A "Wonderful Life" Party

I love, LOVE it when my clients send me their invitations. It is just so fun receiving them and seeing what all the guests have received in anticipation of their big day. Plus, I can incorporate that into their photography as well, as explained here.

Yesterday, I got the invitation for Silva and Felipe's reception in the mail. I thought it was so clever that I had to share it.
Silva and Felipe are already married, but they are having a reception in Madison in July with family and friends at the Orpheum Theater. So it is very fitting that they have chosen to use the "It's a Wonderful Life" idea for the occasion. And they used a postcard of the Orpheum's marquee for their rsvp card. I just love it. It fits the event, the venue and their attitudes perfectly.
I have to say though that I would be sad to part with such a nice rsvp card - I wonder if that was an issue for their guests as well.
Needless to say, I'm really looking forward to shooting their party.



(I changed their names for privacy with a little photoshop wizardry)

Silva and Felipe got their custom cards from moo.com, though it looks like they designed them themselves. The back of their card has a small sticker of the original poster. Moo has tons of fun prodcuts, including those stickers and one day I will find a use for their mini-cards if for no other reason than they come in a fun box.

Pretty Packages

Kate B. in Madison - don't read this one, I don't want to spoil the surprise!



These two pretty packages left the studio on Tuesday...



They got all nestled into a shipping box...



What was inside? Some lovely Engagement Party Invitations for Kate and Andy's party in Madison. Turns out, Kate's godparents really loved the Save the Dates I made for Kate & Andy, so they ordered a coordinating set of engagement party invitations. I just love how these turned out, so pretty and crisp, with a touch of vintage.



(as always, contact info has been blotted out)

On an unrelated note - Really? No one has any submissions for my "snippets contest". I know you do, go ahead, write something!

Another Save the Date

As promised, I bring you a Save the Date that left the studio last week. The bride has assured me they are in the mail, so it is safe to blog about them.

These are for another somewhat destination wedding in Madison - seriously, this is the most far-reaching guest list I have ever seen with guests in England, Kenya and India if memory serves, plus all over the U.S.. Regardless, they will hopefully all convene for a wonderful soiree on a lake in Madison. The feel of this wedding is laid back but also classy - and so we went for a slightly vintage elegance on an earthy theme.

Personally, I think I love the envelopes more than the Save the Date itself. Just something so wonderfully vintage about them.
As always, black lines obscure the personal info:

Pssst! I have a Secret...

Well, it isn't really a secret, but as far as the blog is concerned, it has been little discussed that I have a bit of a double life professionally. Photography truly is the bulk of my work day, except when the snow is flying here in Wisconsin. Weddings come to a slow crawl and I fall back on what has always paid the bills for me - Graphic Design. Yep, I'm also a designer. I've been working in Graphic Design since my first year of college, and it has always been a reliable way to bring in a paycheck - the proverbial "skill" that I could fall back on. So when I started Mthree Studio, I was sure to include Design in the offerings, to help round things out and give me a break from photography now and then.

If you've explored my website, you'll see some examples of design I have done for weddings and also more commercial clients. The great bulk of my commercial work remains in seclusion - as I'm bound by confidentiality agreements to not say really anything, much less post pictures. But the wedding work I can share - after the items have been sent out to their original recipients. So I'm backtracking today and showing you some work that has come out of Mthree Studio in the past few months, but apparently I neglected to blog about. There is a new set of Save the Dates that went in the mail yesterday - but those will have to wait till the bride and groom get a chance to send them out. Last names or identifying details have been blacked out in the pictures.

This one is for Nick and Sara. We did a custom photo strip with the two of them holding a sign in each frame reading Save. The. Date. 7-XX-08. (the advantages to being a photographer and a designer). The strip was then attached to a card made of sparkly black paper, printed with serigraphy. Everything was enclosed in a bright red envelope to contrast.


A destination wedding in Madison? Well it is when all of your guests are from out of town. I made a Save the Date for Kate and Bobak that features the capitol building and a modern elegance with a bit of a wink to the wording. I just love the swirly-ness of this one so much, I had to show you a detail shot as well.



Here is a thank you note I did for one couple, to use for showers and engagement gifts. (Darci, you are going to love this one) It also features a custom monogram developed for them.


For a couple who really loves their Harley - a playful Save the Date with a custom illustration.


I'm going to try to blog more about design as it comes up - I have a full plate this wedding season with wedding suites so that should prove fruitful for the blog.

Save the Date

I took a break from the computer work to print out Sara and Nick's Save the Dates (and envelopes). They are all lined up on the floor, drying. I get such a kick our seeing the multiples of projects all layed out.
There are still a few components to put together before they are finished, but at least they are started. You should see the final result on the blog later this week.
Back to more design work....

Another one out the door!

Today Harmony comes to pick up all of the components for her wedding - and another wedding by mthree Studio is out the door! She and her fiance have been a complete delight to work with from day one. I took their engagement pictures about a year ago, and have now done their save the dates, invitations, programs, table numbers, placecards, menus, signage, guest book, card box and favor tags. And next week I'll be photographing their wedding. They are my first official "Whole Shebang" clients (using all of my services for a discount) and I am really going to miss them.

Their place cards were all lined up on my office floor this morning - like a little wedding army, waiting to be alphabetized. And now everthing is all boxed up in anticipation.

Watch the website for their wedding components to show up - and the blog for some of their wedding pictures.

On to the next project...