We’ve had a bit of a mild winter in Charleston so far (ehhmm…78 degree Saturdays? Yes please!), but this recent cold snap, if you could call it that, has got me aching for spring! I’ve been oogling the designs from the Spring 2012 runway shows for a while now, and I can’t wait to see it all in action!
Luckily, we’ve had lots of fashion forward, stylish brides choosing the most lovely of pastels for their wedding design. We’ve seen power purples and bold eggplants, but as we step into spring (and well into fall!) we’re going to be seeing lots of lavenders, and we couldn’t be happier!
One bride is spreading the lavender love with the Laurens invitation. Troy Solarek at The Dotted Line in Nashville, TN worked with us on a beautiful take on the Anson collection. Deborah Hassan with RSVP Today in NYC has given us several beautiful lavender customizations (a great take on the Ellen invite) so far this year. Barb Johnson at More than Words Fine Papers in Pittsburgh, PA is working with us on beauty right now, too!
Have any other great ideas for lavender customizations? Let us know!

Happy weekend Lettered Olive Loves!

lavendar lovlies above : diane von furstenberg, valentino, dries van norten, phillip lim, ellie saab

We are so excited to finally share the details from the wedding that inspired the Candice Collection.
A big thank you to all at the lovely Charleston Weddings Magazine! They featured the wedding designed by Tara Guerard Soiree with details by Lettered Olive.

You may remember from our inspiration board that our collection was inspired by the personal style of the bride, the beautiful low country plantation that served as the ceremony and reception site, and lots of great textures and materials (agate, woodgrain, velvet!).

We created personalized menus for each guest. Each menu booklet displayed the courses in calligraphy, letterpressed into cotton paper. The velvet menus were topped off with personalized copper nameplates, serving as each guests place card.

The invitation suite was inspired by the natural beauty of the surroundings and the 1,000+ year old oak tree near the ceremony site.

As guests moved to cocktail hour, they were served Tara Guerard Soiree’s signature cocktail, “Lowcountry Lemonade,” each bottle bearing a custom sticker designed by Lettered Olive.

Letterpress sparkler sleeves, printed on woodgrain paper, served as a send-off for the bride and groom as they left in a vintage pick-up (adorned with a custom “Just Married” sign!).

Thanks again to Charleston Weddings for such a lovely feature!

Today Tara is in Tampa, Florida at The Special Event conference, where she is giving a lecture on wedding trends and her inspiration process.
The creative process is such a fun part of our job. It is so exciting to meet with a bride, find out her style and her tastes, get a feel for her wedding vision, see photos of the venue and talk about thing that inspire her. And what a neat experience to see that inspiration become reality. We had the chance to do that for the Candice Collection. In fact, Tara is talking about this inspiration today in Florida.
Here is a little glimpse at the creative process for the Candice Collection. I hope you find your own inspiration in it!

Wedding details from table numbers to menus, ceremony programs to tray liners, found inspiration from agate, velvet, marshes, and ancient live oaks.

The oak tree under which the ceremony took place is over 1,000 years old!

And the final product :

The Candice Collection is part of our Private Label. For more information click here.

We’ve been really inspired lately by cut-outs and laser cuts. We started back with our Ashley Collection lace belly wrap; the delicate details of the wrap adds such an unexpected touch to the invitation.

This wrap could be used to spice up a menu or a program. Use the design to add some detail to a place card. Maybe your pocket folio could have a laser cut element?

Or  let us design a custom laser cut pattern just for you (or bring us a design of your own)!

Use a backing pattern from you save the date to create a custom laser cut belly band for your invitation.  How great would it be to laser cut your monogram into some lovely paper on a belly band?

Be on the lookout in 2012 for some great laser cut details! (by the way, how great is the detail on this Jonathan Saunders cut out dress??)

I love the Golden Globes.  This January award show is mid-winter inspiration! I love seeing the what people wear…not just to see who is wearing what, but to see the design of these gowns…the lines, the colors, the textures. Last year, emerald frocks and long-sleeved-lovelies stole the Red Carpet. I have to say, my expectations were quite high after seeing such fabulous looks on Emma Stone, Angelina Jolie, and Ann Hathaway.
We love what has been coming off the runway for 2012, especially these ladies in the nude…

Julie Bowen in Reem Acra

Kate Beckinsale in Roberto Cavalli

Charlize Theron in Dior

Kristen Wiig in Bill Blass

We’ll be back Wednesday with more Lettered Olive news, but for today, we’ll continue to drool over the eye candy from the Golden Globes! I’m definitely inspired for 2012….