Melinda and Ron |
The Brief: This invitation package was designed to represent a love story that spanned continents, flourished in the beautiful locations of Paris, Lisbon, Calais, Amsterdam and Brussels, before settling down in Australia. Not only is their story amazing, but the couple, Melinda and Ron, are pretty darn amazing too. It was an absolute pleasure putting this invitation together, and such a creative, fulfilling experience to bring this vision to life.
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| First of all, it must be said that a project such as this is a blessing, there is no other word for it. When you meet a couple (even if it is by email rather than face to face!) and they are as joyous, thoughtful and quite simply in love as much as as Mel and Ron, you know immediately that the project that results from your collaboration is going to be something truly special. From the word go, Mel's emails were filled with lovely little details: how they met, the itinerary of their travels abroad, Ron's talent for volleyball (which influenced a fair bit of the invitation suite!), the special men in their life: Ron's sons Matt, Zac and Sam... I couldn't get through reading one without a huge smile on my face! |
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| Guests were invited to a weekend away, rather than just the wedding - so there was lots of information to include, and a small guest list meant that the invitations could be something very special! There were quite a few components to each invitation suite, which were carefully packaged up and sent in glossy white DL invitation boxes: |
The Passport
This was the 'main' part of the suite, as it was where the formal invitation to Mel and Ron's wedding was placed. The front cover featured the Australian coat of arms (which is found on every Aussie passport) and had a lovely faux-fabric texture as a background. We formatted the information about the wedding ceremony and reception to look like the first page of a passport - complete with a cute photo of Ron and Melinda. For the remaining pages in the passport, we told the story of Ron and Mel's meeting, and subsequent courtship, through their time together in Europe and at home in Australia. It seemed only fitting to make this like a miniature scrapbook of their travels. |
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The Reply Card
The reply card for this suite had two purposes - attendance plans, as any good reply card should provide, as well as a chance for guests to put forward their volleyball-playing plans for the Sunday of the wedding weekend. We also included some room for guests to write a quick note to Mel and Ron. Cards were trimmed to fit inside cute kraft-paper envelopes. We sourced vintage-inspired Australian stamps to prefix to each envelope which added a very nice whimsical touch! |
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The Volleyball Postcard, Paris Postcard and Luggage Tag
To give guests a little bit more information about the times and locations for the volleyball match, we designed one of two postcards which were to slip in behind the passport and reply card. The volleyball postcard was instructional, and listed some simple tips for playing volleyball so even a novice would be able to stride onto the court with confidence! It may have been a little tongue-in-cheek but Ron's volleyball-playing friends approved! |
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| Mel and Ron plan to move to Paris and live there for one year, and we couldn't resist also designing a beautiful Paris inspired postcard - in French - it reads "Paris, will you marry me?" Although Mel and Ron did not end up going with this option in the final design, we also put together a concept for a wish tree that featured luggage tags as wish cards that guests could fill out ahead of time and bring along to the reception. Both postcards featured quotes from the film Love Actually, which is the couple's favourite movie! |
The Map
As the main event was a destination wedding, a map was of great importance for out-of-towners to find their way from place to place. We decided to base the map on a Lonely Planet guide to Berry, and listed a little about the town, as well as directions and accommodation suggestions! This map folded into three and slipped in behind the postcards. A vintage map of Europe formed the background to the outer side of the map - adding further to the overall travel theme of the suite. |
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| Each invitation was adorned with a sprig of lavender, tied with baker's twine, and a circular label that read another one of the couple's favourite quotes from Love Actually, "'Tis but the work of a moment..." - this quote in the film comes as a Christmas present is getting rather ridiculously wrapped with many different layers of decoration... and it seemed quite fitting to use it here, considering the layers to this invitation, perhaps we would have made Rufus, the jewelry salesman, rather proud! |
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| We couldn't resist taking a quick snapshot of these beauties, mid-assembly - the smell in the studio was heavenly (not to mention very relaxing!) As the invitation evolved, it felt like we were creating a gift, rather than just an invitation, and I think this translated particularly well to the guests too, once each glossy white box was tied with a pewter ribbon and gift tag! Mel and Ron mentioned the fantastic response they received from hand-delivering the majority of their invites and that all their guests were blown away with the detail of each invitation... always a lovely thing to hear! |
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| It was a pleasure to continue this amazing suite a few weeks later, when we were asked to begin preparing several Day Of items to keep the story going! |
Seating Chart
This was another exciting endeavor - given the small guest list, we were able to make a keepsake wall hanging out of the seating chart. Each guest was linked to any other guests they had a 'connection with' either as a friend or family member. Little airplanes wove flight paths in and out of names which each also featured the table they were on. |
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Order of Service and Telegram Envelope
As a little something special, we created program envelopes to hand to guests at the wedding. Each envelope was labeled with a guest name as it included, in addition to a card with the order of service, a note from the couple, telling each person how much they valued them in their lives and thanking them for attending the day! We fashioned these into telegrams with old-school typewriter type. Such a lovely thought, I bet this was such a hit at the ceremony! |
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| Blank telegrams were also supplied for last minute notes and could also be used by guests to leave a message for Mel and Ron! |
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Suitcase Centerpieces
These were such fun - kraft-paper finish suitcases, decorated with stickers and flags from the various places Mel and Ron had traveled together. These were placed in the centre of each table at the reception as decoration and also as a reminder of what brought Mel and Ron together. Each was also tied with a luggage tag which featured the couple's insignia and date of their marriage. I'm sure these would be a marvelous container to keep wedding memorabilia in afterward! |
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Table Favours and Placecards
As there was quite a bit of lavender left over from the invitations - we decided to make additional sprigs which doubled as place cards for the guests - one was placed on the napkin of every guest's table setting. A simple way to tie all the various design elements of the invitation into the day of the wedding. |
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Kids Activity Packs
Not to forget the younger set, we created little activity packs for Mel and Ron's guests' children, which included a colouring book, a kraft envelope filled with sticker sheets, and a wrapped up packet of pencils. Each was also labeled with the young guest's name and tied with bakers twine. |
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Menus and Door-Hangers
We also designed place mat menus to go at each place-setting - to add a bit of colour to the reception space and also to inform guests of the feast ahead! Door hangers were a cute last minute addition waiting for guests when they checked in to their various accommodation! |
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| Working with Ron and Mel was such a great opportunity and I'm very thankful to have been involved in their day. Congratulations guys and all the best for a wonderful future together! |
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