could have captured all of these things more perfectly…so with that decision crossed off the list, we then began planning the wedding of our dreams in a Big Red Barn in beautiful Larkspur, Colorado. What could be more “Fall” than that?

How did you choose your invitation design & ink colors?

I think that when most of us think of fall, we think of the traditional fall color palette of reds, oranges and yellows. Once again, trying to think a bit more out of the box, we came up with the color palette of charcoal gray and butter yellow.  We felt the palette was warm and inviting and best of all, DIFFERENT! Choosing letterpress on luxurious cotton paper by Bella Figura only enhanced our vision, and they worked with us on such a personal yet effortless level that I felt no stress with regard to the invitations.  Our initial vision for the invitation was achieved.  When dreaming about how this palette would be reflected in all aspects of our wedding…from the bridesmaid dresses, the flowers and of course, the invitations, we were sold on it immediately. From there we watched all the details unfold so beautifully in sticking with this color theme. We wouldn’t have changed a thing.

What surprised you most about your wedding?

What surprised us most was how quickly the day went. We wanted to hang on every moment of the day as long as we could but all in all, each moment passed along to the next so much faster than we anticipated. What also surprised me was how nervous I felt moments before I walked down the isle. And furthermore, I was also surprised by the immediate calm I felt just moments later as I saw John for the first time and was walking down the isle with our eyes locked on one another. Read the rest of this entry »

We can hardly believe that Bella Figura’s first Design Contest came and went so quickly. Congrats again to all of the winners! Now that the contest has ended, we thought you’d like to see the gorgeous contest winner plaques we sent to the stores that had the top ten designs! Our internal designer Lindsy Aragona created a stunning customization of our Maile design. These beauties are letterpressed in an exciting color combination of sherbet and spring green inks on our 2-ply white paper. Corner rounding adds an extra touch, highlighting the natural curves of the leaves in the design. The wonderful Sarah Hanna is responsible for the stunning calligraphy. The photography in this post features our winners (first place Gus & Ruby Letterpress, second place Social Graces, and third place Union Street Papery).

Our AMAZING friends at Gus and Ruby Letterpress in Portsmouth, New Hampshire submitted this letterpress wedding invitation set to us. We were thrilled to see the Harbor Beach design, by Jessica Tierney, used in combination with the Anais design, by Ian Koenig. The final product was styled perfectly using pewter and navy inks, clean lines and bold text. It was no surprise that this nautical yet urban design won first place in the Bella Figura Design Contest!

Read the rest of this entry »

You really cannot get anymore romantic than this String Calligraphy letterpress wedding invitation customization submitted to us by Social Graces in Nashville, Tennessee. The whimsical style of Harrison hand calligraphy, by Patricia Mumau, looks weightless in pale gray and shell inks. It’s airy, sweet, and oh so lovely! The Bella Figura team fell in love with this design’s soft simplicity – so we just had to have it place second in our design contest.

Erin, from Social Graces, surprised us with STUNNING photos from this wedding (thank you, thank you) and we were all blown away! The invitation fit this bride’s vision perfectly! From the detailed lace dress to the luscious, monochromatic flowers, this wedding looked like a dream!

Alisha, the beautiful bride, fills us in on her and her husband’s perfect wedding day and how they chose the String Calligraphy Design:

“Picking out my wedding invitations and paper goods was one of my favorite parts of the wedding planning process! I’ve always been a sucker for art, crafts, and design, so choosing the perfect invitations for my wedding was a very fun experience. The look I had in mind for our wedding was something whimsical, rustic, organic and vintage. While searching for the perfect invitation to reflect our farm wedding, I fell in love with Bella Figura’s String Calligraphy and couldn’t settle for anything else! The invitation that I chose struck me because of simplicity, uniqueness, and whimsical feel. I loved the softness and romantic touch that the pale gray and shell color inks gave off. The colors reflected our wedding color scheme perfectly – a soft palette of pale pinks and grays.

Read the rest of this entry »

Working with Union Street Papery in San Francisco, California is always AMAZING!!! Stacey and her staff are the best people EVER! They are not only savvy business women, but are genuinely kind people – and they are all HILARIOUS. Love them! When you combine a wonderful dealer with a design like Vendage, from the utterly fabulous Kamal Patel, you are bound to create magic. The Vendage letterpress invitation customization features elegant hues of champagne and charcoal along with Debi Zeinert’s hand calligraphy accents in Spencerian. By eliminating the bird motif from the original design and using a vertical layout, this customization becomes romantic and sophisticated.

The beautiful bride, Emily, shared some words with us regarding her gorgeous suite!
“The design of the invitation was meant to evoke a summer garden party with a hint of modern design elements to make it current. Annadel Estate is a lovely winery located in Sonoma, but more than just a winery they have acres of rose gardens on the property. When I saw the floral print I knew it was perfect.”

… so perfect that our staff at Bella Figura chose Emily’s design as the third place winner!!!

A view inside Union Street Papery.

inks: champagne + charcoal | fonts: garamond | paper: 2-ply white | invite size: a-7 | calligraphy style: spencerian by Debi Zeinert | liner: the rustic crosshatch patter in charcoal

This design won third place in our Bella Figura design competition for the first half of 2011. This twice-a-year competition recognizes outstanding and inspired design submitted by our beloved dealers.

A true storybook romance is played out in this recently letterpress printed Joie de Vivre (by Kamal) invitation suite customization submitted to us by our friends at Smudge Designs.

The first four lines of this adorably whimsical invitation are written in the voice of a narrator.

This creative invitation is letterpress printed in a delightful grouping of our atlantic, mediterranean and wine inks.  The letterpressed steel blue pocketfold adds the perfect final touch as the credits start to roll.inks: atlantic +mediterranean+wine | font: streamline | paper: 1-ply white | invite size: f-8 | pocketfold: steel blue |

This design won an honorable mention in our Bella Figura design competition for the first half of 2011. This twice-a-year competition recognizes outstanding and inspired design submitted by our beloved dealers.

Hey letterpress fans – Happy Birthday indeed! Nothing celebrates another year passing better than a party invite like this customization, courtesy of the lovely ladies at Social Graces in Nashville. When planning her mother’s 70^th birthday party, Gretchen wanted an invitation reminiscent of retro Broadway movie tickets. Social Graces altered Jessica Tierney’s Popular Country design to take maximum advantage of the beautiful Norah script by combining it with the Bennington and Popular fonts.

Espresso was the perfect ink to pull off the “old-timey” feel, and the corner rounding embellishment solidified the desired effect of bringing us back to simpler, carefree days of youth.

Madelyn, we hope your 70^th year is as beautiful as this invitation!

Everyone loves a splash of color and that’s why we’re so passionate about a recently letterpressed Barcelona (by Lindsy Aragona) wedding invitation customization submitted to us by our good friends at Sweet Paper in La Jolla, California.

We happily believe that these invitations create the perfect first impression, giving guests a hint of what expect on the big day! We can’t help but feel the positive vibes whenever seeing this set.

inks: papaya +sea mist| fonts: jubilant + memoir  | paper: 1-ply white | invite size: a-7 | liner: the classic color pattern in sea mist |

This design won an honorable mention in our Bella Figura design competition for the first half of 2011. This twice-a-year competition recognizes outstanding and inspired design submitted by our beloved dealers.

We letterpress addicts adore the simple, charming feel of the Ribbon Heart (by Kelle Anne McCarter)  wedding invitations submitted to us by our friends at Judy Paulen Designs in New York, NY.

The ribbon symbolizes a bond connected and claimed, and the heart expresses feelings that are not only precious, but solid and everlasting.

The carefree feel of rustic crosshatch envelope lining in azalea ink coordinates perfectly with the invitation.

Their marriage will be a meaningful celebration of love! Congrats to Judy Paulen Designs!

inks: azalea + charcoal | font: streamline  | paper: 1-ply white | invite size: f-8 | liner: rustic crosshatch pattern in azalea ink |

This design won an honorable mention in our Bella Figura design competition for the first half of 2011. This twice-a-year competition recognizes outstanding and inspired design submitted by our beloved dealers.

The second honoree in our design contest features sweet lovebirds for a wedding half-way around the world. We cannot get enough of this recently letterpressed Lovebirds (by Ian Koenig) wedding invitation set, submitted by our friends at The Wedding Company in Hong Kong.

This invitation displays the heartfelt expression of a couple showing their affection for each other.  Their new life together will open up to paths leading to fresh beginnings.

The pewter ink represents their path to adventure, and the love they feel for one another is, of course, symbolized by the use of our stunning British rose ink.

Coupled with our modern canopy envelope liner – this invitation set is the perfect match for such a romantic pair. Lovebirds — unite!

inks: pewter + british rose | font: geometric + belizio | paper: 1-ply white | invite size: f-8 | liner: modern canopy pattern in british rose and pewter inks |

This design won an honorable mention in our Bella Figura design competition for the first half of 2011. This twice-a-year competition recognizes outstanding and inspired design submitted by our beloved dealers.