Merry Christmas from the Jersey Shore

Ugly Sweater Party

'Tis the season...of holiday parties. Brian and Carol's Annual Ugly Christmas Sweater Party is a project we look forward to as the year comes to a close. They first came to us in 2008 for an invitation design for the second annual party. Last year the area received over 20 inches of snow the night of the event, so this year it seemed appropriate to make a joke out of the weather. 

Golf Scorecard Save the Date

Since we're posting fun Save the Dates, here is a new one. Shannon and Dave played miniature golf on their first date. They chose the same date of July 19th for their 2011 wedding, which falls in the middle of the week. We decided to emphasize the 7-19-11 date in their scorecard. They were good sports about having such terrible scores.

Cigar Band Save the Date

Justine and Frank plan to accent their Latin heritages throughout their summer 2011 wedding reception, and part of the plan involves providing hand-rolled cigars for interested guests. This was our first foray into cigar band design, and it was a blast.

Fashion Show

A fun postcard mailer for The Ranney School.

Boston Illustrated Map Seating Card

Married last month, Bridget and Rich expressed an interest in having a map created for use as the layout for their reception venue. Having recently relocated from Boston to Philadelphia, they decided to pay homage to their former home by using their favorite city landmarks as table names. Each wedding guest received a tri-fold map in place of a seating card, which served as a guide to their matching table.

Beach Save the Date

Having a studio less than a mile from the ocean means we are regularly asked to create designs for beach-themed weddings. We are constantly trying to reinvent the theme, often making the design super-personal to the clients and the location. This is just one of the ways that we use original illustration to tell the story of the bride and groom.

Don CeSar Resort Illustrated Wedding Map

Susan and Ron will be married in early November on the beach at The Don Cesar Resort in St. Pete Beach, Florida. We loved incorporating the signpost into their map, which shows from where their guests will travel for the celebration.

Passport to Atlantis Destination Wedding Invitations

Karen and Eric's destination wedding invitation request was most definitely a first for us. Our challenge was to make as realistic a passport parody as possible. The booklets were all made by hand, and the stamps and state seals were illustrated to represent places they had lived and/or visited. The state seals found their way on seating cards at the reception and reflected each guest's home.

Nashville Wedding Workshop

A few weeks ago we were asked to assist former bride Julia Gargano and her employers, photographers Justin and Mary Marantz, with stationery items for a Nashville wedding workshop. The shoot was featured today on Style Me Pretty! Thank you to Justin, Mary, & Julia for the opportunity and the pictures.

Happy Anniversary to Katie & Nick

Our clients Katie and Nick were married a year ago and were nice enough to send us photographs of how our work looked at their event. Here are a couple of shots by photographer John Arcara. 

Illustrated Map for Michelle and James

The latest wedding map for a bride and groom who were not afraid to let us have a terrific time putting this together (thanks for the purple, guys!). Michelle and James both sport some incredible tattoo artwork, so the style made sense for their map. This became the cover of their wedding invitation. The lettering for their names was based on that of the old "Palace Amusements" building in Asbury Park.

Hand-lettered Monograms

Wedding monograms are requested of us quite often; typically they are designed using fonts. A couple of times a year we have clients who want a truly one-of-a-kind, hand-lettered monogram. As with any other original piece of art we create, it is a process. Multiple sketches are presented for review. The final monogram is then inked and then altered digitally. Here are several solutions using one, two, and three letters. We also frequently receive internet inquiries about having hand monograms designed for tattoos. Pricing starts at $150.

Pool & Garden Tour

Occasionally, we donate art for community events. This is a poster we designed as part of a fundraising event for a local elementary school's Parent/Teacher Organization.

Dancing Shoes Buckets

Here is a new request...for hand painted "Dancing Shoes" buckets. Katie and Kevin are getting married this weekend. They wanted their guests to be able to kick off their uncomfortable heels and loafers and trade them in for flip flops, which will fill these three containers. The monogram is our original hand-lettered design, which also served as the wedding brand on invitations and menus.

Block Island llustrated Map

Wedding maps (and sometimes commissioned just for fun or as gifts) are definitely projects to which we always look forward. We call them "illustrated narratives" and have a great time creating something uniquely personal to the couple/client. This map was part of a larger piece for a bride and groom who were wed last September on Block Island, Rhode Island. Research is always the first step when creating a map, followed by a detailed pencil sketch. This stage of the process gives clients the opportunity to see how the map will take shape, and to edit if necessary.

"Father of the Bride" Bridal Shower Invitation

A client came to us in March with the idea to surprise her friend, the bride-to-be, with an illustrated shower invitation using "Father of the Bride" as a theme. The movie had always been the bride's favorite, and our client had the tricky job of sneaking to get an appropriate pose from the bride. Dad, however, was in on the joke and perfectly mocked Steve Martin's expression from the movie poster.

Michele & Ben's Wedding

Michele and Ben were the first clients to request an illustrated map for their wedding invitations. Everything about this set was fun to do, and not too long ago we photographed some of the pieces on the beach. Here is the set, along with her beach badge save the date.