My First Embossing Project

I have loved the idea of using an embossed motif in wedding invitation suites for some time now. As a designer, embossers appeal to me for their ability to add beautiful detail in an elegant, yet understated way.

When Jessica Sloane approached me with the opportunity to work together to create a suite where the design focused on texture, I knew an embossed element would be a perfect match. Texture has long been one of my favorite design elements and Jessica is amazing at incorporating it as a main element throughout her events.

*Just a note, I altered the real couple’s address in the images featured in this post.

The Event and the Couple

I have admired Jessica for years for her impeccable style and consistency in her designs - not to mention that her mood boards are perfection. Her events are polished and extremely intentional while always maintaining a bit of her understated chic. When she reached out to me to create the stationery for Julia and Danny, I was honored and so excited to work with her.

Julia and Danny were getting married at Greenbrier Estate, a more traditional property set in the beautiful mountains of West Virginia. They wanted to create an elegant, laid-back wedding full of organic elements.

JennySanders.co | My First Embossing Project | Moodboard by Jenny Sanders

The Concept

I wanted to design a suite for them that married the traditional feeling of the hotel with the more natural, organic feeling that they wanted to create so we went with a mixture of a few different handmade papers for their luxurious feel and rich, organic texture. Below are my initial snapshots of paper ideas as well as the initial mood board that I created for the couple’s paper suite.

The Invitation

I chose fonts with a traditional, clean feeling and went with a centered layout to balance classic design with the more organic paper. I also kept the art to a minimum, with an pressed detail on the top center of the invitation while keeping the other pieces quite simple.

I drew a few different floral and botanicals throughout the design process and we settled upon an organic wreath motif. Again, a blend of traditional with the wreath element, and organic with the flowing, asymmetrical branches.

We used letterpress printing for the text and also embossed the same motif from the top of the invitation on the envelope flap. I absolutely love the floaty hand made tissue paper from Pressed Paper. We wrapped the entire suite in a sheet of the tissue and tied it with a thin rough twine; it was basically, texture on texture on texture! The suite was finished with coordinating vintage postage.

The Wedding Day

When it comes to day of stationery, there are so many ways to be creative. Jessica is brilliant with all of the wedding day details, from the calligraphed marble tile place cards to the large engraved copper seating chart.

For the menus, we once again used the same motif that we had embossed, only this time it was letterpresses onto handmade paper in a subtle shade of blue ink. We also used the embosser on thank you tags that graced the guests’ welcome gifts in their rooms.

What I love about this suite was all of the detail and how we were able to set the tone for this laid back-elegant-organic event held at a traditional venue all with the paper suite and I have been hooked on embossing ever since.