While we certainly love elaborate 2 or 3 color letterpress wedding invitations, we get really excited to print fabulous designs in one fantastic ink color. Not only is it a budget-friendly letterpress option, but it really adds a special touch to the design. Especially if you’re only planning to incorporate one primary color in your event, or if you’re still debating colors to pair with your favorite shade as you plan, 1-color letterpress wedding invitations are stunning. Both of these customizations feature 2-color designs that have been turned into really lovely 1-color invitations.

This vibrant version of our Dewdrop design is printed in mango. We love how it is both elegant and fun, a bit of a modern edge paired with beautiful hand calligraphy. It’s a little bit unexpected and a whole lot beautiful.

Mimosa is one of our favorite new designs and this custom version, printed in garden ink, is no exception. Printed for an outdoor wedding at a riverfront camp in Texas, this letterpress wedding invitation is the perfect complement to the natural setting of the event.

When we printed the letterpress wedding invitations for Stewart and Darryl’s October 2008 wedding, we had a feeling that their day was going to be something truly magical. When we recently had the opportunity to see their amazing wedding photos, captured by Eleise Theuer, we knew we were right. Married just one year and three days after their first date, after having met on match.com, Stewart and Darryl crafted a celebration that was thoughtful, personal and rich with handmade details and a sensitivity to the environment. Melville Farm in Reedville, Virginia was the only natural choice for their wedding location as the property has belonged to Stewart’s family since the 1930s and she remembers spending every weekend there as a child. The farm setting provided their inspiration in pulling all of the details together and worked perfectly with the deep green and espresso color palette the couple chose; he picked the green and she picked the brown. The result? An absolutely charming and beautiful wedding celebration.

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New Calligraphy, one of our new 2009 letterpress wedding invitation designs, has already become a favorite with brides and it’s easy to see why. It’s the perfect blend of classic style paired with a modern edge, which makes it really fun for weddings large and small, whether they be held in a grand ballroom or a funky loft. It’s one of our new favorites, too! We love to see how a simple change in ink color can make it feel so strikingly different so it’s always exciting when we print a new variation.

The original New Calligraphy design uses bold cardinal ink on thick and luxurious 2-ply paper with gorgeous edge painting for a look that is dramatic and truly special.

Classic in striking black ink on white, this invitation is nothing short of posh. It practically sings of a wedding that is completely elegant and refined, a truly sophisticated affair.

This version of New Calligraphy pairs daffodil ink on ivory and just exudes excitement and fun. It’s playful, a bit whimsical and it promises guests an incredible evening of celebration and laughter. If you ask us, that’s the perfect definition of an unforgettable wedding.

Remember this absolutely breathtaking wedding we shared a while back? This week we were contacted by Patricia and Richard’s wedding planner in Italy to let us know about the wedding being featured on her Italian Lakes Wedding blog. We love all of the behind the scenes info she shared about the event and how their incredible destination wedding weekend came together. Thanks so much for sharing, Valentina!

{Photos by Sora DeVore Photography}

Here at Bella Figura, we are truly dedicated to being as eco-friendly as possible so we are always seeking out great new ideas for improving our eco practices and building great new partnerships. Accordingly, we were thrilled that Bella Figura’s parent company, Boxcar Press, recently teamed up with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as an EPA Green Power Partner, a program designed to encourage organizations to seek out renewable energy sources and to reduce carbon emissions. Our operations are 100% wind powered through NativeEnergy, a truly inspiring organization that allows businesses and individuals to purchase carbon offsets and renewable energy credits. NativeEnergy actively works to promote Native American, family farm, and community-based renewable energy projects to help make renewable energy more accessible. It’s a true pleasure for us to be working with the EPA and NativeEnergy to help promote renewable energy and we look forward to seeing an increasing number of businesses getting involved in the future.

Last year we had the opportunity to print beautiful letterpress wedding invitations for the fall wedding of Ashley and Christian. Today we are thrilled that their wedding is featured on Style Me Pretty! Married at Houston’s First Presbyterian Church with the reception following at The Junior League of Houston, Ashley and Christian created an incredibly elegant affair that was the perfect blend of old world charm and modern sophistication.

Ashley and Christian chose our timeless Classic Calligraphy design for their letterpress invitations, printed in espresso and featuring a custom blind deboss monogram. Printed on our ivory cotton paper, the final look is nothing short of perfectly refined and elegant. For much more of Ashley and Christian’s wedding, as photographed by their amazing photographer Tanja Lippert, make sure to visit Style Me Pretty.

Congratulations Ashley and Christian and thank you for allowing us to share your beautiful wedding with Style Me Pretty readers!

{Photos by Tanja Lippert}

We get a lot of questions from brides who are interested in knowing about hot trends in the world of letterpress wedding invitations and what elements they can include to really let their personalities shine. In the first few months of 2009, we’ve printed some pretty fabulous letterpress invitations for creative couples mixing modern design with the old world tradition of letterpress and we absolutely love what they’re dreaming up. Here are some of the things we’re seeing a lot of these days, all of which you can use to inspire your own invitations…

Embellishments | Our Bella Figura clients are in love with adding a punch of personality to their invitations by opting for great embellishments. In particular, metallic envelope liners have been a favorite along with the personalized touch of beautiful hand calligraphy accents and edge painting has been notably more popular than ever. Some couples are opting for edge painting in elegant antique gold, a bit of a throwback to historic book gilding, while others are going for a bright pop of color, but either way, it’s absolutely gorgeous!

Bold Colors | Bright and bold color combinations are a growing trend with brides and grooms tending to be a bit more adventurous in their color selections. We’re printing a lot of fun cardinal and aquamarine, daffodil and deep aqua, forest and cloud nine, peacock and persimmon and similarly festive ink combinations.

Jewel Tones | Brides are in love with jewel tones this season with a lot ink choices revolving around colors such as peacock, cardinal, aubergine, and navy. We’ve seen them paired with neutrals, other jewel tones, metallics, and also used solo.

Green | Green has been increasingly popular as of late, particularly when paired with either a neutral, another shade of green or with navy. We’ve seen couples pairing greens of all shades with black, taupe, gray and a lot of garden and clover with navy.

Nautical Combinations | Whether it be a choice of navy and antique gold, navy and champagne or again, even navy with a fresh shade of green, nautical combinations are very popular and being used for a wide range of events from the extremely luxurious to the more casual preppy chic.

What letterpress invitation trends do you love? We can’t wait to see what the rest of 2009 brings for great personalization of gorgeous letterpress wedding invitations!

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Beyond our beautiful letterpress wedding invitations, a lot of our clients love working with Bella Figura because of our extensive eco practices and our geunine dedication to the environment. We recognize that an increasing number of brides and grooms are looking to be more eco-conscious in their wedding planning and wanted to offer some suggestions for seeking out wedding vendors that are truly eco-friendly. If you’re seeking to limit the impact of your event on the Earth, opting to work with wedding vendors who are fully committed to being as environmentally friendly as possible is an important part of doing so. While “green” tends to be a common trend these days, for us and other like-minded wedding professionals, being as green as possible is our way of life. Not sure where to start or how to identify true eco wedding vendors? Here are some things to consider and to ask potential vendors when speaking with them:

– Inquire about third party certifications and/or seals of approval from environmental organizations such as Green America, Green Hotels Association, Greener Photography and others

– Check to see that the vendor has a formal waste reduction/recycling policy in action as well as policies in practice to help reduce energy consumption

– Ask vendors about their own practices in dealing with suppliers – do they have a formal purchasing policy in place whereby they give preference to other eco vendors/suppliers?

– If a vendor is providing you with a product, inquire about the materials and packaging used in production. Do they use renewable energy in production? Do they use non-toxic or less toxic materials? Where possible, packaging itself should be minimal and of a high recycled content.

– Products that are made from rapidly renewable resources are also preferable in addition to seeking out high recycled content where possible. If wood is involved in production, is it harvested from certified, sustainably managed forests? Is the product itself recyclable?

– Does the vendor support broader green living practices such as by subsidizing Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) memberships for employees, for instance, or offering bus passes to
employees to encourage public transportation use, or by offering on-site recycling and composting?

– Inquire about donations and support of environmental organizations and causes. Does the vendor offer money, services or products to charitable or community organizations?

– Ask vendors if they participate in donating 1% of sales through 1% for the Planet or in another way dedicate a portion of sales to environmental causes

– Check with your vendor to see if they participate in third-party certified renewable energy or carbon offset programs such as Native Energy

– Find out if a vendor has a mission statement that explicitly expresses their commitment to the environment

Keeping these things in mind will help you to pinpoint companies and vendors that are truly dedicated to limiting the negative impact of their business operations upon the planet. Don’t be afraid to ask vendors about their eco policies as any truly eco-conscious professional will be more than happy to let you know what differentiates them from the pack. To learn more about our own eco practices, you can visit our website.

We are thrilled to be sponsoring a giveaway this week with Brooklyn Bride, one of our favorite wedding blogs out there. Good for any custom Bella Figura order including letterpress wedding invitations, letterpress coasters, letterpress baby announcements, letterpress stationery, letterpress thank you notes or anything else you love, one winner will receive a $100 gift certificate so be sure to visit for all of the details and to enter for your chance to win!

As an earth-loving company, we love to see couples incorporating eco-friendly elements, large and small, into their weddings — so we wanted to share some of our favorite ideas for eco-friendly wedding favors. At Bella Figura, we recognize and appreciate that every small effort counts. We love these ideas for expressing appreciation to your loved ones while helping to limit the waste that might be generated by other more traditional wedding favors.

{Potted herbs in buckets by Kelly MacPhee via Snippet & Ink; Herbs in terra cotta pots via Intimate Weddings}

We love the idea of using potted herbs in cool containers to serve as both centerpieces and guest wedding favors. Not only is the look completely pretty and the fragrance sure to be delightful, but you’re working to reduce waste all around as there is no packaging to be discarded and no centerpieces left to go to waste.

{Lovely handmade soaps from 100 Layer Cake}

We absolutely adore these beautiful handmade soaps recently featured on one of our favorite wedding blogs, 100 Layer Cake. Made with love and tied with strips of pretty scrap fabric, baker’s twine and small tags punched from paper grocery bags, they are not only beautiful but also very eco-chic. We also think these would be great favors at a bridal or baby shower or even perfect to include with bridesmaids gifts.

{Potted banana bread DIY favors via Style Me Pretty}

Baked directly in small, reusable terra cotta pots and sweetly capped off with a square of wax paper and a bit of raffia, these adorable potted banana bread favors recently featured on Style Me Pretty are nothing short of fun and delicious, a combination we love. Waste and costs are minimal and guests are sure to love their own personal pot of banana bread or whatever other sweet treat you bake for them. We can also see these being perfect as individually potted over-sized cupcakes and topped with a dollop of yummy frosting!

{Bright and festive reusable tote bags from Smudge Ink; Personalized shopping bags from the wedding of Mrs. Hydrangea on Weddingbee, photo by Perez Photography}

Perfect as wedding favors, out of town bags or as wedding party gifts, we love the idea of giving your loved ones gorgeous reusable shopping totes either in fun, festive colors or personalized to reflect your wedding aesthetic. Especially perfect for destination weddings or weekend-long events when packed with snacks, maps and ideas of what to see and do, a great tote will be used and appreciated long after your wedding day.

{Personalized SIGG water bottles from the wedding of Jordan and Juan Carlo via Sarah Pants}

Most of us in the office carry around a reusable water bottle of some kind so we fell completely in love with the personalized SIGG water bottles one of our recent Bella Figura couples, Jordan and Juan Carlo, offered their guests as wedding favors at their weekend-long eco-friendly Texas wedding celebration. Each guest received an aluminum water bottle and great care was taken to reduce and/or completely eliminate paper waste at each of their weekend events. This idea is perfect for wedding guests or to give to your bridal party and will serve as a great souvenir to remind loved ones of the fun and joy of your wedding.

{Photo near Spruce Pond along the Finger Lakes Trail by our own Debbie Urbanski}

Taking the idea of eco wedding favors to another level, Bella Figura and our sister company, Smock,  are both huge fans of American Forests and we love the idea of celebrating your marriage with a donation to help protect the trees and forests that are so vital in protecting the earth. Every $1 plants a tree so you can just imagine the impact your donation can have.

{Letterpress wedding favor card by Smock for the Amazon Conservation Association}

Especially near and dear to our hearts, Smock has recently teamed up with the Amazon Conservation Association in offering pro bono design and printing of gorgeous letterpress favor cards. For a $5 donation per guest, you can thank your loved ones with a contribution to help protect the Amazon. Couples will receive one beautiful favor card per two guests, sustainably letterpressed on our bamboo paper, to display on tables at their reception explaining how your donation has helped create a better livelihood for local communities and to help conserve the biological diversity of the Amazon basin. To learn more, visit Smock’s blog.

At Bella Figura we recognize that steps large and small are necessary to protect the environment for future generations so we full-heartedly support couples opting for eco-friendly wedding favors in lieu of more traditional keepsakes that might go to waste. A good rule of thumb is to opt for items that are reusable, practical and fun or edible favors packaged in reusable containers that guests can later repurpose. And, of course, you never go wrong with a donation to an environmental or charitable cause near and dear to your hearts.

Julie and Noam’s letterpress wedding invitations are a custom creation we were thrilled to letterpress, designed by the couple in collaboration with their good friend Katerina Barry of Your Day Designs. The invitation design is based on a postcard Noam sent Julie a few years ago when he was living in Berlin and she in New York and the complete set is incredibly thoughtful and personalized with details that are reflective of Julie and Noam’s history as a couple. The set includes several pieces including the gorgeous main invitation, a custom map depicting locations special to Julie and Noam, invitation cards to other weekend events, a wonderfully fun mad lib reply card that was a nod to Julie’s love for word games and a custom blind debossed envelope that we hand crafted to meet Noam’s vision. All of the pieces are printed in 1-color in deep blue ink and together are an absolute showstopper, featuring a range of finely printed details and large solids that together achieve a really unique and beautiful letterpress look.

Bride to-be Julie was wonderful and happily shared thoughts on their inspiration with us…

The inspirational postcard, which still hangs on our fridge, features the silhouettes (in black) of a bunch of Berlin monuments that were then reflected so that the row of monuments looked kind of like a sound wave. When we started talking about invitation design, we knew we wanted to do something that was striking and that was both really different and really beautiful. We went to Katerina with the idea of a reflected composite skyline made up of some of the most recognizable buildings from cities around the world that we had spent time in together: New York, Berlin, Paris, Moscow, Istanbul. Our friend Katerina took it from there — she created the skyline image, hunted for the perfect font, and brought it all together. She created the individual events cards using enlarged versions of the New York buildings in the skyline, in recognition of the fact that our wedding will take place in the city.

The hand-drawn map was created by calligrapher Nancy Howell. It features some of Julie and Noam’s favorite East Village and Lower East Side spots, including the place where they first met, Tompkins Square Park, the theater that hosted their first real date, Millennium Film Workshop, and the site of New York’s best smoked salmon, Russ & Daughters. The Angel Orensanz Foundation, where they will be married next month, is also included on the map.

Julie and Noam’s design was especially unique because it continued onto their inner envelopes, a design element that evolved from an idea Noam dreamed up and was ultimately engineered by Bella Figura co-founder, Harold. The invitation design was blind debossed on large sheets of paper and then die cut, with each envelope being carefully hand-assembled. Naturally, we had to ask Julie to share the inspiration behind their beautiful envelope design…

One thing Noam got really excited about was the idea of making the letterpress technology a part of the design itself. He really wanted to have not only a mirroring of the skyline image, but also a reproduction of the letterpress plate, so that there would be one part of the invitation that mimicked the plate used to print the skyline and invitation text. Katerina played around with doing all of that on the invitation itself, but it always seemed to be visually confusing or, if printed blind, to leave too much white space. So we took it off of the invitation card and moved it to the inner envelope, where the entire invitation is blind debossed in an exact mirror of the invitation itself both in left-right orientation and in terms of what is pressed down and what is raised…but printed without ink. It’s as if the press came through the card and pressed into the envelope. You all at Bella Figura ingeniously figured out a way to execute Noam’s vision of the inner envelopes, and they turned out better than we had even imagined.

Having had the opportunity to work with Julie and Noam on this brilliant invitation suite, we had to know a bit more about their upcoming wedding and the things they are most looking forward to…

We chose Bella Figura because of the company’s commitment to social justice and the environment, values we hope will permeate every aspect of our wedding, from the local and sustainable food to the egalitarian ceremony. And we are also looking forward to a really crazy hora.

Now that’s our kind of wedding! Julie and Noam, thank you both for letting us share your incredible invitations. Congratulations and best wishes from all of us at Bella Figura!