Style Me Pretty : The Ultimate Wedding Blog » Wedding Invitations & Stationery – Weddings on Style Me Pretty

New Wedding Invitations by Style Me Pretty + William Arthur!

A. Blaire — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 20:00:24 +0000

You might remember we partnered with the paper geniuses at William Arthur to create a Style Me Pretty wedding invitation line. And we are still beside ourselves, bursting with excitement about some of the designs we’re working on, guilty of more than one unprompted high kick. So we have been just a tad bit antsy to give you a little sneak peak into the newest additions to our pretty little paper lineup at William Arthur. All designs are available right here, right now. We hope they make your paper-loving heart papillate as much as they do ours, and maybe let out a high kick or two.

So what do you think? Do you love, or do you LOVE? Do you have a favorite? We highly recommend playing in the fabulous online shop William Arthur set up to make these invitations 100% personalized and customized. From color palettes to type faces to liners to wording – it’s all up to you! Click here to see the full collection.

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Behind the Scenes of Betsywhite Stationery

A. Blaire — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 16:30:34 +0000

We are spicing things up a bit this afternoon, and handing over the blogging reins to one of our favorite stationery stars, Gia of Betsywhite Stationery, for our first monthly installment of Behind the Scenes – where we pull back the curtain to the studios of some of our favorite designers! You’ll understand why we are kicking off the series with Betsywhite once you take a look into their lovely studio and see the amazing way their brain goes from inspiration to stationery reality with each design they touch. It’s really amazing, so I’ll stop blabbing and let Gia take it from here!

Hello SMP readers! I’m so thrilled that Abby has asked me to share a little about our studio with you! First, let me introduce myself. I’m Gia Graham, owner and Creative Director of Betsywhite Stationery – a design studio offering invitations and stationery for social events.

As a graphic designer, I initially started out in the world of corporate design. After working on countless boring brochures, I decided that I needed something more inspiring to fuel my creativity so I started designing wedding invitations about six years ago. I quickly realized that although it was important to create beautiful stationery, it was just as important to make sure those designs were reasonably priced. With that in mind, I set out to build a collection of deceptively affordable invitations and stationery. We launched our online store in 2008 and we’ve been designing invitations for brides worldwide since then!

I love the atmosphere in our studio – it’s a bright, airy, music-filled space. We’re pretty laid back around here. A typical day starts with a quick meeting to talk about what’s on the agenda for the day and to make sure everyone’s on the same page. The first part of the day is spent answering customer inquiries, revising proofs and filling sample orders from the day before. The rest of the day is usually spent creating proofs for new orders, packaging completed orders and depending on the time of year, working on new designs.

I think it’s important to be surrounded by the things you love and things which inspire you, especially if you work in a creative field. Here’s a sneak peek at our space…

The details:
fig. A: My desk
fig. B: Aimee’s desk (one of our designers)
fig. C: The vintage Hermes 3000 typewriter my hubby gave me for my birthday a couple years ago (it makes me happy)
fig. D: The Hermes 3000 types in an insanely adorable script font. Every now and then I type a little note so I can admire the font.
fig. E: Vintage postcards
fig. F: Tulips are my fave!
fig. G: My pinboard

The design process:
Ideas for new designs are constantly bouncing around in our heads. I usually jot things down as I think of them, or I pin things (on my actual pinboard or on my Pinterest boards) that spark new ideas. Sometimes inspiration will come from an object, a trend or even a color palette. Before a design makes an appearance in the store, it usually goes through several revisions, variations and critiques. We’re pros at nudging and tweaking around here!

Here’s a peek at how our minds work…

For the Dylan wedding invitation, I wanted to play with hard lines and feminine details:

With the McKenna wedding invitation we wanted a romantic, vintage feel:

The Arya wedding invitation was inspired by colorful sarees and ornate mehndi:

One of my favorite things to design is our wedding logos. More often than not, these designs begin as quick sketches and it’s such a thrill to see the final designs used by brides to brand their entire event, from invitations to favors. Here’s a look at how a couple of those designs began…

Thanks so much for taking a peek into our world! Congrats to those of you who are recently engaged… we hope you’ll join our circle of fabulous Betsywhite Brides!

fig. 1: Thread art by Dominique Falla / fig. 2: Scallop lanterns via Martha Stewart / fig. 3: Wooden scallop image found here / fig. 4: Thread art by Dominique Falla / fig. 5: Doily image found here / fig. 6 + 7: Gertrude Jekyll and the Country House Garden via Design Sponge / fig. 8: Doily photo by Jose Villa via Style Me Pretty / fig. 9: Image found here / fig. 10: Mehndi image found here

Thank you Gia for sharing all of the prettiness that is your day to day! So inspirational! xoxo, A.Blaire

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Post tags: bestywhite stationery, Stationery
Post categories: The Blog, Wedding Invitations & Stationery

Bella Figura Spotlight

Aimée — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 16:00:43 +0000

We sort of LOVE pretty paper here at SMP and I’m proud to admit that we’ve been known to go absolutely gaga over it from time to time. Think about it, something as simple as paper creates an impression on all your guests months before they show up for your nuptials. These pretty paper packages not only announce your love to the world, but they invite your nearest and dearest into the word you’ve created for the biggest day of your life. They are intimate, personal, and oh-so meaningful. Bella Figura, one of our faves for letterpress invites, shares our obsession with pretty little pieces of paper too. Check out our favorite new designs for 2012…

Now do you see why we love Bella Figura so much?! They are constantly ahead of the trend so whether it’s metallics, custom calligraphy, or bright neon colors you’re into, you’ll definitely find something so pretty you’ll just have to have it. Just a fair warning however, their website is so full of amazing letterpress designs that you may just lose an entire afternoon gazing at all the loveliness.

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SMP Welcomes Our Advertisers!

Linnea — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 14:00:10 +0000

Before you jump into your weekend with both feet, we wanted to take a quick minute to introduce you to a few of our newest advertisers and the latest additions to our SMP family. So take a look, say hello and join us in extending a very big SMP Welcome! We’re tickled pink to have you joining in on the party!

And speaking of parties, eInvite has oodles of personalized Wedding Invitations, Event Announcements and cards for pretty much every event under the sun. So if you’re looking to design a Wedding Invitation that is sure to get your guests excited, you’ll definitely want to swing by and see why eInvite.com has been a leading online retailer of invitations, announcements and personalized stationery since 1997. And best of all, its all online. So you can get all your paper and party needs without ever having to leave, and with winter just around the corner, this is music to our ears!

When you stop by eInvite, your pretty little eyes won’t know what is better, the thousands of designs, hundreds of typestyles, ink colors, paper options and graphics or the fact that there are loads of personalization options available for you to create and then preview online. And we’re not just talking Invitations here. Besides Invites and cards, you’ll find gifts, stationery, favors, favor boxes, pens, and more. And best yet, you can get busy personalizing, adding your very own images and branding or designs that are available for you to choose from. You’ll love it!

We all know what adding the perfect accessory can do to any look, right? Well Love Always, Anne Marie was founded to help women discover their inner beauty and help them exude confidence by providing affordable, trendy accessories, specializing in wedding and special occasion hair accessories, jewelry and other bridal accents. Collected from around the world, these pretty pieces are available at affordable prices and can also be custom designed!!

With bridal hair accessories, sashes for wedding gowns, bracelets, earrings, necklaces and even a selection of bridal party gifts for groomsmen and bridesmaids, Love Always, Anne Marie has a collection that you’ll want to check out right away. Plus, they are dedicated to spreading the love among their customers and community by holding charity events and giving back to those in need. How sweet! Friend them on Facebook to learn more and to be the first to hear about special promotions and coupon codes that surface from time to time! Shipping is available to the US, Canada, UK and Australia and orders over $100 to the US are shipped for free. Even more reason to head on over to Love Always, Anne Marie and pick up a few gorgeous goodies.

So we hope you love our newest advertisers as much as we do. Invitations and Accessories, nothing more fun than that! Make sure to stop by their sites and show them some SMP Love and enjoy the rest of your weekend!

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Post categories: Accessories, Wedding Fashion, Wedding Favors & Gifts, Wedding Invitations & Stationery

Garden Wedding Invitation Round Up

A. Blaire — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 19:45:51 +0000

So you’ve discovered that you are indeed a garden wedding junkie. Now what? Before the bride walks down the aisle, before the centerpieces have been placed, before the programs have been passed – it’s the invitation that truly sets the tone for your wedding. Through fonts and colors and shape and size, the invitation is the first glimpse into all the lovely your lucky guests are in for when they walk into your wedding. That gorgeous piece of stationery can speak volumes through its design, and since we are are going ga ga for Garden Inspired Weddings today we thought we would show you some lovely invitation inspiration for your floral inspired fête.

1. Akimbo / 2. Prim Pixie / 3. Atelier Isabay / 4. Erica Keuter / 5. Ceci New York / 6. Albertine / 7. Two Yellow Shoes / 8. Momental Designs / 9. Akimbo / 10. A Printable Press / 11. Laura Hooper / 12. Bella Figura / 13. Regas NY / 14. Shine Wedding Invitations

Beeeeeeeyond, right? It’s the sense of casual, the sense of whimsy, the feminine pretty paired next to classic design that is captured in each of these pieces that make them oh-so-perfect for introducing your guess to your garden style affair. It’s about capturing the romance of what’s to come…

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Post tags: Garden, Invitations
Post categories: Calligraphy, The Blog, Wedding Invitations & Stationery

Style Me Pretty by William Arthur Giveaway Winner!

Abby Larson — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 18:00:09 +0000

Yep, it’s time to announce the big winner in our first ever Style Me Pretty by William Arthur Giveaway and we couldn’t be more excited. If you missed the announcement, you can check out our latest and greatest right here. You see at SMP we believe that it’s the invitation, that first moment of pretty that your guests receive, that will always set the tone for the kind of wedding that you are going to host. From that perfect piece of paper, you will be introducing your friends and family to the gorgeousness that is yet to come and it will forever be the first impression for the day that you’ve worked so hard to plan. As far as we’re concerned here at SMP, the invitation is as important as the beautiful gown that you don, the perfect photographer you choose, the flowers you help design.

Which is exactly why we are giddy as schoolgirls to debut our collection with William Arthur. And why we’re excited to start bringing more and more paper inspirations from different designers around the globe to the pages of SMP. Our first invitation spotlight feature will be this Friday and will shine a pretty light on our favorite garden inspired paper goodies…so mark your calendars!

Okay, I know. We’ve made you wait long enough. So without further ado. The winner of the SMP by William Arthur Giveaway, chosen completely at random using random.org, is…Jennifer who said:

“Destination! Our wedding will be in Hawaii at a Waikiki ocean front hotel I love how it is has a classic and elegant look, yet still evokes the ocean/beach feel with the Turquoise edge and without the typical seashell icon. We are hoping for a wedding that is exactly that – elegant with a hint of destination.”

A huge congratulations to Jennifer who has snagged herself 100 invitations from our collection along with a feature on Facebook AND right here on the pages of SMP!

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Post tags: Giveaway, Invitations, style me pretty by william arthur, Wedding Invitations & Stationery, William Arthur
Post categories: The Blog, Wedding Invitations & Stationery

Style Me Pretty by William Arthur GIVEAWAY!

Abby Larson — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 20:00:28 +0000

Can you tell that we’re super duper excited about the newest addition to Style Me Pretty? A picture perfect, inspired by YOU set of wedding invitations produced by the beloved brand in invitations, William Arthur. It’s like all of our wedding dreams come true, and in the spirit of celebration, we’d like to crown one of our own readers the first Style Me Pretty + William Arthur Bride. That means 100 wedding invitations + reply cards of your choice from our latest collection. Not only that, the big winner will be introduced on facebook then will have their full wedding featured right here on the pages of SMP when all is said and done. I KNOW, right!? Pure craziness.

photos by Katie Ramey

The Prize…

A set of 100 Invitations + Reply Cards (envelopes included) PLUS a feature on Facebook introducing you as our first SMP + William Arthur Bride and a real weddings feature right here on Style Me Pretty!!

To Enter…

1. Choose the category that most suits your wedding style from the lovely invitations above.

2. Leave a comment below with that category + tell us a little more about how your invitation will be the launch pad for your wedding style (1-2 sentences at the most).

3. Sit tight until next Monday, the 24th of October where we’ll announce the big winner!

**Only ONE entry per person permitted. Click here for terms and conditions.

And if you’d rather skip all the hoopla and go straight to the goods, our online shop can be found right here. Remember that it’s mix and match central so you can really design an invitation that reflects your own unique wedding style.

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Wedding Invitations Style Me Pretty + William Arthur!

Abby Larson — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 18:00:41 +0000

Today is a big day on SMP. Perhaps the biggest one we’ve ever had. It’s the day that we get to announce the partnership that we’ve been working on for months and the one collaboration that has brought me back to my wedding roots in the best possible way. After posting nearly 7,000 real weddings over the course of 4+ years, we’d like to think that we’ve got the whole gorgeous wedding thing down pat. We know that beautiful affairs come in so many different shapes and sizes, with super luxe fetes and backyard celebrations sharing the same platform for obsession. But more than anything, we know that some of the most beautiful parts of a wedding are found in the smallest of details. So while you girls have been poring over the pretty here on SMP, we’ve been hard at work, partnering with one of the most well known, recognized brands in the wedding invitation space, William Arthur, to craft a line of wedding invitations so pretty, even the most discerning paper junkie will fall in love.

It’s been appropriately coined Style Me Pretty by William Arthur and today, we get to unveil the first four, oh-so-SMP designs. And we’re beside ourselves with glee.

You see, before I started Style Me Pretty, I was an invitation designer. I found my all out love of paper while working at Union Street Papery in beautiful San Francisco and from then on, it was a slippery slope into a full blown obsession for all things wedding. So needless to say, this collaboration with William Arthur officially marks the “holy cow” moment in my career.

William Arthur is one of the most beloved paper brands in the world, with a history that dates more than 60 years and a collection of artists, designers and craftspeople that are both passionate and beyond talented. We’ve worked closely with them over the past 6 months, developing the line, learning about the newest print methods that derive the most impossibly beautiful results.

We’ve paid close attention to types of weddings that you girls are throwing, to the palettes that you love, to the moments of pure gorgeousness that you crave and together with our William Arthur designer, the fabulous Karen Herzig, we’ve come up with a collection of invitation designs that we are so very proud of. That speak to the effortlessness of an SMP wedding and yet the pure chic of our wonderful readers.

all photos by Katie Ramey

So there you have it! The first four designs from the new Style Me Pretty by William Arthur line. The next set to be debuted very soon! We love this collection so very much and are humbled to have cozied up to such an incredible company. The team at William Arthur has set up a beautiful online shop for our brand and has developed an awesome way for you to swap out color palettes, type faces, liners and more so that you can create a completely personalized invitations suite that reflects your OWN personality and wedding style.

Coming up next….a FABULOUS giveaway from SMP+ William Arthur!

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Post tags: Invites, Style Me Pretty Invitations, Wedding Invitations & Stationery, William Arthur
Post categories: Wedding Invitations & Stationery