My friends Chava Nesson and Kenny Boyett wanted their wedding invitations to be totally unique and reflect both their love of the outdoors and the scenic nature of the country chapel where they would exchange vows. The couple requested that the invitations feature a poem written by the brides father, and use recycled materials whenever possible.

In addition to the standard announcement for the service, the invitation also needed to provide directions to the chapel, reception, and information on accomodations for the guests.

I started the project by visiting the Whitney Mountain Chapel, located on a bluff above Beaver Lake in Garfield, Arkansas, and taking some photos from the grounds overlooking the lake. Since the chapel is totally surrounded by native oak and maple trees, I envisioned a custom booklet bound with twigs and jute twine to give the invitations a natural feel. I then took the panoramic photo of the lake and had it printed in a rich brown on warm gray vellum, which wrapped around the pages that in turn were printed on recycled paper.

The assembly of the 150 invitations was completed by hand, with the poem on the front page just visible behind the vellum. Finally, the invitations were mailed in 100% recycled brown paper envelopes and hand lettered with addresses of the attendees.
 

This is the invitation my wife Kelly and I designed for our own wedding. Our nups took place in Todos Santos, Mexico, an artisian and agricultural village on the Pacific coast in Baja California Sur, about an hour north of Cabo San Lucas.

We wanted the design to reflect the palette and textures of Baja and have a unique style. We chose handmade and canvas type papers for the foundation, and deep tan vellum for the cordial. We did the printing on the laser in our home office, and handcut and assembled them over the period of a couple of weeks.

Each RSVP'd guest then received a custom "passport" to the wedding, bound in cactus suede, and printed on recycled stock and featuring maps, itinerary, local info, common translations, and contact numbers for each hotel in which guests were staying. Each passport was stamped with the "Dos Palmas" logo of our wedding.