Belles-lettres

My mom always tells me the story of when I realized I could read. We were driving down the street and I was staring out of the window looking at all of the signs passing us by. I was sounding out the letters to a sign when all of a sudden it dawned on me that I had put together a word. Voilà - reading. To this day I read signs that I pass by {thank goodness I have learned to say them in my head} and from that moment on I felt like I unlocked a secret world. When I watch my niece sound out her letters and see the delight on her face when she sounds out a word...I can still feel that excitement and I hope that she holds on to that feeling as well.

I am still fascinated by letters and words...they can do so much. Strung together they can tell stories - love stories, sad stories, funny stories and stories that make us too scared to go to bed. Pulled apart - letters can also tell those same stories. The swoop of Bickham always feels elegant and romantic. The clean lines of Futura convey a straightforward and contemporary quality. Even Comic Sans has a definite point of view - a view that can be read here thanks to a heads up by our newest member of PP - Amy. {Warning: Comic Sans' defense of itself is a little profane...but it is, well, dare I say...pretty darn comical.}

As usual, I digress and have made you read a long drawn out explanation of my picture above and the whole point of this blog. On a recent trip to the Alameda Antiques Faire I took some pictures of various letters and when I put them together I just thought, well, "Belle-lettres." When I was downloading these pictures onto my computer I couldn't help but think how beautiful they all are and thought I would share them with you. I hope you like them as much as I do.

Finding Your Style

Sorry for the lull in posts! SP and I are looking for homes in the hood and the search is occupying my every waking moment. Heck, it is occupying my every sleeping moment since my dreams (read: nightmares) have been filled with fears of redoing the plaster, getting building permits, replacing windows and the like. I keep hearing that it is a buyer's market...but as usual the market I am looking at is definitely not on sale. This doesn't really shock me since my singular talent is to find the one thing not discounted in a discount shop. For example, I will find the one thing that costs $1 in the 99¢ Store. You may be asking yourself, "what does her house hunting malaise and inability to bargain shop have to do with paper?" and you would be right to ask. While I rarely have a point to my stories, this one does have a point...maybe.

During the hunt, I've had the opportunity to walk through many houses. It is such a personal glimpse into people's lives and what I get the most inspiration from are the colors and accent pieces people use to express themselves in their home. From classic elegance to contemporary chic - I love how color in any manifestation can transform objects. Coincidentally, the majority of my meetings with couples getting married over the past few months have centered on questions regarding color themes and styles on wedding stationery. A lot of my couples have been flummoxed on what colors and styles to bring from their wedding onto their invites. I have every confidence that my clients do know what looks good to them. The only problem was that they were not able to translate their taste onto a 5 x 7 piece of paper.

When thinking about how to help people design an invite they will love, it hit me. I started asking my clients what kind of mood they like to set in their own home or what they both thought their future home would look like. When posed with this question they had endless descriptions. Warm tones, complementary colors, contrasting patterns. They wanted an English garden feel in their front yard or they wanted to use unexpected materials like stone and gravel for a more contemporary look. Shutters, no shutters. Stucco or brick. The more we talked, the more they honed in on the type of setting they liked. Once my clients and I got the conversation about color and mood going, I only had to say this: just like the architectural style, landscaping and paint on the walls set the mood and tone of that home, color and style on an invitation also convey a feeling and set the mood for your event. It is almost like, dare I say, curb appeal for your wedding. A traditional invitation of white or ivory cardstock and black engraving, lets the guest know what type of event to expect - formal. Switch out the black ink for aqua and add some gilded edges to an ivory invite and you still have formal, but with almost a French twist. Add an additional pop of color and you have contemporary spin on an old classic. That is just color - don't get me started on fonts or print processes or motifs.

In any case, during our conversations I think I showed my clients that they need not feel intimidated about coming up with styles for their invitations. Color really is simply the extension of your personal style and the mood that you want to create. Whether you are formal and traditional or whimsical and a little bohemian, start taking a look at the environment you love to be in. Do you like formal spaces and the use of neutral colors in your home? Is your blue wedding cake with gold accents one of your favorite parts of your reception design? Do you like using patterns and colors to create a more contemporary feel? If you pull in these elements onto your wedding stationery - you will have an invitation that reflects the mood you want to create for your big day and give your guests a little taste of what to expect at the main event.

{Top Left: House Beautiful | Top Right: Crane & Co.}

{Middle Left: Martha Stewart Weddings | Middle Right: William Arthur}

{Bottom Left: Style Me Pretty | Bottom Right: Envelopments}