Your Wedding Day - Couture Invitations

Couture Invitations

by Lisa Farris
photography by Cheryl Mac, Pure Image Photography

How do you tell your guests, one by one, that you and your fiancé spent the last month falling madly in love at Christmas time whilst wandering the streets of Prague under a dark blue sky reminiscent of Van Gogh’s Starry Night until he finally got down on one knee outside the most romantic gothic church you’ve ever seen in your life and asked you to be his cherished treasure until death do you part?
Two words: CUSTOM COUTURE. All good coordinators know that using print to tell a story can make something ordinary into something extraordinary. Custom designed invitation suites that bring to life the bride and groom’s personality and experiences are seriously in vogue, yet without a doubt, here to stay. Sophisticated brides are choosing real designers over huge paper warehouses to create their perfect vision. From something as complex as four separate mailings where a famous painter’s sky is re-created on small canvases with each new subtle brush

stroke hand delivered in an antique box with custom carved gothic church doors, to as simple as a customized monogram engraved atop each printed piece; your options are absolutely endless (and hence, unforgettable) when invitations and printed luxuries go custom couture.
We asked some of the most sought after designers what inspires them, how they got started, and what they love most about custom work. You might just find yourself moved to buy couture. Well... it is “something new.”

	A Papier, Los Angeles Alyson Bravo (323) 465-0084 www.apapier.com Art history, fashion, colors, brush strokes, architectural details and nature are my inspiration. If it’s a 17th century Spanish painting, imagine Moorish details, glowing sunsets, bright color splashes complimented by deep moody golds and silvers. I studied Art History and Religion and worked with a local weaver, who taught me about mixing colors and textures. After a curatorial internship at the L.A. Contemporary Art Museum, and artist management at Sotheby’s, I opened A Papier to bring my Southern sense of style and quality of service to the discerning bride and groom. Because paper is used throughout a wedding, each piece can reveal a different part of the couple’s story and personality.
Soolip Paperie and Press, Melrose District Wanda Wen & Grant Forsberg (310) 360-0545 www.soolip.com The simple beauty of paper provides the inspiration for my designs. Paper is a matter that lasts forever and becomes more beautiful with age. As a teenager, I collected stamps, ephemera and sent and received creative mail. Whenever I traveled overseas my first stops were the local Post Offices. There, one gets a feeling for the history and culture of a country through their collection of stamps. In my 20's, I fell in love with Letterpress Printing and apprenticed at a studio for a year before acquiring my own printing presses. Now, when someone walks into any one of our stores or when a bride sets her eyes on her wedding invitations for the first time, I feel happy that their hearts are warmed and their soul is lifted.
	Tiger & Jones Inc, Santa Barbara Margaret Danek Jones (805) 687-4381 www.tigerandjones.com I enjoy being able to create something unique based on an event, theme or moment. I love working with people who get excited about something I can make for them. I majored in graphic design with a minor in bookbinding and printing and later found a way to combine everything I was passionate about into invitations, greetings, keepsakes and identities. Once I started making invitations for friends, it just took off—and now, eight years later, here I am. It’s wonderful to be trusted by a client to just create something for them without boundaries. Our wedding invitations are given special attention as they are all created by hand to make sure we create exactly what you want.
Gleaux, San Francisco Erika Givens (415) 776-7390 www.gleaux.com We find inspiration in so many places—Berkeley’s botanical gardens, basket-caning shops, tattoo galleries, and scrapbooking studios; rare Asian paper vendors and Middle Eastern garment marts; Chinatown’s packaged food stalls and wax seal makers; bead, gem and bauble bins, retro-kitsch souvenir boutiques, antique import galleries, floral and party supply marts; and more. When I launched Gleaux, I wanted to resurrect the simple pleasure of receiving and opening a personal, hand-addressed letter on beautiful paper, enhancing the relationship between the inviter and the invitee. With our clients, the right level of playful prodding, brainstorming and sharing ignites the creative sparks and allows all the magic to happen!
	Sugarcube Press, Ojai Elizabeth Rittmeyer (805) 340-5862 www.sugarcubepress.com My inspiration is bringing this tangible art and process to life in an age of computers and instant demands. When I began printing 11 years ago, letterpress was virtually unheard of! I like to show people the beauty of something hand-made. I started making floral papers in an old chicken shack on a rural island off Seattle for Oblation Papers & Press, 12 years ago. Then the owner was having a baby and I took over printing for the next two years. With their success, they moved away and, in order to stay on my island, I just had to start my own business. What I love is the process. It involves my hands, my eyes and my heart! I feel like I am a physical part of the tools, and the finished invitations or art has some of me in it.
Invitation Innovations, Studio City Jon Mayer (949) 640-5244 www.invitationinnovations.com I am inspired by the possibility and opportunity to really take someone's breath away with a cool invitation. There is great satisfaction when guests tell the bride and groom that it is the coolest invitation that they have ever seen. A dear friend of mine, who poured her heart and soul into it, started the company. As her family grew, she approached me to buy the business. With my background as an art director for record labels, design studios and advertising agencies, it was a perfect fit and the next logical step for Invitation Innovations. Not only does it fit my vision and dreams, but I also continue to respect the efforts and courage of a great friend who parted with something she was so close to. Each day is a new opportunity to design something innovative and original for someone.
	Pale Blue Hanky Press, Santa Barbara Lisa Farris & Carrie Notte (805) 686-2508 www.palebluehanky.com Our clients give us all our inspiration. We listen, and the artwork flows; each client, a new canvas. Whatever their personal story, it ends up being celebrated in the designs we create. We were creative directors for Ernst & Young Consulting, managing East and West Coast studios when we met. Having a shared vision for good design and a desire to return to traditional print after years of working in electronic mediums, we opened Pale Blue Hanky. Our corporate experience in building brand identities and using design strategies enables us to give our clients agency-style treatment. But now that we design the true couture way, our brands have become weddings, events, even lifestyles.

One Blossom, San Francisco
Isa Eaton (415) 505-7196
www.oneblossom.com

One Blossom is the perfect intersection of my love of the outdoors and my love of art and good design. I designed a friend's wedding invitation as a gift.. It was my first experience with letterpress printing, and it was love at first sight and touch. It’s a special delight to work on custom projects with my clients. Our invitations feature original illustrations. It’s satisfying to transform their vision into a tangible invitation that reflects their style and my design skills—to announce one of the most meaningful days of their lives.

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