The crickets that you hear are because life interfered in blogging. In a good way. My last post was October 6, five days before Bryan and I celebrated our wedding. And the last two months have been filled with travel and getting back on track. Sprinkled with a few holidays and a not-so-sweet case of the flu to shake things up. Awesome.

Back in late summer, I posted the "Suite-Hearts" designs for our own Save the Date and Main Invitation. Check them out, if you havn't already.

Each year, I have the unique opportunity to create bridal stationery suites for couples looking for the ultimate in customized solutions for their wedding - and it is truly one of my favorite projects. Super creative, very personal, and always tangible. And while the paper itself might have a short shelf-life, the reason behind the project and the memories created, do not. For a designer who is often doing more business-focused work, it can be a welcome distraction to color outside the lines.

The final piece to my own bridal suite was in the "day-of" implementation. Most times, a suite-hearts package extends beyond just the invitation -- in our case, to menus, programs, golf cart signs, marriage certificate, custom honey labels {favors}, lantern tags and fro-yo spoons. And just in case I wasn't DIY-crazy enough, I handmade the boutonnieres {with coordinated pennant tags}, all table florals, bouquets, and clay name tags {on dinner napkins}.

First up, the design proofs.

Friday Dinner Menu and Friday Ceremony Program - Erica & Bryan 10.11+12.13

Custom Golf Cart Sign and Marriage License - Erica & Bryan 10.11+12.13

Saturday Program {tri-fold, outside} - Erica & Bryan 10.11+12.13

Saturday Program {tri-fold, inside} - Erica & Bryan 10.11+12.13

And photography by the always-amazing, insanely-talented, The Schultzes.

Save the Dates - Erica & Bryan 10.11+12.13

Invitation Suite and DIY Bouts - Erica & Bryan 10.11+12.13

Friday Ceremony Program - Erica & Bryan 10.11+12.13

Friday Dinner Menu - Erica & Bryan 10.11+12.13

Friday Dinner Menu, Place Setting and Custom Honey Label - Erica & Bryan 10.11+12.13

Custom Honey Label - Erica & Bryan 10.11+12.13

Saturday Program - Erica & Bryan 10.11+12.13

Custom Fro-yo Spoons, modeled by Maid-of-Honor / Sister of the Bride / Designer Extraordinaire, Bryce

Lantern Tags - Erica & Bryan 10.11+12.13

You always think you have more time than you do. When Bryan and I got engaged last September, and finally decided on our wedding date(s) about a month later, I marked my calendar with "July 1 - Send Invites to Print" and "August 1 - Mail Invites". At the time, my first of those deadlines was over eight months away. And then, all of a sudden, it wasn't.

I was excited, and anxious, about designing this suite. I put the pressure on myself to make it perfect. After all, potential clients look to your own work as a reflection of what theirs might be. I knew I wanted it to be simple, yet different. I knew I wanted it to be touchable, save-able. And I also knew I wanted it to be representative of us, and where we currently are in our lives.

That place we currently are in our lives.... is Rocky Creek. A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity landed us at a historical farm property in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, about an hour from our Uptown life. A chance to live, literally, among the trees, nature and most importantly, my horses. And for those who know me well, you know what a big part of my life that is. We packed up last Winter, rented our much-loved Plaza-Midwood bungalow and headed for "ranch living." If you follow me on Instagram, you might feel as though you live here too.

So, when it was offered for us to have our wedding here as well, we jumped on it. And since Rocky Creek has become our home -- this wedding will truly be a homemade, backyard, personal affair. As I was designing our invitations this past Spring, I knew I wanted that to shine through in the final suite.

Design preview for Erica + Bryan's main invitation in their suite-hearts package.

A mix of my Scandinavian-white-space-loving roots and a rustic "farm chic" approach, brought me to the final suite – a 1/0 letterpress invite combined with an offset press postcard RSVP, a white-ink-on-20pt-kraft details card, all layered into a slate gray enclosure and sent out in a kraft lined snow white envelope. The RSVP cards each feature a different photograph, all depicting a day in our life at Rocky Creek Ranch.

Design preview for Erica + Bryan's RSVP cards in their suite-hearts package.

The hours I spent torturing myself on whether or not I *really liked* the final design {that whole, "being your own client" thing again...}, and the additional hours I spent painfully collating each invitation, were all worth it. They mailed on deadline, actually before deadline, to arrive in mailboxes on August 1. At least, those that didn't get lost in the mail did. Ah, #countryliving.

The final product for Erica + Bryan's main invitation in their suite-hearts package.  1/0 letterpress on 110# crane fluorescent white, combined with a white ink on 20pt kraft paper details card and offset press RSVP postcard each containing a u… — The final product for Erica + Bryan's main invitation in their suite-hearts package. 1/0 letterpress on 110# crane fluorescent white, combined with a white ink on 20pt kraft paper details card and offset press RSVP postcard each containing a unique photographic image. All elements were packaged in a slate gray enclosure and mailed in a kraft-lined snow white envelope with custom address label and rubber stamp.

The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance.

— ARISTOTLE

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