The British Are Coming!

Recent work for a client.  Ephemera and Sundries courtesy of Myers of Keswick.  

What would we Anglophiles do without such a shop?  They even carry Fairy Dish Soap.

However, still miss the individual instant porridge packets.

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Spies in the House of Love

“We need a witness to our lives. There’s a billion people on the planet… I mean, what does any one life really mean? But in a marriage, you’re promising to care about everything.

The good things, the bad things, the terrible things, the mundane things… all of it, all of the time,

every day. You’re saying ‘Your life will not go unnoticed because I will notice it.

Your life will not go un-witnessed because I will be your witness’.”

– Shall We Dance

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Let It Snow!

Winter Wedding Season has arrived!  Busy with Christmas Card addressing, Announcements, Save the Dates, Invitations and Place cards.    Around here it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas with Event Blossom’s seed paper snowflake place cards – embedded with a handful of annual and perennial wildflower seeds for your guests to plant.  It will certainly remind your guests of your special day, long after Winter has gone.

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Cheers!

You’re not tipsy – not yet anyway.

To get in the ‘spirit’ of things, my client chose my ‘bias style’ for her upcoming New Year’s Eve Nuptials.

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Purple Ways

One of my recent clients chose a pretty lavender ink and a condensed version of my signature style.  Shot at the über cool Lavender Lake Lounge.  Perfect spot  for a pre or post wedding planning cocktail.    {I recommend the St. Basil.}

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‘Signing’ The Blues & The Ins and Outs of Inner & Outer Envelopes

My client chose blue for her invitations, kind of apropos to feel the blues as I write them as Summer begins to wane and the Olympics are no longer my background music!    

As you can see she chose the classic outer and inner envelope style.  You can find out more about how to address these two envelopes from both Martha Stewart  and Crane & Company.  As Crane & Co.’s blog explains, long ago, Wedding Invites were delivered by the Bride’s footmen to guests homes.  The guests’ servant removed the pristine inner envelope bearing only the guest name from the outer envelope. 

“Though footmen have since been replaced by postmen, the inside envelope is still de rigueur. It gives something as important as your wedding invitation a certain je ne sais quoi.”

Having addressed many envelopes, both formal and informal, I often tell my clients, that this is the first opportunity to present your guests with the ‘style’ of your Wedding, whether formal or casual.  If your Wedding is informal, the inner envelope is an opportunity to write your guest’s nickname or the name you’ve come to know and love them as.

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Business is Blooming

A recent frugalista client used the “Love In Bloom” collection from  VistaPrint for her invites and envelopes.  The envelopes and invite were not only inexpensive, but surprisingly vintage looking!  Photographed at the incredible Opalia Flowers in Brooklyn.

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What I’m Doing On My Summer ‘Vocation’…

My Summer is certainly feeling Olympic!  My first International client, Áine hails from Northwestern Ireland, from the city of Sligo.  Her invitation was done by the über romantic Rifle Paper Company.  Stay tuned for more posts from the Summer of Love.

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Olive You

My calligraphy got to Italy before I did!

My client Ravenel, used Olive Branches with my work on her place cards for her Wedding in La Selva, Tuscany.   Olive branches are one of the traditional symbols of an Italian Wedding.  It’s often given from the Bride to her Mother in Law.  Brides are also known to wear olive branches in their hair, as a sign of fertility, peace and perhaps like an Olympic Athlete – victory!   Some strange and some lovely Italian traditions are listed here.

The photography is by the incomparable Italian artist, Leila Scarfiotti.

More of this amazing wedding on Leila’s blog under the “The Sacred Veil.”

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This May, Répondez, s’il vous plaît

Spring Wedding Season has kept me busy – suitcases full of invitations kind of busy!

If you are lucky enough to receive and invitation please RSVP!  Brides and Grooms are not only waiting for your reply, but Caterers, Florists, and friendly Calligraphers await your “répondez, s’il vous plaît” to help complete those Brides and Grooms’ special day.

At one point our civilized society didn’t require response cards-it was understood that once someone received a written invitation, it was customary to respond on their own stationery…

The roots of many of our Western etiquette practices seemed to have emanated in the Versailles Court of King Louis XIV.  Etiquette or as the French called them – ‘tickets’ were written on the back of invitations as the ‘rules’ for parties at the Court.

Newspaper columnist “Miss Manners” thinks that “RSVP” came about as a polite way of reminding people of something that they should already know:  If you receive an invitation, you should reply.  She reminds her Gentle Readers of their possible folly in not doing so in this Washington Post column.

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International Mail of Mystery

I love writing International addresses, it gives me a chance to ‘travel’ to places I have not been (yet.)  They all sound so exotic, without moorings or maps.  My favorite addresses, as I have mentioned before on my blog, are those from Ireland.  They are so mysterious, noting Castles and Counties, often without postal codes or street addresses.  It’s always a mystery to me how they find their addressee and yet they do!  In a blog post last year, I  attributed this magic to the Celtic philosophy of Anam Cara – a spiritual notion of  finding your ‘Soul Friend.”  Little did I know, but soon found out, that the photos I featured in that blog post belonged to a client whose ancestry was connected to  John O’Donohue, poet, philosopher and the author of Anam Cara.  Now THAT is the luck of the Irish.  Recently, I worked with two clients of Irish descent, one is even having her Wedding IN Ireland, complete with a Jameson Whisky tour and tasting.  Both clients invites were…numerous.  And when I stood aghast at one client’s mention of how many brothers and sisters, grandchildren and great-grandchildren were in her family, she simply shrugged and offered an explanation of ‘her people’:  ”This is what we do.”

May we all have numerous International addresses to send to!

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Leap!

…Couldn’t let the extra day go unnoticed on the account that traditionally, this is the day that women can ask men to marry them!  

While there are many traditions, legends and tales that are attached to this day, including the existence of a Scottish law that forbade men to refuse a Leap Year proposal, I thought the most interesting folklore was that this day was ‘founded’ in the 5th Century by a Nun. 

St. Bridget petitioned St. Patrick on behalf of all women so that they may have a more active role in choosing their husbands.  As a result, women were allowed to propose…once every four years.

But who’s counting?

Whatever you propose to do on your extra day, “Ádh mór ort” (Good luck!)

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Famous Couples You’ve Never Heard Of…

…Many clients ask me about the folks in my logo photo.  It is in fact my parents, Donna and Daniel who have been married for over forty-five years.  In fact, there are three couples in this photo who took their vows very seriously.  Some of their stories are below.  I love to share their stories with my clients who are so often confronted with tales of divorce.  Perhaps we are all looking for inspiration in the wrong places.  I recently attended a Mass that celebrated World Marriage Day which acknowledges marriage as a sacrament.  At the Mass, married couples stood up and received a blessing, and were reminded that they serve as an example for single people.   These folks serve as my example of extraordinary love and devotion.  Maybe they will inspire you too.

Lucy and Dominick.  April 23rd, 1938.  My Grandmother survived her husband, who actually lived next door to him.  At the time, my Grandfather Dominick, was dating another woman, but apparently he could not get Lucy out of his head.  He often found himself staring at her legs while she sun bathed in the backyard.  ”You want these legs?” Lucy asked Dominick, “You’re gonna’ to have to marry them.”  And he did.  Their marriage survived the death of one of their own children.  Their union was loud, but they shared a fierce dependency – especially at Bingo.

Alva and John.  February 20th, 1946.  Alva survived her husband John who passed away in 2007.  They met in New York City at the White Star Tavern shortly after WWII.  My grandfather, who had served in Merrill’s Marauders, briefly chatted with Alva who at the time, was divorced with three children.  When she and her girlfriend excused themselves to the Ladies’ Room, John told Alva, “I hope everything comes out okay.”  It did.  He went on to take care of Alva, her three children and together, they had four more children together.  They have fourteen grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren (and counting…)

Donna and Daniel.  February 20th, 1966. My parents met at the RKO Keith’s Movie House, where they both worked as Ushers.  They claim they married on the coldest day of the year.  But the legendary story that has been told and retold, was the one that recounted the time after one of their many break ups.  After a time apart, my father called Donna’s house to invite her to a New Year Eve’s Party.  Unbeknownst to him, he called on the day of her engagement to another man.  ”I’m sorry Danny,” my mother told my father, “you’re just too late.”  But you are in fact, never too late.  (A family motto.)  Soon after, my mother broke her engagement off to the man who was never meant to be my father and reconnected with the man who is my father.

Marriage carries on, even past death.   Unfortunately, ’til death do us part,’ is perhaps understood today as ’til death of this particular union.’   But marriage lasts even past our mortal lives.  It is a commitment that actually can be achieved, done in style and done well.  Too often we are told about Hollywood marriages ending quickly and suddenly.   But marriages do last, in other places, all the time, in fact, it happens every day…

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In this New Year…

…don’t forget your ‘old acquaintances’ – send them a letter!

Many thanks to all my clients for a wonderful year.  Looking forward to 2012.

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❆ Happy Holidays ❆

“..Faith is believing when common sense tells you not to. Don’t you see? It’s not just Kris that’s on trial, it’s everything he stands for. It’s kindness and joy and love and all the other intangibles..” –Miracle on 34th Street

“…What is it you want, Mary? What do you want? You want the moon? Just say the word and I’ll throw a lasso around it and pull it down. Hey. That’s a pretty good idea. I’ll give you the moon, Mary.”  –It’s a Wonderful Life

“Oh! The theme I’ve been waiting for all my life. Listen to this sentence: “A Red Ryder BB gun with a compass in the stock, and this thing which tells time”. Poetry. Sheer poetry, Ralph! An A+! ” –A Christmas Story

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