Some good friends asked me for a little help in designing their wedding invitation. It had been a while since the last one (my own!), and doing another sounded rather good—and an opportunity to try out some hand lettering experiments (Nina and James were very generous about that!)
The invite and the venue was going to reflect where they grew up (Texas and West Virginia), and also where they met (New York). They'd chosen Bubby's, a restaurant in Dumbo that serves southern comfort food. It has a spectacular view of the city, nestled in a converted factory under the Manhattan Bridge in Brooklyn. They wanted the invite to reflect that same feeling, something "down home" _and_ refined. A bit of the country, a bit of the city.
We didn't have a whole lot of money to spend, so with Nina and James we developed a design that could be folded, and all the pieces assembled, by themselves.
The idea hinged on the theme of "getting hitched", treating it as part hand-made poster, part invitation. I wanted something that would join the two names together. After many sketches, I settled on a design with an ampersand in the center, made from two ribbons, connecting both names. I also included some rather victorian-looking cameos tied together from the ribbon ends.
After many prototypes (many too fussy, or involving too many cuts and folds) we settled on a simpler folded design that would reveal the details as you opened it. You'd be presented first with the cameos of the couple (joined by the ampersand). As it was further unfolded, it revealed 'Nina', then 'James', and finally the details of the wedding venue (see below).
Looking a little like a venue (or Wanted!) poster (and printed on just one side), the recipient could pin it to the wall or fridge as a reminder of the happy event to come.
The color scheme for the invite was largely neutral and understated; shades of grey on natural colors and paper stock and tying into the scheme of the wedding itself. The whole was wrapped in semi-transparent vellum, to resemble parchment or waxed paper (but without the wax!), tied with natural string and enclosed in a thick brown kraft card envelope. We wanted it to have a folksy, hand-made exterior, revealing a packet of goodies inside that you'd want as a keepsake.
To help people find the area and the venue, and as many were flying in from out of town, we needed to include a map. Nina and James had an idea for something drawn in a sort-of 3D view they'd seen in some samples. It sounded like a great idea, so one day I went up onto the Manhattan Bridge walkway, and took some photos through a hole in the chainlink fence. I brought the photos back, and stitched them together into a rough patchwork in Photoshop.
I drew, pretty much straight into pen and ink, a kind of a panorama of the area, tagging on extra pieces of paper as I went. Next was scanning, cleaning, shrinking (it had gotten quite large), and finally adding the labels before printing.
This map was included in the bundle, along with an RSVP card containing a web address for more details as the wedding day approached, and their plans progressed.
- Client: Nina Hong & James Wallace
- Additonal Credit: Nina (for the wonderful lettering on the envelopes and place cards—so much better than my handwriting!), and Miki Yap (for trouble shooting and lending a pragmatic ear).