Save the Dates Archives – Swiss Cottage Designs

The Knot :: Playful Palette

January 23, 2015

Last year one our good friends, Jove Meyer of Jove Meyer Events, reached out with a very exciting opportunity. He would be styling a shoot for The Knot and asked Swiss Cottage to create the paper goods for the event. Once he described his vision – bright colors, fun patterns, and bold shapes – we were in!

Jove and all of the other contributors did a truly amazing job pulling everything together. We were so excited to see the photos after the shoot and waited to share them with bated breath. After much anticipation, the time has finally arrived!

Everything came together so beautifully. It’s a great example of how bold design elements can be combined to create a refined and elegant look. The table setting is my personal favorite – everything is unique in its own right without needing to compete with the other pieces.

A huge thank you to Jove for making it happen as well as to all of the talented contributors!

Planner + Designer – Jove Meyer Events
Stationery / Menus + Programs + Place mats + Invites + Save the Dates + Charity Signs – Swiss Cottage Designs
Flowers – Lindsay Rae Design
Vintage Glassware – Little Vintage Rentals
Furniture Rentals / Table + Chairs – Taylor Creative
Tabletop Rentals / Linens + Cutlery + Chargers + China – Broadway Party Rentals
Custom Hand Decorated Shoes – Hushed Commotion
Custom Made Suit – A Suit That Fits
Cake – Lael Cakes

Love.

June 28, 2013

It’s been a good week for love. I am not really one to project my feelings too much over this here blog but this calls for it. I was overjoyed with the news that DOMA was declared unconstitutional this week. It truly is a momentous occasion worthy of cracking open a few bottles of Rosé. I don’t think you should be penalized for who you love. I’ve had the pleasure of working with a few awesome same sex couples over the years. Below is a save the date from one of those great couples, the lovely Janet and Michelle. So here is to you Janet and Michelle and all the other same sex couples out there who can love equally. It’s about time.

Real Fact: Cathrin and Dan

January 18, 2013

Most of my jobs are about creating a fun design that is inspired by a location, or the couple’s life together, etc. but sometimes you get to create art that helps support an already amazing story. When Cathrin first came to me to talk about her save the date, she wasn’t quite sure what she wanted to do. Then her fiancé Dan chimed in and thought to use their engagement story as the basis for the save the date. Since it’s such a great story, I’ll let Cathrin tell it in her own words:

In September of 2011, Dan and I headed to Greece for a long-planned vacation. Our first stop was Athens, where we spent a few fun days sightseeing and enjoying the Athenian Riviera. Then we made our way to the incredibly beautiful island of Mykonos. On our first night, as we sat on the terrace of our hotel room watching the sunset, Dan tossed me a small red apple. At first I thought he wanted to have a snack with our wine, but then I realized the apple had a gold ribbon tied to its stem, and attached to the ribbon was the cap of a Snapple ice tea bottle (my favorite). The “Real Fact” inside the cap read:

“Real Fact #816:
In Ancient Greece, throwing an apple to a woman was considered a marriage proposal.”

When I looked back up at Dan, he was down on one knee, with a huge smile on his face and a very sparkly ring in his hand. He asked me to spend the rest of my life with him, and of course I said yes!

So. Freaking. Clever. The best part was Dan’s Grandmother found the Snapple cap and gave it to him a few weeks before the trip. It was all meant to be. For these save the dates, I kept the design very simple. I illustrated the apple so it almost felt like torn tissue paper with rough edges. We replicated the Snapple cap and tied it on the apple card with bakers twine. Since all their friends and family knew the story, everyone appreciated the quirkiness of the design. Thanks for sharing guys!

It take TWO: My save the date

October 16, 2012

Alas! I am finally sharing pictures of our save the date. I’ve promised this roughly 8 times so far, so I’m happy to finally deliver on this. Ok, so first things first- designing for yourself is pretty weird, hard, stressful but also so much fun. It’s kind of a crazy to be your own client. There were no rounds of edits, no brainstorms… nothing. I was able to put pen to paper and create my vision which was actually incredibly liberating! As a designer, I am inspired by so many things but when it came down to my own save the dates, I ended up keeping it more about the details and less about big illustrations and typography.

In terms of my inspiration here, well, it was the poet {aka 90’s rapper} Rob Base who actually gave me the idea. I was walking to the supermarket one day and walked past a guy selling mix tapes and “It Takes Two” was blaring over his boombox and immediately it hit me: what a perfect idea for a save the date. If you don’t know the song, I suggest you do yourself a favor and watch the video here. You can thank me later. My fiancé Paul and I are sort of music dorks {among being just general dorks} and I’m slightly obsessed with 90’s rap so this was the perfect idea for us. I drew a retro boombox and added some small details in to personalize it to us. On the details insert, I drew a pair of old school headphones and had the wire create a little heart. Come on- every save the date needs a little cheese. On the night we got engaged my sister took this picture of us and I felt it perfectly captured who we are as a couple so we wanted to throw that in the mix because we are a. vain and b. think it’s kind of funny. I created the mini buttons you see in the pictures and put them across the bottom of our photo. My friends and family LOVED the buttons and have been wearing them on their coats, bags, etc. which was really fun to see.

I saw the boxed mailers at Paper Source and thought that would be a cool way to send out our save the dates. I will say this, it requires a fair bit of postage {almost $3.00} so certainly something to keep in mind if you’re thinking about using a box. I created mailing labels that also doubled as a way to keep the box shut {printed on crack and peel stock}. I wrapped the entire set in silver tissue and created a striped belly band to seal the deal. All in all, a great first taste of what our wedding will be like. Now, stay tuned for the invites!

Martha’s Vineyard Map

April 11, 2012

Creating custom maps is never dull! I love finding out people’s favorite spots and getting to know about the new cities and fun places. I’ve had a number of Martha’s Vineyard brides, but compared to my familiarity with its good ole neighbor Nantucket, Martha’s Vineyard is a bit like uncharted territory for me! I love the rustic vibe to this watercolor based save the date, especially since so many island weddings are completely nautically oriented. It was fun to put the little cows on there next to the couple’s venue and I thought the Farmer’s Market was a great addition. My favorite detail? Their personalized flag from the tent!

Poster Save the Date :: Palm Springs

March 9, 2012

This year I have two couples getting married at the ACE hotel in Palm Springs. It’s been really fun to develop both of their jobs and see the different direction each couple took for the same location. Megan and Josh, simply put, are the best. During our first meeting, we ended up talking for almost 3 hours about everything from work to The Hunger Games to Austin City Limits. I knew right away we were going to create some awesome work together. For their save the dates, Megan and Josh wanted to do something whimsical to inspire their guests to visit their beloved Palm Springs. We created a poster that was 9″ x 12″ and folded perfectly into an A6 envelope. On the front, we illustrated a vintage inspired Palm Springs scene and on the back we gave the guests 5 reasons to jump on the next plane to Palm Springs. What I love about this concept is the guest is given a great piece of artwork to hold onto as well as a functional save the date. The poster size is perfect- not too big but also not too small. Looking forward to sharing this amazing couples invites soon!

Martha’s Vineyard Save the Date

February 27, 2012

Sarah and Todd are planning an early Fall wedding on Martha’s Vineyard and wanted to send out save the dates that captured their feel as a couple while still letting their destination play a role. We wanted to keep the overall feel clean and polished with a definite emphasis on the hand illustrated look. Going with a double sided save the date allowed us to really take advantage of a whole page illustration. Sarah said that one her favorite parts of going to the Vineyard is the initial feel you get when pulling into the island on the ferry, so we wanted to capture that. The ferry scene was a perfect way to exhibit the unique location, and juxtaposed with their silhouettes {alongside their cute pups} gives it a real romantic feel. While I love the lighthouse and view of the shore, I think the lifesaving ring is cutest touch. We also drew up a fun details card that lets guests know the weekend schedule as well as information on getting there. We kept it classic, with a watercolor ombre wash on the front and packed it up nicely in a glassine envelope. Both pieces are printed on Crane Lettra paper which accentuates the soft watercolor feel. We finished it off with a vintage Martha’s Vineyard map which really ties everything together.

Palm Springs Save the Date

February 20, 2012

Even with the blue skies we’ve been having lately in New York, I can’t help but be a little jealous of the Palm Springs weekend KJ and Elizabeth planned! {Relaxing by the pool with a margarita? Doesn’t sound half bad.} Their travel themed save the date is full of bright colors and bold designs that reflect the retro 50’s vibe that makes Palm Springs so unique. We decided to do a custom designed brochure to get the guests excited for a weekend wedding extravaganza. Complete with a luggage tag to throw on your suitcase, there’s no excuse not to put this one on the calendar.

Cape May Save the Date

February 1, 2012

I love doing invitations, save the dates and maps that reflect different locations. It a lovely way to tune out and visit a new place for a little while. The save the date below was done for a client getting married in Cape May, New Jersey. Being that the bride and groom are inviting a lot of out of town guests, they wanted a design that would show everyone what makes Cape May so special. The couple chose their five favorite places in the area and created a little story for their guests. The bride was inspired by our Chicago Suite for this save the date. I love the bright colors mixed with the solid black ink. The hand drawn envelope liner ties it all together. Looking forward to working on their invites!

Rustic Save the Dates

January 18, 2012

Simple doesn’t always have to be boring. Lauren and Ryan came to me looking for a save the date that would highlight the rustic feel of their venue: an old western Mass family estate. We wanted to keep things pared down, but still create an atmosphere of warmth for their Fall wedding save the dates. I decided to stick with a warm grey on the rustic kraft paper for their main card a do a hand illustration of the Willowdale Estate. Using pencil to capture the intricate stonework, I did a detailed recreation of the venue. Lauren and Ryan wanted to include a details card to provide some extra information for their guests so we went with a natural white insert card to give the suite some depth. I kept the same warm grey text and added some whimsical leaves to capitalize on autumnal feel. On the back, Lauren and Ryan provided a very sweet quote that I included along with their date and names. To add a little color we played off the woodland theme and created a grassy green, wood grain inspired print for their liner. Simple, streamlined and sweet, these rustic save the dates really play up that cozy feel of a Fall wedding.

{Thanks for the cute Canada stamp Jaime!}