Napa Valley could quite possibly be one of the most beautiful places for a wedding. With it’s Tuscan style landscape, it makes any wedding feel romantic and at the risk of sounding completely corny, kind of magical. Our amazing clients, Becca and Jon, got married there in St. Helena, California last June. We were lucky enough to work closely with their planner Rosemary Hattenbach, of Rosemary Events, to come up with an inspired suite that captured the clients personalities {and their pup!} as well as their amazing venue. The couple was married in a renovated barn called “Barbara’s Barn” complete with amazing landscapes and views as well as an epic skull wall {I know, sounds weird but it’s kind of amazing}. On the back of their main invitations, I created an illustration of the barn with their pup, Taz, sitting in front ready to welcome everyone. Rosemary’s vision for the big day included lots of pops of red which we introduced in the invitation suite. The RSVP card includes Taz again running along the bottom of the card with the quintessential wedding cans behind him. One of my favorite details is how the cans wrap around to the back of the RSVP card. The wedding itself was full of games since Becca and Jon love to play all kinds of sports, board games, etc. On the bottom of the schedule card, I drew a picture of Becca and Jon playing croquet to play off the game theme. My favorite detail is the envelope liner, I drew two horseshoes together and below we have one of the best lines that has ever graced a wedding invitation: “coming to our wedding is the best idea… ever.” Genius. The pieces in this suite play off one another very nicely creating a light, welcoming invitation to get the guests ready for their weekend in Napa.
May 23, 2013
SCD in BRIDES (June/ July issue)
BRIDES magazine is always so full clever and cute ideas for brides, designers, etc. I love getting the latest issue; I kick back and enjoy the pages and pages of colorful inspiration. This month was no exception as it was their color issue and lucky for us, we were able to be a part of it! The design that made the cut were our fun popsicle programs that actually double as fans {which is good for me as the heat and I have a bit of a tumultuous relationship!} It was definitely one of my personal favorites and perfect for a summer celebration. A HUGE thank you to the amazing team at BRIDES for including us in this issue; all of the ladies are top notch over there! Keep the great ideas coming!
May 22, 2013
Inspiration Station: NSS
I had so much fun walking the National Stationery Show this year! It’s awesome having the opportunity to meet so many ridiculously talented designers. Everyone’s work is so inspiring, my creative wheels are spinning. And a huge thanks to Nole + Team for putting on an amazing Paper Party, feeling pretty lucky to work in such a great industry!
May 16, 2013
Mini Trip: Palm Springs
There is no two ways around it- this Spring has been pretty crumby. Although I am the most pale person I know, I’m still craving some warm sun so I’m in luck as I get to sneak off to Palm Springs this weekend for a little girls trip! I’ve had several clients get married in the area so I’m excited to check it out and get inspired. Now I just need to find my SPF 70… wah wah.
May 13, 2013
French inspired branding
Now this was a fun one! Every good photographer needs a strong logo to help set them apart. Janice Yi Photography approached us earlier this year to create a unique and whimsical logo for her photography business. What is even better is that last year Janice was one of our Brides, already knowing one another made it even more personal.
Whenever I work on a branding project, it’s important to really take the time to truly understand the personality and message the client trying to portray. In Janice’s case she wanted to capture her love of all things French while still playing off her whimsical, romantic aesthetic. I created a few different looks that I felt each expressed Janice’s business and let her choose what option worked best for her. The first logo set draws upon a French decorative style with swirling flourishes and vintage French inspired type.
I love the second set of logos! It was inspired by vintage baroque forms and then I peppered the design with sketches of the photographic equipment Janice uses on a daily basis. I love the clever aspect of this as it merges her love of French design with photography.
The final set of logos was Janice’s choice. We took inspiration from The Little Prince, with the stars and free flowing shapes. I also love how the circular shape here speaks to the shape of a camera lens.
April 25, 2013
Kraft + Coral: A Florida Wedding
I know we’ve all seen a lot of kraft paper these days but, man, I still kind of just love it. Julie was one of our clients from last year who came to me with a very distinct vision. She knew she wanted to screen print white ink on kraft paper and to pair that with hand lettering and illustrations. With that as our inspiration, I set out to create a fun suite that incorporated her whimsical vision. Julie collaborated with the amazing Megan of Makewells for the calligraphy on her envelopes. I absolutely love how it turned out! It was so inspired and complimented the suite. Julie sourced some amazing vintage stamps to pull the entire suite together. My favorite part is the coral envleope with the arrow and heart liner. It reminds me of my notebook doodles from seventh grade {add in some “JTT” references and we’d be all set}. Overall, I love how fun this suite is while still evoking the feel of a Florida wedding.
April 16, 2013
NY {HEART} BOSTON
Yesterday was a weird one. Having grown up in the Boston area, it was hard to digest all the craziness that happened. Sending lots of love and support to the people Boston- stay strong!
pictures via Gothamist
April 10, 2013
Classic Martha’s Vineyard Wedding
Sometimes a client tells you about their wedding and you kind of just want to scheme a way to get invited… that was pretty much the case with Sarah and Todd. They had an amazing wedding on Martha’s Vineyard over Labor Day weekend last year. The weekend started with a welcome party at the Bride’s family’s home followed by a Lobster Bake on Friday evening {with custom bibs- amazing} and a lovely wedding ceremony at the Allen Farm in Chilmark on Saturday night. For Sarah’s invites, she wanted them to feel nautical and reminiscent of the Vineyard without having them feel over the top in any one direction. For her invites we created a clean, letterpress invitation with lots of negative space. My favorite element are the blind impressed seagulls in the top right hand corner- so charming. Sarah wanted everything to feel contained so we put all the pieces in a cream invitation folder that matched back to then main and RSVP envelope. When it came to her envelope liner, we had used a vintage MV map on their save the dates and decided to repurpose that here for a sense of continuity, which I loved. Overall, I love how clean and open this suite feels while still evoking the warm, special feeling of a Vineyard wedding.
April 5, 2013
Lauren + Jay: Day of Elements
There is nothing better than working with a couple from their save the dates all the way to their day of elements. I love seeing everything come together at the wedding, I always feel like a proud Mama. Lauren and Jay sent over pics from their big wedding at The Green Building. All the amazing photos below were taken by their very talented photographer, Trent Bailey.
March 22, 2013
Poppy’s Catering + Events
Well it’s actually a bit of a funny story: A girl walks into a bar… no really, I met Jamie last year at a bar in Brooklyn to discuss her wedding invites. We drank warm beers and discussed her rustic, Upstate vision. At the time Jamie was head of events and catering and The City Bakery in Manhattan. She was all business and I knew she’d be great to work with. A few months later, we moved into a new apartment and I noticed Jamie’s unique last name on the neighboring mailbox. I sent her a quick email and asked if she happened to live in this building (thinking probably “no” since what are the odds) and sure enough, we were neighbors. Jamie was pumped because she got free shipping on her invites and I was excited to know someone in the building. We became friends and after Jamie’s wedding she started telling me about her idea to open a catering business. Naturally I was all about it and offered to do the branding. I figured she’d take a several months, get her plans sorted out and then baby step into the process of owning a business. Clearly, I didn’t quite know Jamie yet. This girl pushed on the gas and went full steam ahead! With clients like Tory Burch, J.Crew and Coach, Jamie’s business is already a huge success. Poppy’s Catering + Events in located at 243 Degraw Street in the Cobble Hill neighborhood of Brooklyn. They offer drop off catering in your home, office, or on set, as well as full service catering for corporate events, weddings, showers, etc. handling all details from the staffing to the decor. The amazing setups that Jamie and her team come up with never cease to amaze me. Her eye for detail is impeccable and every event looks better than the next. I also really love reaping the benefits of their leftovers.
When working on Jamie’s branding, it was pretty easy. She has a very clean and simple aesthetic and wanted everything on the logo to serve a purpose. I was gearing up for a long branding meeting but Jamie walked in and pick something from the first round and that was that. As the business continues to grow, I’ll share more pictures of the evolution of the Poppy’s branding. But here is your first taste of Swiss Cottage Designs new bestie: Poppy’s Catering + Events!
The Poppy’s Logo:
Logo Variations:
Poppy’s Website {complete with a pic of Poppy himself, Jamie’s grandfather and inspiration for her business}:
The owner, Jamie, and her number one gal, Rachel:
A few pics in and around Poppy’s:
follow Poppy’s on instagram @poppyscatering











































