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

It is terribly hard to blog, run a business and plan a wedding at the same time. And that is coming from someone who is entrenched in the wedding industry. I design custom wedding invitations. I design albums and branding systems for wedding photographers. I am constantly wading hip-high in our overly saturated, highly stimulating visual world of Pinterest, Facebook, bridal magazines and blogs. And that is just because I work in that space, not because I am planning wedding. But, I am also doing that. And I vowed to myself that I would make it simple, stress-free, classic and "me." Ha. Well, that works for me some of the time.

One of my favorite areas of the Summer House, is our "suite-hearts" product – fully custom wedding suites including {but certainly not limited to} save the dates, main invitation suites, on-site suites {menus, programs} and more.

But, let me tell you. Being "your own client" is rough. You nitpick every design decision. You overanalyze the color, type, image, process, content and production costs. You become immune to seeing anything with "fresh eyes" and having the capacity to really make a decision you feel comfortable with. All of that being said, I would never dream of hiring someone else to design my wedding invitations. Or -- *gasp* -- even fathom choosing them from something already pre-designed and at the ready. Oh no. I dove in head first. And at the end of the day, when they finally hit guest's mailboxes, I received the best compliment that I could – "they are so you." After all, isn't that our goal? To have it be "so you" rather than "so pretty, just like another wedding?" I think so.

As with anything, I never do it the easy way. Or, the "normal" way. Our wedding event is no different. Instead of one day, we are having two. Instead of a big ceremony and reception with our entire guest list, we are having a small private ceremony followed by a big honkin' BBQ party the next day. Seems like a great idea, right? Well, I know it is the right idea for us as a couple. But it is a horribly big challenge to figure out HOW to convey this message to our guests via printed stationery.

Design preview for Erica + Bryan's save the date element in their suite-hearts package.

Our suite started off with a save the date card, as most do. But not one design. Two. I knew I wanted simple. Something that appeals to my "right angle issues" and love of clean lines and white space. Something that pushes the envelope on typography. {Wait, that's not me, nevermind.} Something modern. So, I started with two fav images from our e-sesh with the incredible Schultzes. I added simple black type, a combo of sans serif and script. A clear message {here is when and where it is, please be there}. And laid it all out on the most gorgeous 24 pt super-thick crisp white matte stock I could find. Combined with two different lined envelopes, a uniquely shaped address label and a custom rubber return address stamp {here is where I allow myself to blur the lines of perfection}, and it was in the mail.

The final product, printed cards for Erica + Bryan's save the date in their suite-hearts package. 24pt matte, 4/1, offset press combined with a kraft paper and snow white envelope, lined with stardream metallics.

"Instead of searching for inspiration, how about you search out someone to inspire."

— TONY KIM

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