"Marie Antionette" Themed 50th Birthday

Happy Thursday!!!

I'd wanted to blog these gorgeous invitations for a while now but just been too busy. We created the invitations below for a very fabulous lady. And when I say fabulous, I mean like Sofia Vergera type fabulous. Honestly, this woman looked too good for her age. Okay enough of that (lol). We met Mrs. Rincon through her wedding planner - Alia Rdissi with Belle of the Ball events. It's always fun working with Alia and her clients and this wasn't an exception.

 

She was planning a Marie Antoinette themed 50th Birthday celebration in Aruba. She fell in love with the design below from Paper Nosh. So I contacted Paulette about the artwork and below is the finished product. Some of the invitations were done in Spanish while others in English. We letterpress them, presented each invitation in a silk Box with Lace overlay and completed the look with a Cameo brooch. Love the look of letterpress!!!

 

Letterpressed Invitations

 

The Invitations were presented to each guest in a Luxurious Silk Box

The enclosures were also letterpressed.

The Luxurious Silk Boxes with Lace overlay and Cameo brooches

 

The Silk Boxes were placed in Boxed Mailers and sealed. Ready for mailing.

Hand Calligraphy done by Maureen Vickery with Pendance

For the Menu cards, I wanted to create something a different but keeping with the theme. I suggested laser cutting the menu cards (to look similar to the Cameo Brooch). And below is the end result. Aren't these GORG!!!

Alia was kind enough to send a phone photo of the menu cards displayed on the table. Just too gorgeous!!!

Hope you enjoy your weekend!!!

Sara + Ben & more Wedding Stationery

Hello everyone!
Wedding season is in full swing and blogging has had to take a backseat. But I'm excited about this blog post. I met Sara and her mom through their wedding planner, Alia with Belle of the Ball. We didn't have very much time to work on her invitations as we met about 31/2 months or so before her wedding. During our meeting, Sara fell in love with one of our Couture invitations. Of course, her wedding theme was Diamonds and Bling!!!! We began working almost immediately because Couture Invitations have a longer lead time than the standard custom invitations. With further ado, below is the stationery we created for her wedding. Sara & Ben were married in May in Austin, Texas. Congratulations!!!

Wedding Invitations - Silk Folio with Pockets for the enclosures.

Ceremony Programs - Sara wanted the programs kept very traditional so, we used white card stock with Silver ribbon

Menu Cards - 8" Round Menu cards went under clear glass beaded chargers

Table cards

Place cards with colored rhinestones signify each guest's meal selection

We also created Sara's Rehearsal Dinner invitations. She fell in love with the Layered Flat card from the time she saw it in the studio and didn't want to change a thing on it!

Favor Tags for the Rehearsal Dinner

Melissa & Nicholas
Melissa is one of our sweetest brides this year (thankfully, we've been blessed with very sweet brides this year who have been an absolute pleasure to work with). I met with Melissa, her Mom and Wedding Planner - Alia with Belle of the Ball in April, 2011! We began working on the save the dates shortly after. It was joy working on Melissa's wedding stationery. Her wedding took place at Hotel ZaZa Houston and if you know ZaZa, then you'll notice that the pattern/textures of the invitations were very reflective of the venue. Congratulations Melissa & Nick!

The Save the Dates were double layered with the hotel accommodations on the back.

I love the simplicity and elegance of the invitations. The purple was a nice color touch to the neutral tones of the other paper choices. What bride doesn't like a little extra bling!


The ceremony program was a folder style with the ribbon matched from the invitations. We created a monogram for the couple and brought in the pattern from the invitations.

More to come shortly :)

ELEGANT CUSTOM INVITATIONS IS 5!!!!! Plus Special offer

I'm so excited and feel so blessed; ELEGANT CUSTOM INVITATIONS IS 5!!!!! WOOHOO!!!
This company was birthed from my love for beautiful paper, typography and gorgeous stationery. A while after the company started, I made the tough decision to quit corporate America and embark on this amazing journey fulltime. Even though it was a scary decision at the time, I'm glad I took the risk to do something I LOVE AND ENJOY DOING; I have never looked back!
Over the past years, we have had the pleasure of working with many fabulous brides, celebrants and of course, awesome wedding professionals. We have grown, learnt so much (and still learning) and come a long way in a short while. I thank God for the beautiful brides/colleagues/friends who keep challenging us each year and for His many blessings in this industry. I look forward to many more creative and fulfilling years ahead!!!

In celebration of our 5th year anniversary, we have a special offer for you....


Offer applies only to new custom invitation clients who make a deposit and sign an agreement between now and December 31, 2011. Cannot be combined with any other offers. Discount applies only to invitations of $500 or more. Not valid for use on existing custom invitation projects or for other stationery like ceremony programs, tablecards, escort cards. Please contact us at info@myelegant-invitations.com or (713)408-9407 for more details.

Do you really custom make these?! (The making of a Custom Invitation)

Hi Everyone,
Hope you're having a great weekend!
I always get asked if we really make the custom invitations by hand and the answer is "Yes". For our custom invitations, we begin the process with the design (which is done in-house), before moving into production (also done in-house).

A while ago, a friend and colleague of mine suggested I write a blog on producing custom invitations. Due to the craziness of the wedding season, the last thing I had time for was taking pictures before, during and after production. There just isn't time to do that. As we were about to begin producing the invitations below, I remembered his suggestion and made a conscious effort to take pictures each step of the way. This is actually a fairly simple production line. There are more intricate/time consuming steps for other invitation styles. I hope to do another post shortly on another style.

So, here's a little behind-the-scenes look at our production. Every custom invitation process begins with the design/proofing phase. Below are the design proofs (not shown are the invitation & rsvp envelopes because they have our client's address:)) This invitation is a bit unique because it was done in 2 languages - Vietnamese and English. In addition, the American Invitation wording etiquette and order names are slightly different.

All the cardstock (Invitation layers, RSVP cards, Reception cards and Front Tabs)have been "raised" printed, cut and ready to begin.


The ribbon is then cut and ready to be "blinged up"


The first phase is to embellish the invitation layers with the ribbon and Rhinestone accents


The cut ribbon strips are embellished


The embellished ribbon is mounted onto the invitations


Cindy chose a z-card style invitation. The invitation layers are then mounted onto the Z-cards


The Reception cards are mounted onto the inner flap of the Z-card


Finally, the front tabs are attached to the front of the Z-cards


Voila! Completed Invitations!


Hope you enjoyed the post. Do have a lovely weekend!

New Website, Julia & Michael etc

Hello Friends!
I hope you had a great weekend! The last few weeks have been busy in the studio; meeting new 2012 brides and working on existing projects for 2011 - 2012 brides.

Several weeks ago, we delivered some Couture Invitations. Below is a sneak peek at the Silk Invitation Pads with Pearl Rhinestone Brooches. More to come on these after the wedding.

Silk Invitation Pads


Completed Invitations in Boxes ready to go!

The New Website is up!
I am excited to announce that our new website launched earlier this month. Check it out

http://www.elegantcustominvitations.com/


Julia & Michael
Sometimes, we work with brides for a year for all their wedding stationery. Julia is one of those brides. I met Julia and Michael with her fabulous wedding planner, Alia Rdissi with Belle of the Ball. Michael's mom immediately loved the diagonal pocketfold and the couple loved it as well. They were such a lovely couple to work with and I was pleased with the way the stationery turned out. Below are some of the stationery we created for them. I say some because we're also creating invitations for a Mexican Themed after-wedding party the couple is throwing for guests most of whom could not attend their small wedding. I'll be blogging those after the event :).
Julia & Michael were married last weekend at Second Baptist Church with the reception at the lovely Houstonian Hotel, Club and Spa. I received a text message from Alia the night of the wedding..."I have to say these were the prettiest programs I've done...ranks in the top 2. everything was gorgeous...including Julia of course. Thank you for all you did Christiana!"


Wedding Invitation was a Square Pocket with a Satin Ribbon accent. We used textured cardstock for all the printed materials to keep with Julia's rustic feel.



Inside the Invitation with the Enclosure cards neatly tucked in the Pocket



Tea Length Layered Flatcard Menu cards



I particularly loved these programs. I always like when brides entrust us to create something different for them and that was the case with Julia.



The tent Escort cards



Layered Flatcard Tablecards


Microsoft MGX Awards Dinner
For a second year in a row, we were contacted to create invitations for Microsoft MGX VIP Awards Dinner. The dinner was held late July in Denver, Colorado. Below are the invitations.


Layered Flatcard with Satin Ribbon and Pearl accent


The invitations were presented to the recipients in Boxes

Okay, that's all folks...have a great and productive week!

Custom Invitation Tips

Hello all,
This has been an incredible week to say the least. Especially with Hurricane Ike sweeping through the Texas Gulf. Our hearts go out to those who were majorly hit by the hurricane. I was blessed not to have any major damages other than a 3-day power outage and minor fence damage. I also worked really hard to save my tiny tree :) ... it barely made it!!!

Despite the hurricane, we had to work through getting some work done this weekend i.e. Kathryn's boxed invitations and Sarah & Gavin's wedding program and table cards. Her wedding is this weekend and I couldn't just imagine how nervous she was with the weather situation the way it is. But she was very happy that we completed her programs in time for her wedding!!!

Here are a few tips for going custom on wedding invites (courtesy of The Knot Texas Magazine)
Enjoy...

1. Approach the design process as a collaborative effort and with an open mind.

2. Pick you “consultants”. Other than your fiancé, who will weigh in on the decision-making? Try not to bring more than two extra people to your appointments. Avoid design by committee.

3. Make sure the wedding style and taste is well-suited to the designer.

4. Be proactive to get what you want.

5. Know when to say enough is enough. Embellishments may add an elegant touch, but too many could be overkill on an already beautiful invitation.

6. Don’t exhaust all your creativity on the save-the-dates. Remember, you don’t want your other elements, like the invitations, menus and ceremony programs to compete.

That's it for now; enjoy the weekend; we plan to do just that :) !!!