Celine & Thom's Wedding Invitations

Do you know that situation when you meet one of your friend’s friends and the two of you just click?  It seems like this would be inevitable because you are friends with your friend for a reason and it would just make sense that you would get along with all their friends.  This however isn’t always the case which makes it that much more special when it does happen. 

A couple years ago I met Celine, my friend Gabi’s college friend.  We immediately got along.  Working in the same office as Gabi for 3 years, I’ve heard many “Celine” stories and even got to know Celine and her soon-to-be husband Thom, who happened to be Gabi’s then boyfriend, Matt’s, roommate.  To make all of this just a little more “kumbaya,” Chad (my husband) and Thom bonded over NASCAR.  Whenever we all get together, everyone has a great time.  So, just over a year ago at one of Matt & Gabi’s famous “Christ-giving” dinners, when Celine and Thom told us they were getting married we were so excited for them.  It was then that Celine asked us if we would consider designing their wedding invitations. “Of Course!”  Because of this connection, which we can credit to Gabi, we felt like we were making these important announcements for our best friend!

Throughout the whole process Celine & Thom were great clients.  They had great ideas and pointed us in specific directions, but also allowed us to add a little “Love Jac” style. Because Celine wasn’t ordering her announcement from a pre-determined template, we had the opportunity to add more detail and truly allow their personalities to show through.

SAVE THE DATES

Our first project was their save-the-dates! At Love Jac, these might just be our favorite announcements to design.  They are your first chance to set the tone for your wedding and since they don’t come with any “rules” (like invitations sometimes do), you can have some fun with them. We’ve made many styles of save-the-dates: some that look like a strip of photobooth pictures, ones that mimic a postcard, and we look forward to making some “Mad-Libs” style.  In Thom & Celine’s case, they want their wedding to be fun and relaxed.  The save-the-date was their perfect way to indicate this to all their guests.

When designing your save-the-dates, you can include as much or as little information as possible, but we agree with Thom when he said “My favorite part is how our save-the-date tells a lot about the story of us rather than just the simple ‘here's when we are getting married, hope you can make it.’ It was a quick, fun ride along our years together. The announcements packed in a lot of information without leaving the recipient feeling bombarded.” 

Celine had a pretty specific direction in mind when it came to their save-the-dates.  She also knew exactly what she didn’t want.  She said, “Neither of us really wanted our faces on people's refrigerators (not that there's anything wrong with those types of save-the-dates) and we thought they might get tired of looking at us, so we wanted to try to do something that was fun and showed our personalities.”

We couldn’t wait to get started.  We took her overall idea and customized it. Instead of just writing “they fell in love” we added the details of what first made them fall in love.  Celine describes Thom as one of the smartest people she’s ever met but also one of the funniest.  It’s this combination that we think makes him the perfect partner for Celine.  For that reason alone, we had to show off their common sense of humor in this card. 

Through hand-drawn images, computer graphics, and quoted phrases we were able to show off their personalities in a simple 5x7 flat card.  For example, we used a small picture of a football to illustrate Thom’s first impression of Celine.  “I knew that I wanted to marry her shortly after we met and were throwing a football around with friends.  She fired a perfect spiral at me and I knew I met the mother of my children.”  While making this card, it allowed the couple to think about what they truly loved about their life together.  Sports rivalries, road trip adventures, and family holidays all made the top of their list.

Since they started dating towards the end of the school year, their summer apart solidified Thom’s feelings for Celine.  It was then he started making life decisions with her in mind.  Even though he pretty much knew from the beginning he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her, Thom, being a man, waited another 7 years to actually propose.  When he did, he did so with the help of a cake (featured in the card – and one of Celine’s favorite illustrations).  Celine’s sense of humor is not overlooked in their relationship either. She insisted we add the word “finally” after “Thom Asked Celine to Marry Him.”  This is our favorite part of the card.  It keeps things from getting too serious and shows their compatibility.

After liking a bridesmaids dress she saw online in a color described as “peacock” Celine knew what she wanted for her wedding.  She loves the teal/lime green/brown combination and it fit together nicely for a November wedding.  They didn’t want to over-do-it with the peacock theme, so we stuck with the overall colors and as a surprise featured a peacock pattern on the back of their announcement.    When we asked Thom his thoughts on the peacock theme he responded “Wait, there's a peacock theme? Just kidding. The idea was all Celine, but I was on board once she brought it up.” Oh, Thom.

We strongly believe save-the-dates deserve a place on the refrigerator, so as a final touch we attached a small magnet on the back to make it convenient for their guests.

Once the cards were in the mail, we took a short break from work and enjoyed the positive feedback they received.  Celine said, “I loved getting everyone's phone calls / texts saying how different they were and how great they looked.”  Thom told us, "People absolutely loved the save-the-dates! I got such an overwhelming reaction from my family members about the creativity and how different it was from everything they had seen before."  We were very flattered.  When creating anything for a client, their happiness is our first priority, but it always feels great when their family and friends like what we have created as well. 

INVITATIONS

As anyone who has ever planned a wedding knows, it’s not always cake tastings and engagement parties.  We wanted to make sure creating the invitation was something both Celine and Thom enjoyed.  Thom credits Celine’s organization for the process being so stress-free.  Celine said, “I love working together throughout the whole thing... it is fun seeing Thom's ideas on certain aspects ... and I like that we're still learning new things about each other as we go along.”  The couple approached this whole process as a team and we know that will serve them well going forward.  Celine also considers Thom to have a good sense of style and said “when it came time to feedback on invitations and save-the-dates, a lot of his ideas are the ones we ended up going with.”  Celine also mentioned that Thom was very decisive and “usually knows what I want to pick anyway”. For this reason, we know he will make a great husband!

For the invites Celine and Thom were going for “traditional with a twist.”  By personalizing their invitations we were able to give the couple exactly what they wanted: “modern-looking but still pretty and fancy.”

We created a border around the invitation using a peacock pattern on the top two-thirds and a deep navy blue on the bottom.  We chose a bright teal to outline it and make it pop.  To stay with the formal, fancy vibe we chose two elegant fonts: one for their names and one for the rest of the details.  When deciding on your exact wording we think it’s a good idea to run it past your parents.  We’ve heard too many stories about this becoming an issue, so it’s best to be on the same page before they go to the print.  Thom & Celine took our advice and came back to us with some improvements.

When putting together your invitations make sure you include all the information your guests will need. This usually includes an RSVP card and information about accommodations.  Celine and Thom wanted the “Response” & “Accommodations” cards to complement the invitation without being an exact replication.  By varying the borders and using the same fonts we were able to do just that.

Celine & Thom chose a tri-fold pocket style invitation, which allowed us to incorporate all the information in one pretty package.  We chose an Opal color for the outer envelope and “Ocean” for the RSVP envelopes.  Celine and her sister-in-law sewed an actual feather onto ribbon, which we used to close the invitation.  This added element made the invitations stand out even more. 

ASSEMBLY PARTY

When it came time to assemble the invitations, we had a party! When planning a wedding a lot of the process can get stressful and some details are almost a mere formality to check off a box.  We wanted to take a moment to enjoy what they are preparing for, celebrating the couple in the process.  Thom, Celine, Matt, and Gabi came to our house for an evening of food, friends, and assembly line fun.  By forming a production line and giving the boys specific jobs we were able to get everything done in a short amount of time.  Or in Thoms words, “After stamping some envelopes, Chad, Matt and I watched the NASCAR race and had pizza, so that was awesome.”  To our happiness, Celine said it made her feel even more part of the whole process, which was exactly our goal.

WEDDING WEEKEND    

As this weekend quickly approaches, Celine and Thom told us how much they look forward to seeing each other as Celine walks down the aisle.  “She knows what I am wearing, but she's kept all her details under wraps, so I am excited to see her.” Celine can’t wait to see everything come together since they’ve made decisions over the timespan of a year.

We know their wedding will be beautiful and can’t wait to hear all the stories from Gabi.  A wedding is a very special day because it’s one of the few days you can look around the room and see everyone you love.  We know the collaboration of both families will be that much more meaningful.  After spending the past year working with Celine & Thom we feel like we can consider them our friends now as well.  We wish them a great day on November 30^th and every day following.  Have fun, guys!