I was recently asked to participate in a table/room scape with some of my favorite local vendors. Cindy of Encore Events spearheaded our lovely, vintage, Out of Africa theme with ideas, expertise and product from Botanica Floral Design and Kara of Peter Corvallis Productions. I provided seating cards, place cards and the table # on a darling little plate. As always, a million thanks to Paul of Paul Rich Studio for making my work look so good!
Oh, Etiquette, you funny, funny creature! I've had -and been witness to - so many conversations about the multiple cards needed at a wedding reception, here's a blog post to hopefully help clear things up.
(Photo courtesy of Stewart Harvey Photography. Lettering - monoline flourished formal script)
Let's start with the easy one - place cards are what's set at the place setting where one is required to sit. The place card may also be used to cue a server what entree to serve a guest - suggestions for that are another post for another day :-) Today, here's a place card from one of my most darling brides
Now, how do you get the guest from the door to their place setting? This is where seating cards/table cards/escort cards come into play.
(Photo courtesy of Paul Rich Studio. Lettering - monoline formal script)
These card direct people to their seats. My preference is to call them "seating cards." Some people call them "table cards" but I've had a couple clients confuse them with "table markers."
As for the phrase, "escort cards"... boy howdy, you haven't lived until you've witnessed an elderly stateswoman in the calligraphy world straighten out someone's hash on the subject! Officially & historically, escort cards are what one receive is one were a single woman attending a dinner unescorted. Back in the day, they had to be escorted to the table by a singe gentleman. There would be a little envelope addressed to the woman, let's say "Miss Elizabeth Bennett." Inside there would be a card that said "Your escort is Mr. Darcy."
Today, call them an escort card and I know what you mean. I won't use the phrase in case I slip someday in the presence of a calligraphic doyen and accidently bring their wrath down upon me.
Huh. I used the phrases "boy howdy" and "straighten out someone's hash" in the same post. Apparently I'm channeling my inner Southerner today!
Bye y'all!
It's been chill-eeeeeee in Portland, one of the best ways to warm up is to remember lovely weddings held in warmer days.
This wedding took place at Timberline Lodge. The bride had such fantastic visions and Rachelle from Champagne Wedding Coordination did a wonderful job of making those visions a reality!
This fabulous structure held the seating cards, which were written on squares of decorative papers.
The buffet items were labeled with a variety of sizes of mini-chalkboards.
Champagne has wonderful vintage doors & windows among other vintage items for rent. This sat behind the favor table and listed the favors - local coffee and tea and several flavors of finishing salts.
Seriously - chocolate salt. Visit The Meadow's website, I dare you.
This was the guest book table, which included Flying Wish Paper, a delightful idea for a wedding!
The gorgeous floral was done by Lavish Flora. The spectacular photos come from Jessica Watson Photography.
Yesterday I handed off items to one of the best mothers-of-the-bride ever. She was SO lovely to work with, I'm sorry to see her go.
The family is Japanese American and that will be honored all throughout the wedding. I don't know how many THOUSANDS of Japanese cranes they folded but they will be all over the place - purple, fuchsia & silver. They'll be hung over the reception tables and scattered about the reception site. The table markers and seating cards had to coordinate!
The tables are named after Japanese garden items - I did the lettering in purple brush and then did a thin fuschia drop shadow. The English translation is underneath in a darker purple in monoline Italic lettering.
I love these seating cards - they serve a dual purpose. The name of the table is on them, of course, and the guests are instructed to leave their cards at their place setting so the server knows which entree to serve (purple=steak, fuschia=chicken, silver=vegetarian, white=children) The cards come from Paper Source, they have a fabulous selection of colors and the paper is a dream with which to work!
I'm just getting back from a trip to New England where we spent not-enough time visiting family & friends. One of my adventures was to the Crane Museum of Papermaking with my sister & my husband (who must love me a lot because papermaking - not so much with the excitement for the civilians ;-) It was great for me and I appreciate their putting up with me!
Crane & Co. makes beautiful invitations and stationery and I frequently work with their products. It was nice to go to the source. Sorry, other calligraphers, they don't make Letra envelopes on site so there wasn't anyone on which I could take out our collective frustrations.
Crane also has wonderful etiquette information on their website. Their Blue Book is a must!
What not everyone knows is that all Americans work with their products every day as Crane is the exclusive supplier of the paper the U.S. Treasury uses to print money (dammit! no free samples!)
I managed to carry on.
This is the building that houses the musuem. It used to be the rag building, where rags were broken down into pulp for paper. Hence, the paper reference "rag content."
I love this plaque, the lettering is darling!
Here's Zenas Crane himself. Doesn't he look like a New England 19th century party boy?
Of course not, I don't think they existed back then.
Here's one of the cutey-patootey figurines that shows the process of paper making. The entire display was made by Dard Hunter, a prominent paper maker and printer in the 20th century. I have crazy friends who love to make paper and I direct them to The Friends of Dard Hunter to find more crazies like them. I have made handmade paper and it's as back-breaking as this model illustrates. I will happily buy handmade paper and not even blink at the cost.
Oh! If you're a Portlander reading this, the word is "coucher" pronounced "coocher" like our crazy street. It's really a word, that's why I took this particular photo.
And now the word "Vatman" has entered my head and I have the "Batman" tv show theme going through my head.
And now so do you. Mwahahahahahaha.
Oh-so-pretty! Earlier this year I did seating cards for one of Marilyn of Portland Wedding Planner's brides. The cards came from The Wedding Cottage - as did the invitations which had the same cherry blossom floral element. Such a pretty graphic element to tie everything together. The names are in different colors to let the servers know what entree to serve each guest. Big thanks to Artistique Photographie for the beautiful photos!
I'm really looking forward to hitting the road this Saturday with fellow Bridal Lofties August Veils, Paul Rich Studio and Event Cosmetics for The Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club Bridal Show. I'm suddenly thinking there's a script for a buddy comedy in this little adventure.
We'll be there from noon to three. I'll be demo'ing calligraphy on these sweet die cuts from Paper Zone on SE Grand Ave in Portland. Coming from a die cutter, they can be on almost any paper! We were using them for nametags and food signs at last weekend's event, they'd make sweet seating or place cards. They were a big hit. My wheels are spinning with all sorts of things for these cuties. As always, much love to the PZ crew for sharing!
Come visit us and the gorgeous Pumpkin Ridge!
Big thanks to Continuum Photography for the photo from last weekend's event!
Big thanks to New & Blue in The Pearl for their blog post about me! I've been very fortunate to have been working with Tatum and her excellent staff for a few years now. I've always had a great experience with them & their clients - and somehow always seem to come home with "something new!"
Not in Portland? Check out their website, it's H-U-G-E!
I was very fortunate this year to work with a great bride who is a fellow Massachusettsite. We've had a great time talking about things Back East, such as her fiance & his "married into it - Red Sox fan for life" tee. And we had a wonderful time putting together things for her reception.
Amy's getting married in Vegas and my thoughts turn once again to becoming a wedding crasher. Her colors are rich jewel tones, focusing primarily on red & purple. How lush!
Her blank escort cards were provided by the hotel - the writing space was a bit teeny but totally doable. These are the unfolded fronts, the table assignment is on the other side. I alternated names by the tables between red & purple, when they're all set up the color pattern will be random.
Here are the wicked* fun table numbers - I had so much fun doing them, first the number spelled out in red watercolor, then the numeral on top also in watercolor. The watercolor paper was then mounted onto a fabulous metallic purple cardstock. I want to use this cardstock for wallpaper - and I'm not even a big fan of purple.
Amy also asked me to make a sign for their guest book. Of course I had to use metallic purple ink - it's Las Vegas, baby! The phrase is in quotes because they're providing their guests with a photo guide book to Las Vegas (see! more fun! I want to go.) She provided the really lovely frame & mat, it'll be great for a wedding photo later. (I took this photo at The Bridal Loft before Amy came to pick up. If you look in the reflection you can see some of Bead Alex's gorgeous jewelry.)
Last but not least, Amy wanted me to write out quotes that she would post around the room at the reception. They ranged from the sweet A.A. Milne quote "If you live to be one hundred, I want to live to be one hundred minus one day so I never have to live without you" to the more pragmatic Groucho Marx - "I was married by a judge. I should have asked for a jury." Ah, the sentimentality of my homeland. The writing is in red metallic ink, mounted to purple cardstock with little gold corners.
I had a wonderful time with Amy and I think she did with me, one of her last e-mails to me said:
"Can you do calligraphy for just random things in my life, grocery lists etc, I don't want this to be over!"
Have I ever calligraphed a grocery list? No. Will I? Of course!!
*It was also fun to speak my native tongue - like using "wicked" instead of "very." I'm sure I also dropped an "r" here and there and words cannot tell you how lovely it was not to be picked on for saying "AWrange" instead of "ORange."
I'm taking some time to go through all my photos and files from 2009 now that all my receipts for the year have been entered in the computer (go me!) I came across this from last summer and got excited all over again. Yes, just like a pre-schooler who forgot about a favorite toy and then finds it again.
Last summer I received an e-mail from Crystal Lilies, a wonderful Portland-based florist. They wanted to know if I was available to do escort cards and table numbers for one of their brides. You bet, I love their work!
I posted my do-it-yourself photos in August with the title "Rustic" but I'm reblogging and I'm sure you'll understand why. First, a photo of the escort cards in use:
The table top is branches of wood bound together to make a large round table. I got to see one up close & personal, it was gorgeous! The tags are tied to lavender wands, can't you almost smell them? This photo is from Amelia Ann Photo. I love perusing her website and hope we share another client soon!
The photo really sent my heart pitter-patter but what sent me over the moon was the note from the bride
The.
Vogue.
Magazine.
Sylvana is the Director of Special Events for Vogue. She thought my work was gorgeous. I can't think of anything else to say except (for the third time)I'm over the moon!
I had all sorts of wonderful brides in 2009 - and not a bridezilla in the lot! I've met with several brides for 2010 and I think this year is shaping up to be another one for the record books!
"I put words on things!"
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