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Hi there! I hope you enjoyed your weekend. We went up to Brimfield on Sunday, and we left tired & disppointed. It was the last day of the last show of 2009, so that may be the reason. We are going to give it another try in May 2010.
Before the weekend I sent off another beautiful invitation suite to a couple in Tennessee who are getting married at the Cosmos Club in Washington D.C. The club began as a society that embraced the sciences and the arts and is located in a Beaux Arts mansion. While inspired by the ornate architecture of the building and its rooms, we decided to focus on the word “Cosmos” and shoot straight into the galaxies! Shelley and her fiance, Willie, were looking for a real “deep space” feel to their invitations, so I used hundreds of stars in various shapes and forms to surround the words of the invitations.
Sometimes a week just slips right by, especially when I am trying to get projects out the door. As a follow up to my recent letterpress post, here is the final product! John, the groom, was a friend from college {go PC!}. He and Kelly were both on the sailing team and still love to sail so it was only natural their wedding would be inspired by the sea. They are getting married at the chapel on PC's campus followed by a reception at the Conanicut Yacht Club.
I had the great honor of printing the lettering of the ever-talented Betsy Dunlap. I tell you, I get quite a thrill out of printing hand-drawn artwork and hand lettering! But let us start from the beginning of this design process.
Rae, the super creative Art Historian & bride, initially contacted me to do her save the dates {okay, so that is the only pic I took of them, but they kind of looked like these}. Once those were complete, she sent me a folder full of wonderful and inspiring photos including arrangements by Saipua, work of her favorite artists, and one image entitled “calligraphy.” I took one look and knew it was Betsy's lettering. After viewing Rae's images I could see she was going for a very organic, flowing look, and I knew she had to work with Betsy. And she did!
Hello! I hope you had a fun, long weekend. While I did get some relaxation in with a little camping trip, I spent a lot of the weekend printing. The wedding invitations I am printing are for friends. They were interested in seeing the letterpress process, so I took a few photos and decided to share them with you!
I mix of all of my inks by hand using the Pantone Matching System {PMS}. This specific blue is PMS7459 which actually corresponds with Paper Source's Lake.
Hello! I do say I have been very fortunate to work on some seriously lovely designs as of late. The bride, Heidi, is a wind power analyst {awesome!} and her fiance is a helicopter pilot. They wanted a design evocative of a rustic vineyard in the Blue Ridge Mountains during Autumn. The wedding is taking place outdoors where they would be surrounded by the bright yellows, oranges, and reds of the changing leaves. We decided instead of going for the obvious vineyard theme {grapes} or Autumn colors {yellow, orange, & red}, we would go for rustic florals in a cool, mono-toned palette of deep navy blue. Being eco-friendly was important for the couple so the invitations were gocco screenprinted on 100% cotton Lettra paper in pearl and the envelopes were 100% recycled brown kraft paper. I love the little floral detail of the return address on the envelope! The RSVPs were a double-sided postcard. The front of the RSVP came out beautifully with the full floral design. I am happy Heidi liked using the little motifs for the meal choices. It adds a bit of whimsy the elegant design.
{Images by Snapshots by Clare}
Even though it is tradition for the Best Man to give the toast, I like the idea of the Maid of Honor speaking as well {provided she wants to}. The Best Man for our wedding is one of Rich's oldest friends from high school and my maid of honor is my sister, Jess. Deb, Rich's sister, is essentially the “Best Woman” so we hope all three will want to give a toast at our wedding. My sister and her husband, Jay, had two best men and I was the maid of honor. Each of us spoke before dinner. I read the poem, Falling in Love is Like Owning a Dog, by Taylor Mali at their wedding. I kept my introduction brief and on the silly side {I am not one for sap}. We are a family of dog-lovers, having three different golden retrievers growing up. My sister now has two dogs, and my parents and I each have one. I found this poem and knew it was perfect.
Falling in Love is Like Owning a Dog, by Taylor Mali
This particular invitation does not have an rsvp. Instead, the couple opted for adding their website on the invitation directing people to rsvp online. This may not be the way for everyone, but it certainly is an eco-friendly option. For an added bit of fun, I designed a matching pattern for the envelope liners and gocco printed those as well. From the bride's description of the wedding it sounds like it is going to be a perfectly easy, breezy wedding afternoon full of family & friends. Birds swirling around in a field of wildflowers. Sounds like a lovely setting for a wedding to me!
Happy first of September! Let's talk about palm trees, shall we? Marisa, the bride, was a fan of Miss Bruschetta's rehearsal dinner invitations, so I began the design from there. Marisa was inspired by vintage postcards of palm trees on the beach, so I used a vintage palm tree image on the invitation. Her colors are orange, yellow, and green, but we decided to use just orange and green on creamy Lettra paper in pearl. The invitations are square and were gocco printed.
I really love that couples are interested in sending invitations for their rehearsal dinners and not just as an after-thought. Rehearsal dinners are often an integral part of what is now becoming the “wedding weekend.” Carrying your theme throughout all of paper pieces for your wedding keeps the look of your wedding cohesive and consistent {did I ever mention my background is in marketing…? 
}. Until tomorrow…
Last week was a busy, but great week. Despite having a mid-week birthday celebration, I printed four wedding invitation suites, two of which were letterpress. These invitations are off to the happy couple in Canada. They are getting married at a ski resort this autumn and wanted something casual and fun for their invitation. They love vintage travel posters {me too!} especially this one designed by Gruppe Gut for the Cortina Ski Resort in Italy. I created a new custom illustration to better reflect the silhouettes of the couple, made their gloves into hands, and gave them shoes instead of ski boots {since the wedding is in Autumn and there will be no snow}. I loved the bride's idea behind having a chairlift on her invitation. She believes it represents her and her fiance as they embark on a new journey in life together. Very sweet. These invitations were letterpress printed in two colors on coasters. The front side featured the illustration in navy ink with a bold orange border which also features their names and wedding date. On the backside is the text inviting people to the wedding. They chose not to have an RSVP and asked people to email them instead. Each coaster will be tucked inside a square envelope with their return address printed on the back flap.
This invitation gets me excited for snowboarding…sort of. I love Autumn! Once my birthday has come and gone I am always okay for the weather to start getting a bit cooler and for the leaves to start changing! Enjoy your week!
Studio Choo completely inspires me. Every time a new photo of a gorgeous arrangement is posted on their flickr I get so excited. Their bouquets are sweetly composed and have a perfect homemade, I-just-picked-these-in-a-field feeling, which I love. They often use vintage vessels for their arrangements such as mason jars and milk bottles. Flowers that are often seen in their arrangements and bouquets include ranunculus, poppies, peonies, cosmos, zinnias, dahlias, and Queen Anne's lace. Swoon!
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Sarah Parrott, Rhode Island
Vendor: Invitation Designer
Website: Parrott Design Studio
About Me: I am the designer & printer behind Parrott Design Studio, specializing in custom letterpress and screen printed wedding and event invitations, stationery, and paper goods. With a background in non-profit marketing & art history, I began the studio in 2006 in my small apartment in Providence, RI. Since then I have moved to a studio built my fiancé, acquired a Golding Jobber letterpress, & have been happily printing ever since. I grew up in Portland, Maine, and I have always had an affinity for the ocean, mountains, birds, gardening, & the simple life. When I am not printing, I can be found somewhere outside with my fiancé & playful pup.
