Sometimes simpler is just plain better.  Alright a lot of times.  Pared down to just the essentials, these Deveril invites from designer Beth Ann Seal exude such an amazing sense of clarity and calm.  The lack of any superfluous design elements really serves to highlight the simple beauty of the typography and of the letterpress printing itself.  In order to accommodate their multinational guests, half of these invitations were printed in German and the other half were printed in Italian.  Didn’t know we print in all languages?  Sure we can!  More details here.

ink: taupe | fonts: strana + hudson | paper: white 1-ply | invite size: f8 | liner: classic color taupe | client coordinator: chris gannon | in house designer:  sarah walroth

Shocker alert – we’re pretty heavily into environmental conservation over here (big news, right?).  Everything from the tree-free cotton papers we print on, to the wind powered electricity we use, to our vegetable based inks and more is intended to minimize our impact on the natural world in every way we can possibly think of.  And so with that being the case, how could we not be totally all about this amazing naturally inspired Deveril (by Beth Ann Seal) customization!  We owe the pleasure of being able to print this beautiful set to our buds over at Sweet Paper in La Jolla, California.  It features espresso ink, our white 2-ply paper, and custom designed wood grain envelope liners inspired by our Adirondack design.  There’s also a little secret pocket on the back of the invite to hold the reception card, website card, and reply card neatly in place!  The whole set is earthy and organic feeling, but not in a kitschy kind of way because it’s still a very classic and formal looking set.  We dig it.  Hope you do too!

ink: espresso | fonts: burgues script + danube | paper: white 2-ply | invite size: f8 | liner: custom adirondack pattern in espresso

We’re so excited to be kicking off our first ever Bella Figura design contest! We’ve reviewed the best-of-the-best invitations sent to us by our amazing retailers, and over the next 10 days we’ll be featuring the contest honorees, as well as the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners. Our first honoree was sent to us by the Village Invites II in New York, New York. Kudos to the Village Invites II for figuring out how to take two classic Bella designs and turn them into a whole new animal!

This bold, modern letterpress invitation customization combines the best of our Alice (by Tara Hogan) and Deveril (by Beth Ann Seal) designs, and uses ink colors that really pack a punch!

There was no question in our minds that this invite deserved a spot on our design competition lineup. A big thanks to the Village Invites II for sending us this gorgeous customization!

ink: black + spring green | fonts: danube + impression | paper: 2-ply white | invite size: F-8 |  liner: vintage stripes in spring green ink | edge painting: spring green

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.

Last fall, we had the pleasure of designing and printing these gorgeous invitations for Vanessa & David’s November wedding at the iconic Sydney Opera House. The invitations were a custom design, featuring elements from our ever-popular Deveril design and an intricate custom pattern. The pattern was printed in black on extra-wide belly bands that we created to keep everything packaged neatly together, and was also printed in blind deboss on the back of each card to create an ultra-chic look. We loved seeing all of the amazing photographs of the big day on Style Me Pretty – dreamy white peonies, a stunning 5-tier cake, and soft, romantic candlelight added so much elegance to this black tie affair. An indulgent dinner reception at Guillaume at Bennelong was followed by homemade limoncello (created by the bride’s father) – a delicious treat and a nod to the bride’s Italian heritage.

{Photos by Bella Figura}

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This sleek little letterpress wedding invitation set was sent over to us by our friends at Invite & Write in New York, New York.  A super-clean fusion of Tara Hogan’s Hummingbirds and our always popular Deveril (by Beth Ann Seal), this is a beautiful example of just how endlessly our designs can be combined and customized.  It features Hebrew lettering, Pumpkin and Charcoal inks, and is printed onto our 1-ply white paper.  Fly on you crazy little birds.

ink: pumpkin + charcoal | fonts: danube + social | paper: 1-ply white | invite size: F-8 | liner: antique geometrics pattern in pumpkin ink

by Chris Gannon, Client Coordinator.

We love this bold and modern letterpress invitation customization that combines the best of our Alice (by Tara Hogan) and Deveril (by Beth Ann Seal) designs! Submitted to us by our friends at The Village Invites II in New York, New York, this stylish set features double-sided letterpress invitations as well as dual-purpose coasters – our favorite! The fun combination of black and spring green inks, along with the unique monogram pattern on the reply postcard, has us head over heels!

ink: black + spring green | fonts: danube + impression | paper: 2-ply white | invite size: F-8 |  liner: vintage stripes in spring green ink | edge painting: spring green

by Sarah Walroth, In-house Graphic Designer.

Sheila and Chris chose our Deveril letterpress invitations for their chic Manhattan wedding and were kind enough to share photos of their invitations in action! We printed their invitations in classic blank in on our cotton paper. Sheila then lined the envelopes herself with pretty, patterned paper and worked with Trial By Cupakes for calligraphy addressing. Their wedding took place at the gorgeous Alger House and Sheila wore a stunning Pucci dress. We love seeing how it all came together! Many thanks to Sheila and Chris for sharing and congratulations from your friends at Bella Figura!

See all of the beautiful details from Sheila and Chris’s wedding on Laura Ryan’s blog.

{Photos by Laura Ryan Photography.}

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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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.

We thought we’d share a fun round up of some of the awesome letterpress directions and accommodations cards we’ve printed in recent months. Some of them include maps and other details and some of them simply refer guests to a website with lots of extra information to make their travel easier. Accommodations cards are especially helpful if you’ve negotiated group rates at local hotels so guests know where to book their room. Check out these ideas for tons of great letterpress inspiration!

{Letterpress directions card in Flourish.}

{Tara accommodations + directions website card.}

{Tennyson letterpress directions card.}

{Directions card in Tuileries.}

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