Wedding Invitations & Save the Dates

My husband's sister, Andrea, is getting married in October!  I'm so very excited for her wedding- not just because she asked me to be the maid of honor, but because I have known her since she was 8 years old and have watched her grow into this beautiful woman (I can't go on too much...I have to save the good stuff for my speech!!).  Wanting to help her define her wedding style and make sure her personality came through in her "Save the Date" announcements and wedding invitations, Kenney and I offered to help create something special for her.  She's a very natural girl- loves the outdoors and things that are "green".  She's getting married in the fall, but didn't want an overtly fall themed wedding (read: no pumpkins).  To add a little complexity, Kenney and I also were married in the fall (our anniversary is only 5 days after their wedding day...I'm hoping we can manage to get in some future anniversary trips together!), and we all wanted to make sure this wedding had it's own distinct personality.  Andrea started out choosing a cheerful green and latte (the bridesmaid's dresses are latte) for her colors and, as the wedding planning has progressed, added in orange as an accent.  I researched tons of invitations options that would incorporate the personality of this natural girl, and finally landed on a combination of different inspiration pieces.

Inspiration Pieces (click on pictures to link to the sites they came from):

We all loved the tree image with the carved heart and the kraft paper with pops of color, so we combined our creative powers and created our own version. First, Kenney drew this amazing fall tree with bride & groom's initials carved in the trunk:

Then, with my trusty Canon Rebel in hand, I captured the image digitally (looks pretty good, huh?!) and used it to create the Save the Dates.  I printed them on kraft paper which gave it a very natural feel, and then backed them with Hilary green textured card stock.  I love that the tree has all those roots- such a great metaphor for a wedding!

 We wanted the invitations to incorporate the tree & carving image again, but without using the exact image as before.  Also, my sister-in-law purchased a bird cage recently and fell in love with the idea of bringing birds & a cage into the mix.  After playing around with a few concepts, I captured the winning image:

 The invitation includes a zoomed-in view of the original tree (through the magic of photo editing, I was able to make the branches reach over the top of the invitation instead of in the downward direction they were pointing before), their initials carved into the side of the tree, and a birdcage hanging from one of the branches with two lovebirds sitting inside.

Keeping with the same feel of the invitation, I designed an RSVP postcard, a Directions card (from the ceremony to the reception), and a belly band to package it all together.

 The belly band is comprised of three layers- the base layer is a dark chocolate brown, the next layer is the same Hilary green used as the backer paper on the Save the Dates, and the lace was given to me by my mother-in-law (the bride's mom) to use in the centerpieces, but it looks just amazing as an accent on the belly band, and I think will tie this natural, vintage style together quite nicely!

 Above is the full invitation set.  I am so pleased with how it all came together- it was definitely a labor of love, but I loved every minute of it! I am so happy that we were able to contribute something so special to the wedding!

 Blue was my design assistant throughout the process- never very far from my side, and always happy to observe the process to make sure everything was complete with quality, hehe!!  I also designed the centerpieces for the reception, but that will need to be another post.  I'm so excited about how they have turned out, but I only have the prototype completed right now.  I am going to pull in some local crafting resources to get the other 21 completed (yep, 22 tables! It's crazy!).  And then there are the favors...so much crafting to do and so little time with just under 8 weeks until the wedding!