So, it’s not a big secret to those who know me — I’m a bit of a skeptic.  So, when some people (whom I trust, actually) suggested the use of “angel cards,” I sneered. For those skeptics among you who, like me, have no idea what an “angel card” is, it’s an affirmation card – something like a fortune cookie, except bigger and more directed towards making you feel really good about yourself.   

Would you know it, in spite of all my skepticism, angel cards found me — sort of.

Way back (two months ago) when I was trying to figure out what paint color went where in our new home, I decided to have some fun and paint the employee bathroom in our new home with blackboard paint and keep a cup of colored chalk in there. The original idea was that Leila, Taylor, our interns and I could write secret notes to each other that would never been seen by the outside world. (The bathroom reserved for clients and customers in the boutique is in completely different room.)  But when our industry friends, our personal friends (many of whom overlap), our family (and some random other people we know) wandered back into our office, they came upon our blackboard painted bathroom and wrote wonderful notes to us!   

Here are my favorite walls EVER — a never-ending source of inspiration!

Studio on Fire is the name of this amazing letterpress printing shop in Minneapolis — and man, they’re not kidding!  These STUNNING invitations were first designed by Priya Patel out of NYC (check out her awesome blog at  Love Made Visible), then printed by Studio on Fire in Minneapolis.

 Neerja, the sister of our Super-Go-To-Mac-Techno-Genius, Dheeraj Vasishta (After Five Real World Macintosh)  is getting married in July in Virginia.  She asked Priya to design her invites.  Once designed, Studio on Fire did a masterful job of creating invitations worthy of Priya’s art.

On their blog, Beast Pieces,  Studio on Fire gave Priya the opportunity to tell the background of her gorgeous design, then they explained how it all came together at their shop.   

Priya: The background for the design is that the couple are to be married in a botanical garden and the bride Neerja was really inspired by traditional Indian miniature paintings which often depict figures in natural settings. She wanted to incorporate a painting with her invitation so we printed one on vellum as a cover sheet for the invite.

Priya: We needed to design invitations for not only her wedding in Virginia, but also a reception the weekend after in Texas that is hosted by the groom Neel’s parents. We also wanted both events to be linked visually, thus the full color nature elements.

Studio on Fire:  Since the invite was sized for a large A10 envelope, that made for a very large 13 x 20 press sheet that incorporated all the wedding cards. In this wedding, there were two main invite cards – the brides invitation and the grooms invitation. Plus the other reply cards, direction cards and sangeet invitation. That’s a lot of letterpress! Producing multiple pieces on the same press sheet keeps the cost down.

Studio on Fire:  We produced the design from Priya with a combination of letterpress and digital printing. Digital printing is used for the vellum sheet and the back of the reception card. All of the navy text is letterpress printed. The paper stock is 111lb (300gsm) Canaletto Grana Grossa 20% cotton from Gruppo Cordenons. We also die cut the contrasting navy paper for the folding enclosure using French Papers Nightshift Blue and mixed our printing ink to cordinate with the navy paper. The minimal typography and ornamental detail of this design were perfectly suited for letterpress printing and produced a beautiful sculptural impression.

These delightful 14″ tapered candles are made locally in Trenton, New Jersey by Ana Candles. The extraordinarily rich stripe inlays, symmetry and finish of these beautiful candles make them truly unusual. Most of all, the array of color combinations is just flat out amazing. Their bright and classic palette is perfect for any season or special occasion, maintaining their appeal with continuous reflections of current color trends.

Made of premium quality paraffin, these beauties boast a burn time of 14 hours. Not only will they last through your most successful soiree, they keep post party cleanup to a minimum, as they are virtually smokeless and drip free. Each candle is a tribute to true craftsmanship and manufacturing ingenuity. Of course, we offer them to you at an affordably gorgeous price: $20 per striped pair and $14 per solid pair!

Come in to see them yourself at the Eclatante Boutique — or you can order them by calling us at 215.925.9911.

This is the story of Barbara & Steven’s wedding (as photographed by Maggie Wallace-Cullen Photography).    Truly one of the most romantic stories we’ve heard yet.

Barbara and Steven met at the University of Buffalo where Steven was a visiting English professor and Barbara was finishing  up her Ph.D. in Poetry/Poetics.  Her dissertation was focused on the “yes” and the “no” in the work of Gertrude Stein and James Joyce.  

Totally consistent with our world, where there really are no coincidences, it turns out that Steven’s late father had given him as a present before his death a first–edition copy of James Joyce’s Ulysses.   When Steven placed that copy of Ulysses in Barbara’s hands, it was, in her heart, his father’s blessing on the two of them.

Of course, then, the recurrent element of their truly touching and romantic wedding involved the famous last words of Ulysses, “yes I said yes I will yes.”

The couple designed the stationery themselves.  Everything being letterpressed in Buffalo by a bookmaker. The invitations were hand-sewn “books’ which arrived to their guests in small boxes.   The programs and menu cards (which doubled as place cards) were likewise letterpressed and complimented the invitations perfectly.

In keeping with the 1920s Ulyssses concept, Barbara’s GORGEOUS dress evoked an art deco aesthetic from Jenny Packham.  

Beautiful Blooms created  Barbara’s simply elegant hand-tied bouquet of mini white calla lilies accented with a brooch given to Barbara by her mother. Arrangements on some of the occasional tables included loose arrangements of white and ivory French tulips on beautifully draped pedestal tables.

The place settings were absolutely elegant with silver beaded chargers on stunning black matte satin linens, carefully folded napkins with Barbara & Steven’s carefully crafted menu cards.