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 »

The neon trend will continue to thrive in full force in 2012, so we’ve added some amazing new neon ink colors to our collection! Make a bold statement by printing your letterpress invitations in a vibrant neon color, or consider edge painting on your stationery in a bright color to add an extra wow-factor. Read on to see our favorite new neon inks & designs, and check out our tips for how you can pull in pops of neon throughout your wedding day!

Hot off the press & letterpress printed in hot pink ink (clockwise from top left): New Horizon, a modern new design from Tara Hogan; hot pink edge painting on the trendy New Washi invitation design by Kamal; grand old English styled hand calligraphed lettering is printed in hot pink in the Royal Calligraphy design by Debi Zeinert; the New Washi invitation design from Kamal, letterpress printed in hot pink ink and foil stamped in gold shine.

Lime-aid (an electric, lime-colored letterpress ink) adds a gorgeous hint of green to the Tapestry invitation by Tara Hogan (and looks stunning when printed alongside taupe ink); lime-aid ink looks extra-modern when paired with black ink and modern fonts in the Architect design by Erin Jang. Read the rest of this entry »

Bella Figura calligrapher Debi Zeinert shared this close up look at her amazing work, a video that features her various calligraphy styles. Her elegant calligraphy can be found in her wedding invitation designs, and her calligraphy accents can also be found in other popular Bella designs (such as Loretta Formal and Calligraphy Monogram). In addition to beautiful, hand-calligraphed letterpress stationery and invitations through Bella Figura, Debi is also available for calligraphy addressing through her business, The Blooming Quill. Your envelopes, escort cards, and other wedding day stationery pieces can all be hand-done to match your letterpress printed suite! Check out this video to see Debi in action, and for more details on working with her, visit her website.

Featuring the gorgeous hand calligraphy of Debi Zeinert, Classic Calligraphy definitely tends to be one of our more, well, classic designs.  Throw some fresh Navy ink and vibrant Watermelon edge painting into the mix though, and you get a really great splash of bold contemporary style.  A brightly contrasting edge paint color is a wonderful way to make things fun and current without going too far overboard and loosing the vintage-inspired vibe of the overall set.  These invitations also feature a cute website card – an elegant and eco-friendly way to direct guests to your website for additional wedding details.

ink: navy | paper: 2-ply ivory | invite size: a7 | liner: antique geometrics pattern in navy | edge painting: watermelon | client coordinator: chris gannon | in-house designer: lindsy aragona

Our New Calligraphy design (by Debi Zeinert) is extremely popular and we are loving the colors in this letterpress wedding invitation set. The nature infused accents from a custom Vineyard design inspired envelope liner to our vine ink bring a real earthy feel. The metallic gold edge painting brings in some luxury making this an elegant combination.

ink: vine | calligraphy: revolution hand calligraphy, by debi zeinert style  | paper: 1-ply white  | invite size: f8 | liner: custom vineyard design inspired pattern in antique gold | edge painting: metallic gold | client coordinator: christie jones | in-house designer: lindsy aragona

Take a look at these BEYOND GORGEOUS Dolce (by Amy Graham Stigler) letterpress wedding invitations.  The invitation features the Clermont style hand calligraphy penned by the absolutely one-of-a-kind Debi Zienert.  Hand calligraphy is a beautiful way to add a personal touch to your invitations.  We think you’ll agree that the marigold and prussian blue inks contrast beautifully against one another.  Paired with a stellar envelope lining adds yet another splash of color!  The bride says, “the invitations you helped us select perfectly captured our vision of a bright and colorful, yet elegant wedding.”  We couldn’t agree more-this set is sure fire hit!

inks: marigold + prussian blue | calligraphy style: clermont hand by debi zienert | font: utrecht |paper: 2-ply white  | invite size: a7  | liner: the european formal pattern in marigold ink | client coordinator: jessica hanaman| in-house designer: lindsy aragona

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.

Totally regal and totally gorgeous this wildly customized rendition of our Plume design (by Amy Graham Stigler) was sent over to us for printing by our BFFs at Judy Paulen Designs in NYC.  It features the Spencerian style hand calligraphy accents of the ever-amazing Debi Zeinert as well as crest artwork that was submitted by the bride for inclusion in the set.  Cap that off with our 2-ply paper, two color printing in Cream and Tea Rose, edge painting, and digitally printed belly bands to hold it all together, and you’ve got what you see here – one SICK letterpress invite set.

inks: cream + tea rose | font: impression | calligraphy accents: spencerian by debi zeinert | paper: 2-ply ivory | edge painting: tea rose |

by Chris Gannon, Client Coordinator.

We loved seeing this real wedding featuring an absolutely dazzling Bella Figura bride and her dapper groom on Style Me Pretty recently. They planned a Gatsby inspired affair, traditional, black-tie, and completely stylish. (Check out her gorgeous Oscar de la Renta lace dress and headpiece!) A garden wedding was followed by an indoor formal seated dinner, all filled with romantic details. Our Classic Calligraphy letterpress invitations set the stage, with gorgeous calligraphy from Bella Figura calligraphy Debi Zeinert of The Blooming Quill showcased throughout their stunning celebration.

Read the rest of this entry »

An especially elegant customization of our ever popular (and completely timeless) Deveril letterpress invitations, these elegant wedding invitations were printed in taupe and dusty pink and feature coordinating envelopes lined in dusty pink. Sweet calligraphy details along with hand calligraphy accents and a custom monogram from calligrapher Debi Zeinert make these letterpress invitations one of a kind.