We’re pretty excited about Election Day 2011 around here (it’s today! Tuesday, November 8), so we’ve decided to hold a vote of our own! From now through November 30, four of our letterpress invitation designs will be in the running to become the next Bella Figura Design of the Month. The winning design will go on sale for 20% off during the month of December, so be sure to vote! (And tell your friends to vote, too!) The 20% off applies to save the dates, thank you cards, coasters, place cards, menus, programs, invitations, and any other piece that uses the winning design.

Voting is easy: simply visit this page to view the nominated designs, then ‘like’ your favorite (you must be logged in to Facebook to do this). Already dreaming up ways to customize your favorite design? Check out these gorgeous customizations our in-house graphic design team dreamed up to get some extra inspiration.

Alice by Tara Hogan

Carte de Visite by Ben Whitla

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Here at Bella Figura, we think voting is one of the most direct ways to impact this country and the world. So to encourage everybody to get out and vote this year, we’re offering a special promotion just for voters during the month of November, 2011: orders with 75 invitation sets or more will receive 25 free sets!

To take advantage of this promotion, all you need to do is supply a photo of yourself voting! Simply send in the photo with your order to receive the special by emailing order@bellafigura.com – if you plan to work with one of our retailers, just include their store name in your email. We’ll be featuring the photos on our blog and Facebook page in the upcoming weeks, so please let us know when submitting the photo if you don’t want your photograph shared!

Election day is November 8, 2011, so get out and vote! If you want to help spread the word on election day, let everyone know that you voted by uploading your photo to our Facebook page. Just click the ‘Share Photo’ option, and in the caption, tell us the state you’re voting in!

Excited about the vote? Keep the voting momentum going and click here to vote on the next design of the month! The design of the month will go on sale for 20% off during the month of December & 4 designs are in the running — be sure to check it out!

Invitation wording can be tricky – knowing who to list and where to list them can sometimes present a challenge. With an increase in same-sex weddings (woohoo! go New York!), we’ve had some inquiries about wording for when you’ve got two brides or two grooms. So, we decided to speak with wedding pro Mark Kingsdorf of Queen of Hearts Wedding Consultants (an etiquette expert and contributor to several books by the esteemed Emily Post Institute) to get some tips for same-sex couples on the best way to word their invitations.

Mark said it best: “Proper etiquette is what makes the largest number of people feel most comfortable” — and we couldn’t agree more. So, when it comes to your wording, be sure to decide on the following factors:

1. Who should be listed? This depends entirely on the couple and their family. If both sets of parents are contributing, both sets of parents can be listed. You can list all parents, one set of parents, one parent, or no parents – it really comes down to your personal preference. If you have a lot of family members contributing to your wedding, a great alternative option would be to simply start by saying “Together with their families”, and proceed from there. Here’s a traditional example that lists both sets of parents:

2. Who goes first? Unless one family is contributing more than the other, Mark advises that alphabetical is the best way to go. Again, personal preference should reign, and your wording should be what fits you best as a couple.

The rest of your text should fall into place based on the type of ceremony and reception you’ll be having – let the formality of your event guide you. For even more tips on how to finalize the text for your invitations and other wedding stationery, click here, or feel free to get in touch with one of our client coordinators for assistance!

The important thing to remember is that your invitations and wedding stationery should set the tone for your wedding while highlighting who you are as a couple. Many thanks to Mark Kingsdorf for these great tips!

Don’t forget – our promotion for free envelope liners ends September 25, so there’s still plenty of time to order!

It’s that time of year again — our sample sale is back! Now through September 8, all of our letterpress invitation samples will be on sale for just $1! All proceeds from the sale will benefit Earthworks and will help aid their efforts to end dirty gold mining practices around the world. Sign the pledge today and make sure you know where your gold is coming from! The inventory for a few of our designs is limited, so you may receive samples in colors that are different from what’s shown on our website (but don’t worry — they’ll still be pretty!!).  Samples may be ordered on our website – just click on your favorite designs, then select “order a sample” and proceed to checkout after you’ve selected all of the designs you’d like to see! The sale ends at 11:59pm on Thursday, September 8, so don’t wait — buy your samples today & help the environment in the process — it’s a win-win!

**The fine print: availability for select designs may be limited. If our inventory runs out for a sample that you’ve ordered, we’ll contact you to determine a suitable replacement option or to arrange a refund if necessary. We appreciate your understanding on this!**

We’re so pumped that New York has joined the ranks of the small (but growing) number of states offering equal rights to same sex couples. In honor of this human rights triumph, Bella Figura is helping celebrate by offering free envelope liners to any same sex couple who orders their wedding stationery from us!

In addition to the promotion, we’ll be showcasing some recent real weddings, giving tips on wording, and offering advice from etiquette expert Mark Kingsdorf – an event planning pro who’s worked with the Emily Post Institute on several books.

The promotion runs from August 25 – September 25 — stop in to one of our Bella Figura retailers to place your order today! If you don’t have a retailer in your area, get in touch & we’ll help you get started.

Over the past couple of years, we’ve found ourselves completely blown away by the thoughtfulness and generous spirits of the couples we’re honored to call Bella Figura brides and grooms.  We think it’s so cool when a couple opts to forgo the traditional guest favors and instead makes a donation to a worthy nonprofit. To encourage this large-hearted trend, in early 2011 we started offering free letterpress favor cards to those couples making a donation to nonprofit organization doing good for the world. Here are just a handful of the many favor cards we’ve printed for couples worldwide this year…

Our Deveril design; donation benefiting The Humane Society of the United States.

Our Tara design; donation benefiting Clean Ocean Action.

Our Nautilus design; donation benefiting the Reproductive and Child Health Alliance in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

Our Florian Script design; donation benefiting CHU St-Justine. From the couple, “The CHU St-Justine is a well renowned children’s hospital in Montreal and our donation will be given toward funding R&D activities. We both believe that children should be allowed to enjoy their young lives and play outside with their friends rather to be stuck in a hospital room. We hope that our donation will help the team of doctors find a cure to many of today’s illnesses that primarily attack young children.”

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Today we’re exited to introduce our latest Design of the Month – Cecilia by Jamie Lea Bertsch. We love this design for its vintage textile inspiration and it’s understated romantic elegance. As our Design of the Month, all custom letterpress orders of our Cecilia design placed between now and April 29 will receive 20% off – don’t miss out! This 20% off applies to Cecilia save the dates, thank you cards, coasters, place cards, menus, programs, invitations, and any other piece that uses the Cecilia design. (Please note, the Design of the Month promotion may not be used on purchases of other designs or in combination with any other promotion.)

Meet the Designer – Jamie Lea Bertsch

What is the inspiration behind Cecilia?
Actually, these are the invitations we used for our wedding, so there was a lot of inspiration swirling around them. I named it after my grandmother – Cecilia. The lacy edging was from a handkerchief passed down to me for my wedding, and I paired that with some loose pattern illustrations from other textiles/fabrics in our home. I really wanted to fuse elegant and handmade, so I mixed fonts and rounded corners to keep it casual.

How did you get your start in art and design?
I’ve always enjoyed making things with my hands and the tactile experience. I decided to pursue art and design without any expectations. I didn’t want to anticipate or put pressure on myself to ‘figure it out’ right away. Instead, I eased into things, lightheartedly exploring design, printmaking, fibers, photography and ceramics. Some great opportunities came my way, and since college, I’ve just taken it day by day. Currently I’m pursuing my MFA in fibers, seeing where that leads me. I’ve always believed that things happen for a reason, so I try not to intervene too much with the natural progression of things.

Five art/design tools you couldn’t live without:
Needle/thread, Uni-ball fine tip pens, sketchbook, Sobo glue & scissors

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Now through March 2, 2011, take advantage of our annual Trendsetter sample sale, featuring sample packs curated by an exclusive group of style-driven wedding and design industry trendsetters. Our Trendsetters include wedding bloggers, stylists, designers and event planners with an incredible eye for design. Each Trendsetter’s sample pack includes their selection of five favorite invitations, currently on sale for just $5 (regularly $12) with 100% of each sample pack cost donated to an environmental nonprofit. Read all about the Trendsetters and check out their favorite Bella Figura letterpress wedding invitations and then purchase the sample pack you love best to help us help the world!

The fine print: Trendsetter sample pack purchases between 2/25/11 and 3/2/2011 will not be deducted from future orders.

Here at Bella Figura, we believe in the power of few to do good for the world. In honor of Election Day (which just so happens to be tomorrow, November 2!) we are once again offering a special limited time promotion for orders placed in November. Send us a photo of yourself going out to vote and you will get 25 free letterpress invitation sets when you purchase 75 or more! (It’s that easy!) Visit our promotions page for details.

This campaign season we’ve found ourselves personally inspired by Patagonia, another like-minded business intent on doing good for the world. Their Vote the Environment campaign encourages citizens to get out and vote noting, “Your vote affects the air you breathe, the energy you use, and the water you drink.” Whatever your affiliation, wherever you stand on the issues we too encourage you to get out there and change the world – vote!

One last chance to get in your orders for our Canopy design to receive 20% off your custom order! As our October Design of the Month, this is your last opportunity to take advantage of this awesome promotion so don’t miss out! To celebrate, we dreamed up a few gorgeous customizations to highlight this stunning design to get you inspired…