Style Me Pretty Feature Wedding

I'm so excited and honored! One of my brides, and So Dressed Up wedding planner, had her beautifully sophisticated wedding featured on Style Me Pretty's Illinois blog! Check out all of the breath taking photography which includes a few items I created for her including escort cards, the "Bride" and "Groom" signs hung from the back of their chairs, an envelope from her wedding invitations and her "Bride" bag. It's easy to tell Katie is a wedding and event planner. Every detail is perfect! Congratulations Katie and Chris!!!!

A Beautiful Custom Calligraphy Style

I love a bride who pushes me to try something new. My bride and event planner, Katie, asked me to create a custom style based on a sample she found on-line. I started by creating a sample. I photographed it, e-mailed it to her for approval and the rest, as they say, is history.

I returned Katie's completed envelopes to her on Friday. I LOVE the way they turned out and so does she.

Keep custom styles in mind when looking for that perfect calligrapher. Sometimes you may like a calligrapher's overall style, and positive customer reviews, but they do not have a calligraphy option that matches your invitation. Ask if they can create something custom for you. A custom calligraphy style not only helps carry your wedding theme through to your envelopes but adds one more special touch to your wedding!

Kim and Chad

I promised myself I wouldn't slack off on my blog this year and here I am, slacking! Thankfully it is because I have been swamped with work and have the hardest time finding a few minutes in my day to write something. So today's the day!

I love working with couples like Kim and Chad. They are friends with two other couples whose wedding invitations I addressed. There is nothing better than being recommended to someone by a happy customer!

Kim and Chad were married last weekend at a beautiful resort in Florida. When I started working with them, they hired me just to address their invitations. They were pleased enough with my work to then ask me to write their place cards, table numbers and menus! It is so much fun being involved with all aspects of a couple's wedding. I feel honored to be such a big part of it! And the best part is I was able to use my newest calligraphy style, Zaner, for everything.

Wedding Invitation Suites by Cristine

I am so excited to introduce my line of Wedding Invitation Suites! From simple to extravagant and contemporary to traditional, these invitations will speak to almost everyone. Invitations by Cristine include 8 different designs. Each one is completely customizable - you can choose the color, calligraphy style, envelope liner, ribbon and more. Each suite includes the invitation, reception card, RSVP card and RSVP envelope.

The invitations can be printed traditionally or letterpress.

If none of these are quite what you are looking for, I am more than happy to work with you to create a custom design to bring your vision to life.

Amanda & Luke

Last summer I had the opportunity to be part of Amanda and Luke's wedding. They had a smallish, autumn wedding in upstate New York and there was no detail not handled perfectly. I was chosen to address their wedding invitations. They chose my Caroline style with the addresses written in All Caps (my absolute favorite style, by the way!). They captured the envelopes in these beautiful shots.

Amanda and Luke asked me to write their place cards as well. They had gone to the location of their wedding and taken lots of artistic shots. They then used these wonderfully unique photos as the place cards at their reception. As I said, there was no detail overlooked and it shows!

Featured on Ruffled!

Well, I have to take 2 seconds to share with you that I'm currently featured in Ruffled's current blog for today! I wondered why I was getting SO many hits on my website today from Ruffled. I'm thrilled to be listed among the other vendors featured. It has made my Friday! Check it out!!!

http://www.ruffledblog.com/

Envelope Stuffing!

As a bride, you are busy juggling work, wedding planning, working out and more wedding planning. Your list of things to do grows longer daily (even though you're constantly checking things off!). Now that you've hired me to address your wedding invitations, don't forget about setting aside time to stuff those envelopes (Note to self: add stuffing to "To-Do List").

Now immediately cross stuffing off your list. I'm here to make your life easier. Not only will I address your wedding invites, for a small fee, I will go to the post office and buy your postage, attach the postage to the envelopes (outer and RSVP), stuff your envelopes AND drop them all off at the post office when complete.

I just finished stuffing envelopes for my last bride. I love being able to help a bride quickly cross things off her "To-Do List." Having me stuff your envelopes not only saves you time, it also saves a trip (or postage) to retrieve your completed envelopes! Plus, I can help you feel your way through purchasing the correct postage for your envelopes.

This bride also chose to have me address her invitations in my newest style: Zaner! It's always fun to address invitations in a new style. Variety is the spice of life!

Love Letters

It's nearly Valentine's Day, and it's time to find the perfect, unique gift for that someone special in your life. Before you spend way too much on roses that will eventually whither away, check out these BEAUTIFUL creations from Ijorere The Invitation. Ijorere's Love Letters are the perfect way to express your love. Included in Ijorere's signature, gorgeous wooden box is a letter from your heart hand written in calligraphy (done by me!) tied up with a bow and a box of delectable Anna Shea Chocolates. This is truly a gift your loved one will treasure for years to come. Visit Ijorere's website for ordering and pricing information. You'll be glad you did...and so will your sweetheart!

WeddingWire: 2011 Bride's Choice Award

I received another exciting honor - I won WeddingWire's 2011 Bride's Choice Award for the second year in a row! For those brides out there looking for wedding vendors, check out WeddingWire.com

The reviews on there are from real brides being brutally honest. What's better than a recommendation from a fellow bride!

Ruffled's Blue Label

I'm so excited to be one of the latest members of Ruffled's Blue Label. Ruffled is a wedding blog for vintage, indie and DIY brides and Ruffled's Blue Label is a handpicked directory of the best of the best wedding industry professionals. Blue Label is an invitation-only based membership and I'm honored to be selected!

Check it out ~ inspiration is right around the corner!

Bridal Shower Gift Idea

I spent yesterday at a wonderful surprise bridal shower for my cousin's fiance'. She is Swiss so all of this wedding planning is so foreign to her and my cousin isn't much help! She didn't want a shower at all so an aunt decided the only way to host one for her was to surprise her. It was lovely and while she was so overwhelmed by the entire thing, I think she really enjoyed herself.

It was next to impossible to find that perfect shower gift for her. She and my cousin aren't registering anywhere (it seems strange for her to ask for gifts), so I had to get creative. I decided to make her a set of note cards (along with a gift card). They are a super cute gift idea and who can't use note cards after a shower to write all those thank you notes!

New Style for 2011 -- Zaner

I had the pleasure of addressing invitations for a David Tutera bride this past wedding season. The bride chose Ijorere The Invitation to create her one-of-a-kind wedding invitations. They were stunning! The invitations needed to be packaged in a box so I used one of the fonts from her invitation to address the boxes. That font is now my newest style for 2011! Introducing Zaner! It's a beautifully whimsical style that replaces one of my less popular styles. I can't wait to address another set of envelopes with this style!

First Bride of 2011

I've been off the map for a while. I believe my New Year's Resolution last year was to keep up with this blog. But I fell short - WAY short! This year I promise to do much better.

And that's why I thought I'd share with you a quick pic of the envelopes ready to be delivered to my first bride of 2011. Chelsey asked me to write her invitations in a custom style - one that matched her wedding invitations. And since I'm always up for a challenge, I dove in to her envelopes.



So here's to keeping our New Year's Resolutions!