Inspirations – A Preppy Garden Party Wedding

Fresh off the phone with Britney and the ideas are flowing…just picked watercolor blooms, a garden gate and sweet illustrations are the story here, all wrapped up with a twist of prep.

Behind the Scenes – A Parisian Bridal Shower in Bridal Guide Magazine Part I

I wrote this post, what seems like forever ago when knee deep in plans for my best friend’s wedding shower last year.  Here we are exactly 1 year later and I’m over the moon to share the whole party as seen in the newest issue of Bridal Guide Magazine, on newsstands today!!

Cover

This snapshot taken in front of Notre Dame de Paris inspired the entire celebration.  We were young, full of energy and had the world at our feet.    I wanted to recreate the passion and life we felt that day standing in Paris as two feisty teenagers about to take on the world.  Amy’s shower was to be a celebration of tastes and color and life…just like that trip to Paris was for us back in 1995.

So this week I will be sharing an detailed look at Amy’s Bridal Shower!!

THE VENUE
Canteen 900 in Kingston, PA set the perfect stage for this spirited event. 50′s inspired furniture, reclaimed chandeliers and loads of natural light created a elegant backdrop.

THE INVITATIONS
Creating invites for my couples is always an adventure but doing the same for my best friend was quite the emotional experience.  Amy had a difficult time choosing her favorite wedding invitation and this storybook page Sculpted Bloom invite was one of her many favorites. As an avid reader, she adored the thought that real book pages were painted with watercolors, cut into circles and crafted into sweet daisy-like blooms.  The Sculpted Bloom didn’t make the wedding invitation cut, so enter the shower invitations!

In lieu of a traditional wishing well, guests were asked to bring a favorite book to add to Amy and Stephen’s library.  Enclosure cards were stacked and fastened to the lid of each mailer box with a strip of a storybook page!

Early in planning we collected black glass buttons for wedding decor but I couldn’t resist using them as flower centers here.

THE COFFEE FAVOR BAR
A fun build your own coffee treat bar was set for guests!

First a pretty mug was chosen, then flavor-infused fresh ground coffee was poured into small mason jars.  Next guests chose their favorite flavored sugar and finally wrapped all the goodies up in a hand painted tote along with a few homemade cookies!

Each tote featured a simple flower reminiscent of the Anemone bloom painted in white; a simple way to dress up a plain brown favor bag!! The Lucy Maud Montgomery quote was from our most beloved book series “Anne of Green Gables”.

“Life is worth living as long as there’s  a laugh in it.”

More later this week on the flowers, table decor, menu and talented team who helped me bring it all together!

Styling, Stationery and Design – Kristy Rice, www.momentaldesigns.com  ::  Photography – Amanda Brooke Photography  ::  Venue – Canteen 900, Kingston PA  ::  Vintage Dishes – Maggpie Vintage Rentals  ::  Linens – LaTavola Linens  ::  Flowers – DIY, www.FiftyFlowers.com  ::  Planning/Production – Danielle Pasternak Events, Maggpie Vintage Rentals

Behind the Scenes – Very Southern Wedding Invitations

A while back the ladies at Southern Weddings got in touch with a request.  Their invitation was for me to design 4 distinctly southern stationery suites.  Well how fun, I thought!  Nothing inspires romance quite like the thought of a ride on a tree swing or sitting in a garden full of blooming pretties – all of which are moments that come to my mind when I think of the south.  So I went to work and centered my creations around four iconic concepts: Tree Swings, Overflowing Gardens and Seersucker.  Come and sit a spell to see where I landed…

None of the images would be possible without the talented Cynthia Kain, a talented North Carolina Wedding Photographer, brought in to shoot each collection.  Hard to imagine photos of paper could be so telling of emotion, but… just look.

Here I interpreted seersucker fabric in watercolor with a soft touch and light palette.

Our Tree Wedding Invitations have become a mainstay at the studio.  Finding fresh ways to interpret this classic is always fun!

Here I used Envelopments new bark textured stocks to infuse a rustic quality.  A “carved” and hand painted heart add a romantic flair.

And finally a quirky mad-lib style response card…

These images are some of my favorite as they feature the lush and textured hand painting so well…

I switched up the painting palette here for a subtle twist.

Possibly my most favorite unexpected detail?  The hand painted envelope liner.

Big hugs to the Southern Weddings team and Cynthia of course for the AH-mazing images!  Happy Monday!

Meet Kristy and “Trellis” at the National Stationery Show

Learn more about Envelopments’ newest pattern named “Trellis” created exclusively with my watercolor paintings! Meet Trellis and me Tuesday May 22nd at the National Stationery Show. We’ll be guests at Envelopments’ booth (#2462), showing off some of our latest creations with their newest pattern!  Hope to see you there!! XO

Inspirations – On Being Literal…

In the studio, the word literal has no shelter.  In my world, the stuff of making art, creating impressions with something tactile like paint requires a need for embellishment both literal and figurative.  We strive to paint a picture of our couples’ love everyday without necessarily painting the whole picture.  Do you know what I mean?  We like to leave a bit to the imagination; allow for flourish to excite and delight, leaving the straightforward and documentary for snapshots on Facebook.

Some of this world’s most admired artists were masters at suggestion…Van Gogh didn’t need to paint every Starry Star to elicit magic in the hearts of all who view his masterpiece.  DaVinci’s Mona Lisa stares off into a world unknown to the onlooker yet still her grin captivates.  Georgia O’Keeffe flooded her landscape paintings with a curious luminosity and stark composition yet we still feel the warmth and drama of the desert’s impact at each glance.

Van Gogh, Leonardo DaVinci, Georgia O’Keeffe

Modern artists like Jose Villa can tell a story of passion in a simple glance from a bride in front of his lens.  A beam of light for Elizabeth Messina can trickle into her images and conjure more emotion than room full of clapping party guests.

Jose Villa, Elizabeth Messina

The delicate quality of Elsa Mora’s thistle paper-cut sculptures would likely make you stop in your tracks and gaze long before real thistle caught your eye.  We ourselves as watercolorists adore the way an abstract touch of paint and water spread across the page can create moments of joy.

Elsa Mora, Momental Designs

It is in these abstract and less literal moments that art begins to tell the true story of its creator and viewer.  Finely detailed, uber realistic and straightforward moments have already told all there is to tell.  Where is the fun in that?