GALLERY No.

1

kathryn & taylor

Wilmington, nc wedding

Kathryn and Taylor were married in a beautiful church in downtown Wilmington along the riverfront, and celebrated with guests afterward at Cape Fear Country Club. For their Save the Dates, the couple wanted a watercolor of the Wilmington riverfront, which includes gorgeous historical buildings and the romantic riverwalk. For their invitations, the couple asked for very traditional, thermography printed suite with beautiful calligraphy and hand drawn florals. The envelope liner included the same watercolor of the Wilmington riverfront, tying everything together.

We coordinated her bridesmaid luncheon invitations, rehearsal dinner invitations, and welcome party invitations with the whole suite by using watercolor illustrations of the venue and her favorite hydrangea flowers. Day-of details included ceremony programs, watercolor cocktail signs, custom navy blue linen matchboxes with gold foil, cocktail napkins, table numbers with watercolor illustrations of their venues and favorite places in Wilmington. Escort cards printed with the same watercolor illustrations guided guests to their seats. Guests traveling from out of town were greeted with welcome bags that included a watercolor map of Wilmington and the weekend itinerary.

GALLERY No.

2

Olivia & alex

volterra, italy wedding

Olivia and Alex met in college at UNC Chapel Hill, where he played football and she was a cheerleader. The two are perfect for each other and support each other through everything. They will be married on July 4 in Volterra, Italy, surrounded by their family and closest friends.

For their invitation suite, we wanted to incorporate as many meaningful details as possible. Olivia's mom passed away a few years ago, and Olivia wanted to honor her by having her favorite flower, the calla lily, on as many pieces of the suite as we could. We used watercolor calla lilies on their Save the Date, return address design, RSVP card, and their keepsake wax seal. The small, but meaningful, detail tied everything together.

Olivia and Alex knew they wanted a watercolor illustration of their Italian venue on the invitation itself, so to take it to the next level, we incorporated a full aerial view of the venue grounds on the back of the invitation. Guests could keep this as an art print to remind them of the beautiful Italian landscape.

The Weekend Festivities card had several different events for guests to attend, including a pizza party, a welcome BBQ, and a recovery brunch - so fun! The back of the card had a watercolor map of Italy, with illustrations of major cities that guests would be flying into. 

To give guests an idea of what to pack for their Italian getaway, Olivia loved the idea of having an Attire Card full of watercolor illustrations. The wedding ceremony was a black tie event, so I painted a deep green gown and a tuxedo. The other illustrations included a floral sundress, Golden Goose sneakers, the couple's favorite tees, and khaki shorts with a button down. 

To pull the whole suite together, we did a printed vellum wrap with an illustration of the venue's beautiful greenery-covered front door. Sealed with the calla lily wax seal, when guests opened the wrap, it was like opening the doors to the whole wedding experience. 

GALLERY No.

3

mackenzie & will

warrensburg, ny wedding

Mackenzie and Will met in college, when they were both inducted into the same a cappella group. They both wore the yellow accent color of the group, and were immediately connected. They just clicked from the beginning, bonding over music and their enthusiasm for life. For their invitation suite, the couple knew they wanted to incorporate a custom watercolor crest, their cute kitties (Merry and Pippin), and details from their love story.

Because Mackenzie and Will are getting married in a beautiful setting at a lake in New York, for their Save the Date, we did a watercolor forest with their cats perched on the wording (a fun detail that they loved!). We did white calligraphy on forest green envelopes, and an embossed return address on the back flap.

For their invitation, we chose to go with full calligraphy on the front, and accent their watercolor crest by making it the focus of the backer. The crest includes their cats (of course), a Christmas tree (for Mackenzie's love of Christmas), the mountains from their venue, a vinyl record, a Minnesota Twins hat, a cowbell (they love Saturday Night Live), a quote, music notes, and a ribbon and flowers from Mackenzie's bouquet. The crest is extremely meaningful to them, and I was excited to design it!

Their RSVP card has another ribbon to tie in the crest and the yellow accent color that bonded them in the first place. The back of the RSVP card includes watercolor sheet music of the song that made them fall in love, The Way You Look Tonight by Frank Sinatra. The Details card has a Douglas fir tree, again tying in the setting of the venue and Mackenzie's love of Christmas.

Their ceremony will be held at a small chapel surrounded by gorgeous trees, so the envelope liner is a watercolor illustration of the chapel...with their kitties sitting on the front porch. Their forest green envelopes will be calligraphed with gold calligraphy ink. We tied in so many meaningful, intentional details to make this suite truly one-of-a-kind.

GALLERY No.

4

sarah & josh

charlotte, nc wedding

Sarah & Josh have an incredibly unique sense of style, and from day 1 I was excited to work with them! The theme of their wedding is "bringing beauty to the darkness", and wedding planner Chelsey Sanderson of Charlotte Fete helped bring that design concept to life. Also, how about these gorgeous photos by Rebecca Stone Photography?!

We started with their invitation card and right off the bat I knew I wanted to use a black paper that had a velvety soft texture. The inspiration for the design was based on The Lovers tarot card. I used line drawings, a skull, and a non-traditional font pairing. The invitation was stamped with gold foil, making the design pop off the paper.

From there, the couple knew they wanted an ouija board-inspired RSVP card, where guests could use planchette stickers to select their response. We printed the RSVP card on burgundy linen paper with gold foil. The planchette stickers were custom made and die cut with a hole in the middle, then attached to an extra insert card with directions on how to mark their response. We also decided to tie in some dimension by using a vellum RSVP envelope.

The Details card was next, and we did a die cut of a planchette to tie everything together design-wise. It was printed on thick black cardstock with white ink printing.

The black belly band wrapped the whole suite, sealed with a black wax seal with a skull illustration. The stack was then placed into a velvety smooth black envelope lined with a pattern inspired by the couple's favorite table linen that they would be using at their reception.

The main envelope was printed front and back with more line drawings in white ink, as well as the guest address and return address, using the same font pairings from the invitation.

GALLERY No.

5

french country inspiration

french country inspiration

I worked with so many talented vendors on this French country styled shoot! I loved being able to work with different paper types and colors, and creating a romantic invitation suite with calligraphy and watercolor florals.

The pale pink invitation card with deckled, torn edges was printed with dusty blue invitation wording and a full backer of watercolor flowers. The cream colored RSVP card was printed with the same dusty blue color, and had a dusty blue response envelope to match. I wanted the back of the invitation card to be the focus of the suite, so I used a vellum main envelope with dusty blue calligraphy and vintage stamps. The idea of being able to see through the envelope straight to the patterned backer was the main goal, and would allow guests to be drawn into the invitation suite.

I finished things off with some cute olive oil gift tags, again tying in the watercolor pattern on a vellum overlay. The tags beneath the vellum were a mix of pale pink and cream, printed with the dusty, French blue color. I tied the vellum and thank you tag together with a thin string, bringing in a rustic, but refined element to the tags. This is a great idea for guest favors at your wedding!

The styled shoot was at Dove Meadows in Monroe, NC. The gorgeous venue is run by Ashley Tolar, and her father did most of the renovations on the space. It's a beautiful setting and highly recommended!

Photographer: Samantha Laffoon Photography | Stationery & Calligraphy: Dear Kathryn  | Venue: Dove Meadows | Design: Sarah Duckworth Events | Florals: Weddings with Barbara | Hair & Makeup: Cali Stott Artistry | Cake: Daphne’s Bakery | Bride’s Dress & Accessories: Hayden Olivia Bridal | Groom’s Tux: Men’s Warehouse | Rentals: Evermore Event Co., Nuage Designs, Party Time Rentals

GALLERY No.

6

fine art invitations

fine art invitations

How on earth did I get so lucky to work on this styled shoot with so many talented vendors?! My goal for this fine art suite was to incorporate different paper types, textures, colors, and design elements that were a little out of my comfort range. I really wanted to push myself to create something totally unique, while mixing in different elements like vellum, thread, dried flowers, and layers.

Let's start with the invitation, shall we? The invitation was flat printed on cream cardstock, but backed with cream linen paper with hand torn edges. I loved the layered look because it added dimension and texture! Another special touch to the suite was the blind embossing. I added a simple embossed line coming out of the flower detail on both the invitation and RSVP card, which added that custom, high end touch. (If letterpress printing and full embossing aren't in your budget, this is a great way to upgrade your flat printing!)

The RSVP card was printed on cream cardstock, and I chose a bright mustard yellow envelope to pull in the accent colors of the florals.

The inner envelope was a dream...and is one of my favorite pieces ever. You can only get that kind of texture with handmade paper. The dusty pink color fit perfectly with the color palette, and get this: there are dried flowers IN the paper. Lined with a watercolor illustration of the ceremony site at Morning Glory Farm, it's really the perfect touch to the suite.

The oversized outer envelope pulled in a gray color that was reflected in one of the wax seal colors. I used a dusty pink ink color for the calligraphy ink so everything tied together seamlessly.

Holding the suite together was a vellum belly band wrapped in thin mustard yellow thread and sealed with a purpley-gray wax seal (yes, that's a very technical term for the color!). The vellum added yet another texture to the suite, and I love the elegance it added!

For the table decor, I provided vellum place cards that had a yellow-gold wax seal, dried flowers, and purpley-gray ink that matched the other wax seal color and envelope color. Using the same colors, textures, and paper in your day-of items is a beautiful way to give your guests a seamless experience from Save the Date to day-of stationery!

Photographer: Amanda Somerville Photography  |  Photographer: Meghan Rose Photography  |  Suit: OMJ Clothing  |  Dress: Bluebird Bridal  |  Planning: Madison Moseley Events  |  Venue: Morning Glory Farm  |  Invitation: Dear Kathryn  |  Hair & Makeup: Emily Odom  |  Rentals: Cooke Rentals  |  Florals: Santara Flowers  |  Shoes: Bella Belle Shoes

GALLERY No.

7

sarah & eric

uptown charlotte wedding

I had the pleasure of working with Sarah and Eric on their day-of calligraphy. They wanted a large seating chart printed on cards and attached to a board made from wine corks. The modern calligraphy went perfectly with their venue, the Mint Museum in Uptown Charlotte. I also did a large ceremony program on a tall mirror for them, so it all tied together and looked gorgeous!

Seating Chart Cards & Mirror: Ocean & Coral Creative | Photography: Allison Kuhn Photography | Planner: Charlotte Féte

GALLERY No.

8

watercolor illustrations

GALLERY No.

9

modern marble

modern marble inspiration

The inspiration behind this suite was the beauty in simplicity. I love a modern, minimal suite. Throughout the suite, there is negative space and all text is aligned to one side or the other. I added in a unique vellum wrap to tie the whole suite together, and calligraphed names in gold on marble tiles.

Photography: Posh Moments Photography | Stationery & Calligraphy: Ocean & Coral Creative

GALLERY No.

10

peach & blue inspiration

peach & blue inspiration

The Dairy Barn in Fort Mill, SC is a gorgeous venue for a wedding. For this suite, I knew I wanted to use a line drawing of the venue in some way, so I actually started with the design of the Details card first. I painted lots of watercolor flowers with peach tones and greenery, and used those to support the line drawing of the venue.

On the invitation, I did a watercolor crest with a monogram and the same watercolor flowers. I loved adding my calligraphy to the invitation by making it an accent, with only the names and the final line of the invitation in a modern script. The watercolor pattern for the envelope liner is still one of my favorites to date, adding a pop of color and interest to the otherwise simple invitation suite.

I love doing cocktail signs, so I wanted to paint a peach bellini to keep with the peach and blue theme. I used the same modern calligraphy style throughout the cocktail sign, menu, and donut bar sign.

Planner: Magnificent Moments Weddings | Photographer: Julia Fay Photography | Stationery & Calligraphy: Dear Kathryn  | Rentals & China: Evermore Event Co. | Table Rentals: Creative Solutions | Floral: Jimmy Blooms | Dress: Simpsons Bridal | Hair & Makeup: Reagan Love Makeup | Cake: Sky's The Limit Cakes | Venue: The Dairy Barn

GALLERY No.

11

art deco styled shoot

art deco inspiration

This should really go without saying, but every couple is welcome here at Dear Kathryn! This was my first opportunity to work with a same-sex couple, and let me just tell you...they WORKED it! I love how this shoot turned out, and I'm so excited that Charlotte has such wonderful, inclusive vendors (not to mention SUPER talented!).

This workshop was all about Art Deco, high design, and custom touches. My main idea for the invitations was texture. I know Art Deco is all about clean lines and geometric shapes, but I wanted to bring in papers that had a unique finish to them. I brought in handmade paper, handmade tissue paper, layers, and shapes.

I designed a layered invitation with a gold backer, a die-cut RSVP card layered onto gold paper, a custom RSVP envelope (handmade by yours truly) out of some beautiful artisan paper, and a velvety black envelope with a handmade paper liner. The menu was backed with a textured, handmade gold tissue paper that draped over the front of the menu to add a fun reveal for the guests. The place cards were backed with the same handmade paper as the RSVP envelope and liner, so everything tied together beautifully. 

I would love to do something like this again, so if you're looking for art deco invitations with lots of texture, contact me!

Workshop Host: Mirage: The Creative Workshop | Planning + Styling: Hosea House Collective | Behind the Scenes / Main Photographer: Rebecca Stone Photography | Florals: Meraki Bloomor | Venue: Sophia’s Lounge / The Ivey’s Hotel in Uptown Charlotte | Desserts: August June Desserts | Invitations / Paper: Dear Kathryn | Glass + Barware: West Elm | Plates + Flatware: Jazz Up Co. | Gown + Suits: Juniper James Bridal  | Second Photographer: Fur & Lace Photography | Jewelry: The Antiquarian, Lassoed Moon | Catering / Bar: Sophia’s Lounge / The Ivey’s Hotel

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