Laura and Andrew met and dated during the 2020 Covid quarantine. This remarkable love story deserved a big celebration, so Laura and Andrew planned a magical wedding for July 2022 surrounded by all their friends and family. They selected the classically stunning Boulder Country Club in Boulder, Colorado as the venue for their big day. With a lush green summer landscape and Rocky Mountain views, the Boulder Country Club provided a picture perfect backdrop for Laura and Andrew’s wedding ceremony. 

Working closely with Laura, her parents, and their wedding planner, Ivory Events, we designed wedding invitations and wedding day stationery to compliment this spectacular event.

Laura requested classic beauty, but with a modern twist. She gravitated towards flat digital printing as opposed to older printing techniques like letterpress. Laura and Andrew’s “LA” duogram was the focal point of the wedding invitation card, and became a great design element to feature on future signage items for the wedding day. 

We selected ornate fonts, warm colors, and soft components like a cotton ivory card stock. Laura absolutely loved the idea of a vellum wrap to enclose all of the cards in the suite, and specifically asked to feature the burgundy roses she chose for her bridal bouquet and centerpieces. The finishing touches were the shimmer gold envelopes and wax seal stickers custom made with their duogram artwork.

​Laura and Andrew planned to incorporate natural wood pieces into their wedding day decor, so in our day-of wedding stationery kick-off call, Laura expressed interested in designing some wood signage. I immediately envisioned gold calligraphy on a dark walnut and called every calligrapher I knew in the Denver area. Once Srujana with Menakshee Designs joined the team, we landed on a large wood welcome sign, plus a few smaller miscellaneous wood signs to decorate the reception. Srujana was a dream collaborator! Not only did she source the wood for us, but she matched the fonts used on the wedding invitations—what a talent!

The escort card display was very important to Laura’s mom. She felt this should be beautiful, simple, and easy for their guests to follow. In addition to having names and table number assignments on each escort card, we also needed them to designate meal choices. I suggested we use different color card stocks (green cards for lamb, gold cards for beef, red cards for vegetarian, etc.). This made for a more colorful display and the caterer was able to identify selections and deliver entrées efficiently.

We designed the remainder of the wedding day stationery items (ceremony programs, table numbers, and bar menu signs) as paper goods and combined them all wonderfully with the event aesthetic.

My favorite had to be Laura and Andrew’s exit. The fire safe cold sparklers were amazing! These were such a super fun and environmentally safe choice for a summer event in the foothills. Srujana was hired again to paint a “just married” message on the rear window of their getaway Tesla—so Colorado! What a finale!

Sheldon and Will knew exactly what they wanted when we first spoke about their wedding invitations and signage design. They used the phrase "watercolor winter mountains". This couple's celebration took place in March of 2022 at the mountain top venue, The Gorrono Ranch in Telluride, Colorado. Sheldon and Will are the ultimate adventure-seeking couple, and they wanted their wedding stationery to include as many mountain details as possible!

The bride and groom requested that the San Juan mountains, surrounding the town of Telluride, be front and center. We created a watercolor painting of Uncompahgre Peak and printed it on a felt card stock which has a texture similar to watercolor paper. We used different tones of blue to provide a wintery feel and tied dried flowers around each invitation suite.

Sheldon and Will’s guests were flying into Colorado from all over the country, so they created a weekend full of events for friends and family to enjoy more time to socialize beyond the single wedding day. Since most of their guests had never been to Telluride, we designed a card with a custom map of downtown. Matching the same watercolor aesthetic, we highlighted their wedding weekend event locations, and included a few of Telluride’s best attractions.

Gorrono Ranch is a venue with a rustic woodsy vibe. The venue provides a magnificent outdoor deck with 360° views of the San Juan mountains. The interior of Gorrono feels historic, natural, and warm. Sheldon and Will leaned into this charming mountain lodge ambiance by presenting the wedding day escort cards on wood logs. Escort card displays are a small-scale alternative to a spacious seating chart. The cards are individually printed with each guest’s name and table assignment.

Instead of traditional numbered tables at their reception, Sheldon and Will got creative and named each table after their favorite mountain ranges and peaks in the U.S. We designed these with different watercolor mountain paintings. The paintings were used on both the table numbers and the escort cards for guests to visually match and find their seat.

Sheldon and Will’s wedding day stationery was designed to coordinate with the original wedding invitation suite concept by using tones of blue. But in contrast, the couple adorned their wedding reception tables with colorfully vibrant wild flowers and napkins! All of these separate wedding day elements, combined with the spectacular venue and location, made this memorable mountain wedding feel complete.

Last month I visited Telluride, Colorado for the first time and I absolutely fell in love. There was inspiration everywhere I looked… the gondolas zig zagging through the quaint Mountain Village, the town of Telluride tucked between the towering San Juan Mountains, and the endless roads and hiking trails with breath-taking views. I thought, Telluride is an amazing place to get married! So if you are hosting a wedding there, take a look below at the custom Telluride-inspired wedding save the dates and invitations I designed recently. I hope these ideas will encourage you to create paper goods that incorporate your unique wedding location into your designs.

One of my favorite experiences in Telluride was taking the gondola from the Mountain village to the town of Telluride. 
​The views of the town when coming down from San Sophia station are stunning! This is a perfect scene to include on your save the date card or wedding invitation because it will no doubt get your friends and family excited about going to your wedding.

My husband and I hiked like crazy while staying in Telluride.
​We were there for peak fall foliage and our walks were surrounded by rows of golden aspens. Save the date cards are an opportunity to be less formal, so use your favorite “together activity” as inspiration. I’m finding many couples are now moving away from the typical engagement photo save the date and including a custom drawing or painting of themselves instead. Generate a little mystery for your guests by using latitude and longitude coordinates in lieu of the town and state. This will have them looking up your location and doing research online right away!

Our final hike in Telluride was Bridal Veil Falls.
​It is the tallest free-falling waterfall in Colorado. What a fantastic location for a small wedding ceremony or elopement! Create a keepsake invitation suite or elopement announcement by including a wedding day story to coincide with the eye-catching imagery of your unique ceremony location.

As mentioned, the Telluride gondola is a major attraction—and it’s free to ride!
​I get requests constantly for ticket themed invitations and save the dates. A gondola ticket save the date is a super fun idea that works no matter what Colorado ski town you are getting married in. Having a winter wedding and inviting friends and family who love to ski and snowboard? Design a ski lift ticket save the date. Customize the card even further by punching a hole in the top and tying some ribbon or twine around it to act as the lanyard.

There are memorable sites at every wedding venue or destination.
​Maybe you want to show off the town your venue is located in, or maybe your ceremony is on the balcony of an historic mansion overlooking the mountains. Pick your favorite and ask your invitation designer to paint that picture for your guests. I encourage you to also try some out-of-the-box verbiage for your invitation suite, like using roman numerals for the year instead of writing it out. There are endless ways to customize your wedding stationery to make it stand out from the rest. I know you have some awesome ideas—go get started!

​WEDDING ENTERTAINMENT
David M. Smith  |  Shindig Entertainment
myshindigdjs.com

• Having an experienced MC with a commanding presence is significantly more important than most would think. The entertainer you choose, has to be well-spoken, well-trained, well-dressed, and charismatic enough to command the attention of your family and friends. An experienced entertainer will have no problem confidently directing everyone and leading your entire celebration. In fact, it is the DJ’s responsibility to do so!
• It’s no secret that many venues are 86ing the dance floor. Therefore, we need to utilize our 2020 imagination to ensure the show goes on! Here are three ideas for alternate wedding entertainment:
  1. Trivia: everyone loves trivia! Find a company that will not only provide an awesome game, but will also customize the game around YOU.
  2. Music Bingo: this is a great way to social distance, yet still hear your favorite tunes throughout your special night, while entertaining a diverse crowd.
  3. The Shoely-Wed Game: This a quick one, but if it is done right with a great entertainer, it can please any guest list.

​​WEDDING HAIR & MAKEUP
Alexis Alba  |  Muse Modern Salon
musemodernsalon.com

• Now that most of us are working from home and don't need to style our hair, I am very familiar with tying our hair back everyday. But be careful not to grab the scrunchie too often because it can lead to hair breakage. 
• I know this pandemic is super stressful and plans are constantly changing day to day; however stress can relate to hair loss. My biggest advice is to try to do something to relax—if that is pouring a glass of cabernet and indulging in your favorite tv show or getting outside to get some exercise—this will save your precious hair!​ ​

Jade Darrough  |  Jaded Beauty
jadedbeauty.co

• Make sure your beauty team follows DORA guidelines. This requires both clients and beauty service providers to wear masks during services at all times. When it's time for foundation, blush, contour, and lips during the makeup service, the client can then remove their mask. The service provider should wear a shield along with their mask for extra protection. Since that is the end of the service, the client is free to walk away, mask-less and gorgeous!
• Book in advance for both 2020 and 2021 weddings! Since beauty isn't a massive vendor category, like venues or photographers, we typically fall within the middle or end of a couple's booking agenda, but with an immense amount of rescheduling from the 2020 season, our 2021 calendar is already at 70% capacity and 2022 is starting to fill up.