No posts this week, as we’re knee-deep in boxes and packing tape. Have a great week and we’ll see you in October!

Another late congratulations is in order for one of our favorite couples to work with: Heather and Shan. They planned a weekend event in Leavenworth, Washington celebrating their love and the love of family and friends. One of my favorite parts of working with Heather was getting weekly updates on her dress, which she was having custom designed by Luly Yang in antique French lace. I can’t wait to see photos from the event - stay tuned for future posts with photos!

In the meantime, let’s talk about their stationery! Heather and Shan were engaged in Argentina and wanted to set the tone immediately with postcard save the dates: vintage, feminine elegance with delicate details and a personal touch.

For their invitations, they chose a booklet style, allowing them to give their guests their own personal “guide” to the weekend, complete with tear-out rsvp.

Heather and Shan also chose to incorporate these details in their table numbers, placecards, welcome booklets, and announcements. One of my favorite details was Heather’s lodge map (see larger image here).

welcome booklet outside

booklet inside (accordion style)

Our move has brought about some serious furniture and decor browsing - including for rugs. I have found some great rugs online - all available at modern-rugs.co.uk.

Time to catch up on some congratulations! Four of this year’s clients were married while we were out of town, so we’re a bit behind.

We’ve posted glimpses of this project in the past, but it definitely bears mentioning again! Clara and Paul were married Thursday, August 30 at Seattle’s Stimson Green Mansion. They came to us wishing to express to their guests that their event would be an elegant cocktail affair, with a gentleman’s club feel and old-world charm. We had so much fun designing for them and love the finished product! The entire suite, including social stationery, is letterpressed beautifully on Crane’s lettra stock.

I can’t post about Clara and Paul without mentioning their darling frenchie, Zoltan. We were able to meet Zoltan during one of our consultations, and yes, he is as cute in person as he is on screen!

Today one of our daily reads, the Blue Orchid Designs Blog, features an interview with Christy at Junebug. Check it out here!

At our own wedding, I had one very specific request for the guys’ attire: wear a real tie. No button collars, no bow ties, a real tie.

Jonathan took that request one step further and made sure that all the guys (attendants, ushers, his dad, etc…) had REAL ties to wear - none of those “zipper” ties that most tux shops supply.

I’m really wishing this “Tiagram” shirt had been available four years ago at the time of our wedding, since I’m sure each of the men in our wedding would have loved it. Ah well, at least it’s available now! Image via threadless.com.

Those words have never meant so much. While I have loved living in Seattle (and still do!), going back to where I spent the majority of my life felt like going home. Seattle is of course a great city, but Chicago is colossal. The buildings are aged and weathered beautifully, monstrous - not only height in the downtown areas, but also in their weight and stature in all the major areas. It feels like what you imagine a city to feel like.

While we didn’t get the chance to see any of the art museums or stationery stores or designers we really wanted to (sorry Emily, we really wanted to meet you and see your studio - next trip), we did soak in as much Chicago as we could.

Besides just loving seeing Chicago again, here are a few highlights of our trip:

• Seeing and staying with my sister for ten days.
• Seeing and getting to spend time with old friends (arrested development, anyone?).
• Seeing the “touristy” sites of Chicago with people who have never been there before.
• Eating at Frontera Grill for dinner (mmm!) and seeing Rick Bayless actually coming in at 10pm, sitting down and eating in his own restaurant just a couple tables away from us.
• Eating lunch at Penny’s Noodle Shop (mmm!!…Man! I missed that place.)
• Standing up for a friends wedding and meeting his lovely new wife.
• Eating a friend’s homemade risotto and his incredible lasagna (fortunately this was on two separate nights). We can thank his 13 year stint in Italy for such good food.
• Spending Monday doing nothing but laying by a pool and drinking good summer drinks.

There is much more I could go on about, but we’ve got a lot of work to catch up on. Sorry to all those who follow our blog for the lack of posts this past week. We have a lot to write about, so there should be a flurry of activity here soon!