Our "sweet" invitation suite

I am so excited to share our wedding invitation suite! Creating the perfect wedding invitation was a very long process that involved a lot of research, planning, designing, and hard work, but I cannot be more pleased with how it turned out.

The wisteria, birdcage, and flowers are elements that will be incorporated into the ceremony. Artwork by Dan Nelson.

I adore how the map turned out! It provides directions from the ceremony to the reception, and also includes Village of Pinehurst landmarks and accommodation information. I love the little details including the small bride and groom in the Pergola Garden, the race track, and the note about "where David & Dorothy will live." Artwork by Dan Nelson. Concept by Dorothy from Luv, the Bride.

A very special thank you to David's wonderful dad, Dan Nelson, who not only designed the gorgeous artwork on the invitation, but also the whimsical map/directions card, and the RSVP card. He also kindly (and tirelessly) did the calligraphy for the envelopes, and I want to point out that the invitation text is also done by him! (Many people thought this was a computer-generated font, but it is Dan Nelson all the way!) David's father is a well-known artist both locally and nationally...and I'll let you in on a (not-so-little) secret: not only is he an artist, but he is also a pastor, and a very talented musician. He truly is a modern-day renaissance man. Please check out his website and YouTube page. Prepare to be amazed!

I also want to give a shout-out to Postmaster Geri at the Bridal Veil United States Post Office! She hand-canceled each of our invitations for us with an adorable "Marriage Station" stamp. I was more than willing to go through the process of having our invitations hand-canceled (instead of risking having them bent and dirtied through the automated process). It was also fun and unique to have such a special postmark. You can find out more about having your invitations hand-canceled with the Bridal Veil postmark here. 

Rick at Joseph C. Woodard Printing Company was a pleasure to work with throughout the printing process, and I was pleased with the quality, look, feel, and price of the envelopes from LCI Paper. Last but not least, I have to mention my own little touch: the wax seal. I knew I wanted a wax seal to go with the traditional look of our invitation suite, but I couldn't find the perfect one...so I designed my own. I thought a pine cone was the perfect touch, since our wedding will be in the Village of Pinehurst. I had the stamp made by Back to Zero.

David was a wonderful fiancé and helped me stuff all the envelopes. We had our own little two-man assembly line going on. During the design process, David joked about the amount of time, energy, and detail that was going into everything. Now the running joke between David, his dad, and me is that upon receiving and opening the invitations, our guests would "cry" after realizing the pine cone connection.

As much as I enjoy some of the cute and trendy designs offered through companies such as Wedding Paper Divas and Minted, I just didn't find exactly what I wanted. When David's dad came up with the idea of the unique vertically-folded card, I knew I couldn't just have them printed anywhere. In the end, the custom-designed artwork and local printing process was the way to go. Everything ended up being cheaper and more beautiful than any mass-produced invitation I found.

Hope you enjoyed the story behind the creation of our "sweet" little invitation suite.

Luv,
the Bride

Vendors: Dan Nelson, Joseph C. Woodard Printing Company, Bridal Veil United States Post Office, LCI Paper, Back to Zero and Dorothy from Luv, the Bride