...Thanksgiving Invitations...

These pretty Thanksgiving invitations by FINA Art & Paper are available for download through their shop and feature the prettiest combination of clean sans serif type, soft muted fall colors and simple Thanksgiving-inspired illustrations. I love the idea of kicking off the holiday season by sending a pretty invitation to ask your loved ones to join you in giving thanks and these are just perfect.

Here's to hoping that you and yours are able to spend some quality time together over the holidays, always giving thanks for the blessings that you have. Happy Thanksgiving!
{Photos from FINA Art & Paper via the sweetest occasion }

...Envelope Calligraphy....

Just stopping in to share a few shots of a recent order that I did for a client that wanted chocolate brown ink to liven up her white invitation envelopes.


It's never too early to contact me about your upcoming wedding & the calligraphy for your invitation envelopes!

...Soft Pink & Gray Invitations...

Planning a late winter/early spring wedding? You cannot go wrong using soft colors paired with a subtle gray. I love the dual purpose this "belly band" serves. It holds the invitation suite together while delivering a special message to invited guests.


The use of gray envelopes for both the invitation envelope and the response card complete the look of this adorable invitation suite.
Invitations by ruby and willow via magnolia rouge.

...Christmas/Holiday Card Addressing with Calligraphy...

It's pretty clear that Winter is right around the corner. You know what that means, it's time to start thinking about your holiday greeting cards! With as much chaos as the holidays bring, allow me to address all of your holiday card envelopes {with calligraphy!} for you! Send your envelopes to me, as well as your address list, 2-3 weeks prior to when you would like to mail them out and I'll get them back to you to stamp with postage and mail out!
It takes enough energy to send out holiday cards every year, so allow me to complete the most time-consuming task. Not only will your holiday cards be beautiful, but your envelopes will be too! I'll even offer a special 10% off discount on my pricing to the first three customers to reserve their spot on my calendar for completion! E-mail me at pennedandpretty {at} gmail {dot} com to reserve a spot for your envelopes to be addressed {All orders must be received by December 20th}.





The holidays will be here before you know it, so reserve your spot on my calendar today and your holiday card envelopes will be addressed for you and ready to send, allowing you more time to enjoy the holidays!


p.s. I thought that I would share some of my favorite holiday cards, spotted at minted to get you in the holiday spirit! Links to minted designers can be found below.
Carrie ONeal /Wondercloud/Cecile Paper Lounge/Griffinbell Studio.

...Stache & Kiss...

Perhaps it's because Halloween is near & its time to don clever disguises {a mustache or some red lips} to complete a costume, but I am loving this quirky invitation.


The stache & the lips, the fun typography & the correlating thank you card make me quite happy.

It's never a bad idea to order matching thank you cards with your wedding invitation suite!
Invitation & thank you card as seen on minted via wedding obsession blog.

...Gray & Yellow Escort Cards...

A few months ago I got to work with a fabulous bride {& mother of the bride!} on a few projects for her upcoming wedding. Using both my Pretty Adorable & Pretty Perfect calligraphy fonts, I addressed the outer envelopes & return addresses, inner envelopes & escort cards.



Sadly I didn't take a picture of the envelopes {white envelopes with gray ink} or the invitations {they were so cute!} but I did take pictures of the escort cards! As you can see, each guest sent in an entree choice with their RSVP and that was denoted by a c, p, s, k {chicken, portabella, salmon & kids meal} on the bottom right of the card so that the waiter could deliver the appropriate entree. So smart, if I do say so myself!

...One Last Lobster Fest...

Rumor has it that it will get back up into the upper 70's this week. You can bet I will be soaking up the last of those early fall sun rays. If I lived in the Northeast I would take any opportunity I could to squeeze in one last little lobster fest. If it occurred at a wedding near a harbor with a view we could kill two birds with one stone.


Loving these Maine inspired wedding invitations. The map might just be my favorite part of the whole suite!
Invitation design by things r better with a parrott

...Whimsy Calligraphy...

I'm just now getting around to sharing these images, even though the order was completed quite some time ago! My pretty whimsy calligraphy font graced these wedding invitation envelopes for a client in Saint Louis, Missouri.


...Place Cards Tied Around Napkins...

A few months ago a client came to me with a special request. She had an idea to tie little kraft tags around the napkins {rolled to hold silverware} at each place setting. It was one of the most original ideas I have heard of for a place card!
She stamped each tag with a cute little fork, knife, spoon stamp & had me write each guests name on a tag. She then tied each onto a napkin for the big day. As a little tip, I wouldn't recommend this unless you have a small guest list or a wedding planner that's willing to tie each one to a napkin!

...Navy & White Pocket Invitations....

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to work with a really creative bride with perhaps the most unique invitations I have personally worked with to date!
The invitation was housed in a pocket that also served as an inner envelope. I wrote the first name{s} of the guests on the square on the outside of the pocket/inner envelope.The white outer envelopes were then addressed with a coordinating navy ink to pull everything together.



Below is a glimpse into the inside of the inner pocket where the invitation is mounted on the right and insert cards will be added to the pocket on the left. Loving all of the different typefaces, naturally.

So there you have it! Isn't it a gorgeous suite? You can never go wrong with navy & white...especially when it's a navy & white pocket invitation!


...Woodgrain Invitations...

A long time ago Mike at urban influence shared his wedding invitations and I have adored them ever since. The invitation wasn't just a 5x7 piece of paper. It was a multi page book called "The Official Guidebook to Tying the Knot." I love everything about the presentation of this invitation from the crest on the envelope adorned with red ink to the wood grain booklet to the bakers twine and adorable tag.



Love love love the appearance of all sorts of different fonts of typography that appear though out the booklet. The tag itself had me at hello. Maybe it's since I have always wanted a date stamp of my own.

As if the outside of the invitation wasn't particularly awesome enough, just wait until you see the inside. Each and every page was personalized. I'm telling you, the amount of detail that was put into this wedding invitation is outstanding.


My favorite page has to be the "Reference Guide...For Tying the Knot," For obvious reasons. How clever.

Image credits: urban influences via benign objects. As seen on: oh so beautiful paper

...Thank You Card Inspiration...

With summer wedding season coming to an end many newlyweds out there are searching for a personalized way to thank family & friends for joining in their special day. I thought that I would share our thank you cards {sent out after our 2008 wedding} in case there are some of you looking for some thank you card inspiration.



The front of our card was a collage of some of our favorite wedding pictures. Half of the back of our card displayed the "thank you" picture we took on our wedding day incorporating our purple monogram. The other half of the card was blank, which is where I wrote our thank you note. Read more about the details of our thank you cards {where i ordered from, pricing, etc} on this post at my wedding planning blog tying the knot.


Photography by Nicole Green.

...Calligraphy: My Mom's Wedding...



Earlier this year I had my most important calligraphy order to date. The bride-to-be was my Mom! She tied the knot in June and I had the privilege of not only being her maid of honor but her calligrapher as well.

My Mom chose to go with beautiful navy invitation envelopes and had me address them with my Pretty Perfect style in white ink. They were stunning. As much as my Mom has thanked me for addressing these envelopes for her, I cannot thank her enough for letting me address them. What an honor!

...Bold Chevron...

Looking for a bolder chevron pattern to grace your wedding invitations, address labels & the rest of your invitation suite? This invitation suite might just be your answer.



Now, someone tell me where I can get my hands on those sequin gold hearts that are too cute for their own good.


As seen on green wedding shoes. Paper goods by Pitbulls and Posies & photography by Gem Photo.

...Faint Chevron...

Chevron prints have been all the rage the past year so it's not too surprising to see the print appear in wedding invitations as well.

I am loving that the chevron print begins to appear in this invitation {above} & becomes more prevalent in the RSVP, info & other pieces of the invitation suite {below}.


You can view the marlo suite at southern fete creative via papercrave

...Pom Place Cards...

Looking for a fun & festive place card display for your upcoming wedding, rehearsal dinner or bridal shower? Check out these cute little pom pom place cards that Erin spotted!
Something other than the traditional paper place cards is never a bad thing, right?

Find them at this Etsy shop today!
via Erin Ever After

...Pink Outer Envelopes & a Great Way to Inform Your Guests of Your Wedding Website...

Any time a client of mine wants to use something other than a white outer envelope, I get a little giddy. A few weeks ago one of my clients sent over her pink outer envelopes for me to complete using my pretty adorable font. Take a look at the results!

Most of the time I attempt to center each line of the address to the middle of the envelope {see pictures 1, above and 3, below}. However, due to the amount of text that will be on the envelope or just length of the words per line, I sometimes find that its best to indent each line vs. attempt to center the text on the envelope. I hope that you'll agree that the result is just as gorgeous!

I addressed the back flap of each envelope with the return address. So, my client had this cute little envelope icon {sealed with a heart!} stamped where the return address would normally be placed. How cute!


My client wanted a way to let her guests know about their wedding website, without having it appear on the invitation itself. So, she sent me these little white cards to inform guests that they can view the website for additional details. I wrote the website address in hot pink to match the color of the envelope heart. Loving this idea! Please note that the website password has been blurred in order to protect privacy.

Anyone else think of a great way to inform guests of a wedding website without placing the address right on the invitation!?

...Kumquat & Peach...

A few weeks ago I spied this adorable invitation suite by Erin of Be True Designs on 100 layer cake. As if the kumquat & peach color scheme wasn't enough, the cameos put this suite over the top and onto my list of favorite things.
I won't even get into how adorable the font choices and kraft paper are. That is a different story for a different time.



See the entire suite here on 100 layer cake.

...Creative Seating Chart Display...

Are you one of the lucky brides that has a really unique reception venue? If so, I certainly hope that you're taking advantage of it! Survey the surroundings at your venue{s} and see how you can incorporate more of the surroundings into the details of your day. Take this innovative idea, for example:
I am loving how the table arrangements are displayed with ribbon on an existing mirror at the venue. Instead of using a typical table to display escort cards, try something new! Don't forget to think outside the box when you are touring a reception venue!

Photography: Lizelle Lotter Photography via Wedding Cabaret. See the whole post here.

...Patterned Reception Details...

In love with patterns {stripes, damask, polka dot, tartan, etc}!? You, my friend are not alone! One of the easiest ways to incorporate your love for a pattern into your wedding day is at the reception.

Patterned cardstock can be used to create escort cards {above} which will correspond to a table number sign with the same pattern {below} thereby directing guests to their assigned tables at the reception. Other ways to incorporate a pattern into the details of your wedding reception are by using patterns on menu cards, bar signs, guestbook signs or favor tags. The possibilities are endless!
I just had to share this picture of the table decor for this wedding. Don't you love both the blue & mason jar vases?!


You can see all the details from this wedding at this post as seen on the brides cafe. All photos are by youkeun oh photography.

...Snippet & Ink Invitations...

I am sure that, by now, you have seen the gorgeous invitation suite that THE Kathryn Storke of snippet & ink created {with the assistance of some talented vendors!} for her recent wedding. If you haven't, you need to see it. Never have I ever seen a suite that is so polished, so tailored and so down right beautiful.
You can view the entire suite {and the story behind every piece of it!} here.
Photos by Elizabeth Messina.

...Gray Envelopes...

Just stopping in to share with you a picture or two of some outer envelopes I completed recently. These were so fun to complete as they were a change of pace from the normal white envelopes that so many clients use.
My Pretty Perfect style in black ink graced these gray envelopes and the result, is stunning!