Wedding Invitations For A Bella Sera Bride

Aug 22

"I had no idea I was so far behind on invitation ordering!! I also had no idea this was a service that could be all-inclusive, so I am excited to see what all you offer!" -LB.

I am honored and excited to have designed a custom wedding invitation suite for Leanne and Thomas. The couple was amazing to work with, just a fantastic couple in love. Leanne and I met at Bella Sera in Canonsburg, for their annual bridal tasting. It's not often I get to capture everyone who visits my table, but I remember her and I had a brief and fun conversation. I took her details down to follow up with her after the event, but she beat me to the punch!

Custom Wedding Wedding Invitations: RBW Stationery | Photo Credit: Peterson Design Photo

Today’s Busy Bride

Today’s busy couple is working full-time or running a business and trying to plan a wedding. DIY is not the best route or recommended when so much time and attention is dedicated to planning their wedding and working full-time. Couples absolutely should have a professional full-service stationery designer in their corner to help them every step of the way so they don’t have to figure out all the logistics.

I was so excited to get on the line and speak with her and her mom; she gave me so much to work with; her energy and plans helped paint the picture. Her wedding combined jewel tones- amethyst, sapphire, and emerald. Some flat solids she wanted to incorporate were sapphire and royal blue. Also, champagne for her shades of white and layers of gold. The wedding attire for her bridal party was soft, sheer flowy fabric in royal blue. The wedding gown was to be a stunning lace mermaid with beading and crystals—pure elegance.

It was essential to provide soft romantic hues and incorporate the aesthetic of the beautiful florals she arranged with her florist, Fragile Paradise, in Washington, Pennsylvania.

One of the questions I ask my clients is why they chose their wedding venue.

The Custom Design Process

“We wanted something different and loved the winery/vineyard feel. I was most excited about the all-inclusive aspect of Bella Sera as I like structure and efficiency, but when we saw the venue for the first time, the space's elegance and grand feel sealed the deal.”

Taking the time to get to know my clients and their family and understanding their wedding day plans is essential to my approach for design and service. I do this so we can all rest assured that their invitations will tie in beautifully and be unique. It will have some element, look and feel amazing to them.

I get a chance to help them sort out what they have in mind. Most of the time, their vision rests in their mind, how they want it to look, what they want their stationery to say, and what they don’t want to convey. I use my experience and knowledge to support their ideas, ask the right questions and come together in lightbulb moments. We get to be creative.

Design Process and Technique

She needed 140 wedding invitation suites designed and created for her day at Bella Sera. I was excited to get to work. I pulled in the lettering, the “wording” of the invitation to meet the elegance she was looking for. For the paper, I decided to go with Ecru. Printmakers and stationery designers commonly use ecru paper to describe ivory or cream-colored paper. The ecru shades are just as classic as white but have a warmer tone. This will pull in the Champagne color the bride wanted.

Letterpress printing was the only way to go to match the formality of the wedding day. I chose a beautiful shade to help soften the color of ivory. Layering in more of the creamy champagne tones; it’s a beautiful Pantone color shade that reminds me of the term “Honey Bear.” I just came up with it, and it fits! When working with Patone colors, I love naming colors when I can, and it just adds more personality.

Wedding Monogram and More Colors

Having this the suite’s highlight, I suggested foil-press for the monogrammed crest design.

Gold Pocket Folders were selected to build her suite and hold all enclosure cards and the response envelope.

Envelope Color Choice: Sapphire Blue, Ink Choice: White Ink, Envelope Liner: Opal with Sapphire Blue Ink with colorful monogram.

Custom wax seals in “buttercream” to add to the couple’s crest monogram.

After meeting with the client and her mom, it was clear that she wanted something elegant. The flowers were important to her, and the jewel tones were where she sent me photos of her floral plans. I saw tall, beautiful gold stands in her floral board. This helped me get a general sense of the direction she wanted to go in.

Pulling together all of the details to build a custom suite is where creativity begins. After a few hours of design, I was ready to send it off, along with some inspiration. I always hold my breath!

“OHMYGOSH! I love this!!”

I was at a traffic light at the time I saw this message come through my email and was in near tears to get this type of response.

Printing, Assembly, and Mailing

From start to finish, it takes about 12 steps, or processes, to complete before the assembly and mailing phase. Communicating with only the best artisan printmakers to make sure we have the cards printed the way they were intended.

I set up these processes in stages to make the process so much easier for my client to understand. It helps to know where we are in the process and so that it’s seamless on the back end. The assembly and mailing process comes with its unique stage of fulfillment.

My favorite part of the process is my “Behind the Scenes” reveal for my client. I get the client involved in the process. I allow them to get a behind-the-scenes sneak peek of production with real-time photos. All of the pretty chaos that goes on behind the scenes makes it official.

The best part is that the client was very easy going. The couple is used to systems and processes with what they do during the day; they understand it. I love that they appreciate the service that I provide for them aside from the printed invitations, of course!

"Thank you so much for everything! Your services helped to take our wedding up a notch! Everyone raved about the invitations, which set the tone for our elegant day. Those extra special details on the day of the items were a classy and beautiful addition to our wedding. I will surely recommend you to anyone I know planning a high-end event!" The Barones

Invitation Design by Ruby Brewer-Watkins Ecru; Letterpress and Foil Press Wedding Invitation Suite Sapphire and Opal Envelopes with Cream Puff Monogrammed Liner Buttercream Wax Seal and Gold Pocket Folders Wedding Venue: Bella Sera

about the author

Ruby Brewer-Watkins, is a Certified Wedding Planner who specializes in wedding stationery. Her guest list planning and creative process have created efficiency within her client projects, which allowed her to effectively collaborate, design and create beautiful wedding invitations and “day of” stationery for countless couples since 2015.

Hi, I’m Ruby, your creative wedding professional. FINALLY, you made it! You can catch a glimpse into a few things I love, specifically how I passionately create wedding invitations and details for the “day of” for couples. I hope that that my blog posts and articles contained within this beautiful space truly inspire you. I offer unfiltered advice and space to give yourself permission to be creative and explore options, and ideas that are available to you to celebrate life's greatest moments.

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