A Peek into the Studio – Red Rose Letterpress Wedding Invitations

Here at the Momental Studio we are all about experimentation, trying something new and just diving into projects to see where they take us!  A while back the lovely Saakshi contacted us.  She loved our lush style, patterns and sense of color.  She wasn’t exactly sure what that meant in terms of a design for her wedding but was open to our advice and vision.  We began with our classic rose illustrations combined with our newest lacy leaves pattern inside.  Washes of pink watercolor against champagne cardstock and touches of bold painted flourishes throughout were a design element present from the very beginning.  Unsure of exact palettes, Saakshi requested a variety of paper choices to consider ranging from moody black to vibrant fuchsia.

Saakshi requested an increasingly bold use of color and a very obvious hand painted look for her invitations, which made us even more excited to see her design unfold.  The final choice was a letterpress invitation painted with heavy, juicy strokes of magenta and red ink.

Envelopments® brown and navy paisley cardstock paired beautifully with Jess’s painstakingly painted roses.  I just love the character of each stroke – so graceful yet lively.

After the letterpress was complete we went right to work adding gold hand painting to the Genesha, pink watercolor washes to each rose, magenta painted petals amongst the lacy leaves pattern and gold rose steams and leaves.  This collection is by far our most heavily painted wedding invitation to date and we loved every minute!

Saakshi included a fun Mehndi invitation with her wedding invite collection.  The gold and paisley borders visually tied to the wedding invitation but the green vintage lace pattern with cobalt painted flowers gave this piece a personality all its own.

Thank you Saakshi for trusting our vision and having such a brave sense of color and style.  We loved working with you!

Renewal Inspirations – A Zion palette

With all the Holiday madness and wrapping up last minute 2009 orders the renewal planning took a back seat.  I am sure most brides can relate to this as January 1st comes and goes you inevitably have the “oh, you know what” moment when the realization of planning to-do lists grows in your mind!

Since it has been a while you can catch up on my planning story here, here, here and here.  Right now we are still on the hunt for a photographer, but I am putting my panic aside to gather my thoughts about color, food and decor.  Now remember, I am planning two events.  One is Zion and the other two weeks later in Pennsylvania.  First things first, Zion it is!

My hand-painted letterpress save the dates with calligraphy by Betsy Dunlap,  recently featured on Oh So Beautiful Paper are the driving force behind my creative decision for all other facets of  Zion planning.

I just love the celebration table shot below.  Linens are by LaTavola and the setting is so reminiscent of where we will be hosting our renewal dinner celebration.  Adobe walls, rustic finished, bold splashes of color balanced by thoughtful neutrals.    Mom and I are heading to Utah later this month to finalize details and most importantly visit a local florist.  Our plan is to pick up several buckets of locally harvested flowers and design the bouquets a day in advance of the renewal.  Turquoise beads and suede findings will certainly play a part in the floral design.

Terracotta, Bouquet, Zion Landscape, Sangria

Dinner will be  at the Bit and Spur Restaurant, a favorite of ours for years.  The food is fresh, organic, homemade and sustainable.  We hope to serve family style on big beautiful pottery platters with pitchers of fresh fruit margaritas and sangria by their side.  The guest list is small so one long banquet style table should suffice but still no detail will be overlooked.  Linens from La Tavola, and hand-painted paper runner by moi will be just some of the visual details in addition to my signature hand-painted letterpress menus and place cards.

One of the most exciting aspects of planning is the very special project that is brewing with Caroline from Palomas Nest.  I cannot say too much but I am so thrilled to be collaborating.   All I will say is it is thrilling to work with Caroline…our ideas click and the result will be the perfect art piece combining both of our artistic sensibilities.   A day of painting and sketching is definitely on the schedule while in Utah to produce the perfect sketch needed for this project.  I cannot wait for our guests to receive the fruit of our labors!