"Springtime in Paris" inspired bridal shower invitations
If this bridal shower proceeded, I might have had to crash it. Covid-19 did it’s thing, but not before these invitations were designed, created and mailed out to Sarah’s guests.
Based on how much love Sarah put into her bridal shower invitations, I could only imagine how incredible the shower itself was going to be. The April 26th bridal shower was going to take place at Hotel X in Toronto with a “Springtime in Paris” theme and knowing Sarah, it was going to be beautiful.
So this time, I don’t have photos to show you how the invitations matched the event or how all of the stationery pieces looked surrounded by gorgeous flowers and pretty decor - and it’s a bummer.
But, I can definitely still share how these picturesque bridal shower invitations were inspired by a very picturesque proposal.
I think Audrey Hepburn was the one who said it first - “Paris is always a good idea”. It’s an even better idea if you’re planning to propose there.
Johnny, of course, had to take it one step further, and on the day he planned to propose, he told Sarah to get dressed up because they were going to have a photoshoot… Like wow. Wowowowowowooww. How perfect is that?! I consider myself a pretty low-key person but this engagement was pretty impressive.
Under the guise of a photoshoot, with the two of them nicely dressed up, Johnny got on one knee and proposed to Sarah in the view of the Eiffel Tower.
It wasn’t necessarily springtime when Johnny proposed, but given that the bridal shower was scheduled for the spring (and that Sarah loved pink), it seemed like “springtime in Paris” was the perfect theme for her bridal shower.
When Sarah initially inquired about her bridal shower invitations, she knew that she wanted to incorporate some pinks, whites, cherry blossoms, florals and butterflies.
As soon as she mentioned that and shared her interest in incorporating vellum into her invitation suite, I knew exactly what I wanted to do.
I immediately thought of a cherry blossom flower border with a full bleed around the invitation. I also thought that the square shape for the invitation would give the invitation some nice symmetry, but also make it pop due the untraditional size - without adding anything too dramatic.
I knew that adding a vellum overlay would be a perfect way to incorporate the butterflies without making the invitation itself too crammed or busy. We fastened the vellum to the invitation with a tiny 3mm rivet - they were a headache to assemble but so worth it!
As much as I love including my calligraphy into anything and everything, to keep the Parisian vibe of the event, I opted for a simple serif font that stayed true to the elegance and glamour of Paris.
Knowing Sarah’s style, I immediately knew that the envelope liner had to include an “S” monogram that would tie all of these concepts together with a cherry blossom branch and a butterfly, resting on the letter.
The very first mock-up of the invitation.
The final invitation.
You can see the very first proposal for this invitation above. The final result (on the right) stayed true to the original concept with some minor colour changes.
Initially, we were going to work with a pink vellum overlay with white ink printing but after some production issues with the pink vellum, we opted to use a standard vellum with pink printing - which actually ended up giving the invitation more of a more romantic and luxurious feel - once this was done, I actually preferred it! Because of the vellum change, we also lightened the pink letterpress colour which brought the entire invitation together in a softer and more “bridal” aesthetic.
We also added a few extra butterflies to the envelope liner to give it an extra pop and an extra little bit of whimsy to these invitations.
The outer envelope was what I call a “barely pink-beige” with a slight shimmer to it. The soft and muted colour stayed true to the feminine look I was going for without overkilling the invitations with pink details.
To date, these were probably the easiest invitations I have ever designed - knowing the client and the details of her engagement, it was easy to start piecing together her vision for her bridal shower and design and create these truly one-of-a-kind invitations. Based on the feedback that she shared with me, her (would-be) guests loved them as much as we did!
Fortunately for us, Sarah and Johnny ultimately did get married in 2020. I can’t share those details yet - but their beautiful wedding will definitely get a feature on the blog as soon as I can!
And that’s the perk of custom…
We turn your vision - often a jumble of words and concepts - into a truly custom and one-of-a-kind result that screams your personality.
Interested in working with us? Hit the button below and tell us about your vision!