From Inspiration to Invitation by Sarah Drake
OK. This could be one of my favorite posts EVER on SMP (I know, I cry wolf with that statement all the time). It falls under our From Inspiration to Reality feature that we are doing, appropriately titled “From Inspiration to Invitation.” Dreamed up by one of the best invitation designers ever, Sarah Drake, we decided to turn one of your Style Circle Inspiration Boards into a real life wedding invitation. It’s SUCH a cool concept, showing you just how important, just how valuable an inspiration board can be.
Sarah chose a board that she called Equestrian Elegance and got to work designing an invitation that captured the spirit and style of the winning board. First up, the design that started it all!
And the GORGEOUS invitation (and I mean so gorgeous that I get all giddy…and start wanting to dream up an equestrian themed wedding) that the board inspired…
From Sarah Drake…
After seeing Tonia’s inspiration board, I thought that barn red and white combination were so subtle, like an equestrian inspired invite should be! I didn’t want to be too obviously horse-y!
It’s a booklet invite, which is always a great option for couples who need to add more elements to their invite. So many brides ask me how to neatly place everything in the envelope, which can be a challenge when you have separate reception cards, accommodations, maps… So, a booklet is a nice alternative to loose cards if that is important to a bride. One trick for money-saving is use the folder cover of the booklet as a program cover too. That way the bride isn’t paying for two separate covers if she’s planning on printing programs down the road. We just print double the amount needed, which is so much more cost effective than printing twice!
I also fell for her knitted items, and worked really hard to get the yarn element in the invite, without being too crafty ( I tried knitted, crocheted, then the simple wrap with a bit of a braid seemed to make the most sense, without taking the focus off the invite. I love a monogram, too, so I liked showing a simple type treatment here (again, subtle) within the wreath to tie it all together.
I mean are in you love yet? This is so unbelievably lovely and I seriously hope that it inspires a simple, tailored equestrian wedding design so that we can show it off on SMP! Thank you so much to the fabulously talented Sarah Drake for taking on the From Inspiration to Invitation Challenge. I would call it a ridiculously huge success!
These are lovely! I love the booklet style of invitation. That's a wonderful idea to keep everything together neatly. Love it!!
Sarah Drake, you are a master of design! This invite incorporates my favorite elements: bold color, clean design, & an elegant but lighthearted tone that doesn't take itself too seriously. I'm with Abby: can't stop thinking about planning an equestrian-theme event now! Great job-
[...] over Style Me Pretty’s new feature, From Inspiration to Reality and thought, what about an Inspiration to Invitation Concept? That’s what we do here on this blog after all, is explore the inspiration behind our [...]
I love seeing the a great board come to life. Wonderful.
It's so interesting to see all the elements from the inspiration board come to life in details and design on a invitation. She really brought that wedding day inspiration to life on paper! Lovely...
Oh. My. Gosh. The invites turned out so beautiful!!! Sarah, amazing job. The design is subtle, warm, and charming....you can just see the care that went into the details. You're so talented, thank you for picking my board, it was really fun to see it come to life!! Beautiful.
OH MY!! I want to get married all over again. Love this theme...I grew up riding and my first horse was an ex race horse. LOVE IT.
Love the shot of the B&G's feet - very 'Jose Villa' esque. Looks like the wedding was a lot of fun - takes me back to the Waltons almost.
Beautiful!!! I really like the foldled invite, which we are actually using for ours (mostly out of neccessity since we are doing bilingual invites with each language one each side), but I think it is a little different and can be so pretty! Now I'm going to use this paired down style as the inspiration for the design!! Great job!
"Lucky in Love" is sooooo adorable!
lovely design..