Woodland Wedding, DIY Charm: Invitations

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Real Green Weddings

Nathalie, a full time graphic designer for Gilah Press + Design in Baltimore, designed all the paper goods for the ceremony. She wanted the invitations to “give the guests a good idea of the atmosphere to be expected at our wedding: rustic, casual, and personal with lots of fun touches.”

For the save the date postcards, Nathalie drew a wood grain pattern and hand-lettered each card. She used the same wood grain design in the invitations, which had three colors letterpress printed on various shades of Mr. French's paper. As Nathalie explains, “The paper is made using 100% clean, renewable hydro electric energy. A hydroelectric generator was installed in the river at the base of their mill about 100 years ago that also provides surplus energy to their local energy company, and the water that the processors use goes back into the river cleaner than when it came in.”

Nathalie didn't stop at personally designing and letterpress printing each invitation. She also created a custom heart monogram (hand-drawn as well) and made it into a stamp that was stamped onto the back of each invitation. Finally, she scoured eBay for woodland-themed vintage postage stamps for the RSVP cards. Luckily, the post office came out with a woodland stamp right around that time, so every piece of the invitation suite was personalized to the celebration.

The couple created and maintained a very informative wedding website so that they wouldn't have to include any other printed materials with the invitations. Their guests visited the website to find information on hotel stays, transportation, the registry, the couple's planning process, and more.