Snippet and Ink

This was on Snippet and Ink back in June, but this is a fave design of ours offered at Wedding Paper Divas.

Wedding Season is in full Bloomies...

Thank you Bloomie's for inviting us to showcase our wedding invitations at the wedding event...what a fun night of Wedgwood 101, gelato and mimosas!

Cat Seto: Our New Website!

It was a labor of love and a big team effort, but we are happy to say that our new Cat Seto website it up! You can glimpse more of our wedding invitations as well as our boxed stationery and calendars. Click here to go to our website!

Shop Friend: Letter Perfect

above: the adorable Letter Perfect shop and some of their available stationery.

It was wonderful to hear from one of our beloved retailers Ruby of Letter Perfect in Deephaven, Minnesota. Even more wonderful that she attached a page from the recent issue of Minnesota Bride Magazine featuring Letter Perfect and a wedding invitation from our new "Gallery" custom wedding album. If you are lucky to live near the shop, you will be assured of expert knowledge and service and they also have items from their shop available online!

Ladies Who Lunch Box

Our "Ladies Who Lunch" Box is a little lunch box tin filled with notecards and we had such fun creating it. Don't be fooled by the name though...it's also for "Ladies with a Cause" because we donate portions of proceeds to Women's Health Organizations. Via EatMeDaily.com, I was thrilled to see other lunchboxes up for charity. Gourmet Magazine held an auction of lunch boxes designed by culinary legends and stars such as Alice Waters and Mario Batali...so cool!

lunchbox auction by Gourmet to benefit hunger-relief organizations.
clockwise from top: Alice waters, Martha Stewart, Mario Batali, Tom Colicchio

Shop Friend: Minted

If you are looking for unique, independent custom and wedding stationery online, then check out Minted. Our Cat Seto Town & Country wedding designs were designed for the vineyard to ballroom bride and are available through local retailers as well as through Minted. Click here to view!

above: our Blossom and Coral Willow wedding suites

Wedding Week: Four Seasons Wedding Fair

The Four Seasons Wedding Fair this past Sunday was in full force with talented vendors, free flowing champagne, lovely brides, and models traipsing the ballroom in Jin Wang gowns. It was wonderful to meet couples, brides, their moms and friends and show them our Cat Seto invitation line!

Virgil O. Stamps

At Virgil O. Stamps, you are encouraged to send in your "trash." From there, he will convert anything from gym floor tape, old books or children's drawings into letterpressed business cards and invitations. I thought his business cards were brilliant and a perfect eco-friendly option!

These business cards were made from floral paper
(and would make great placecards for a wedding too!).

Style Me Pretty: Breast Cancer Awareness

If you read this blog, then you know how much I adore my friend Abby of Style Me Pretty. I was so touched to contribute to her Pink Week of Stationery as it is in honor of breast cancer survivors.
You can win one of the stationery ensembles featured below (including one of ours), just click here to go to Style Me Pretty and enter!

above, clockwise: Cat Seto, Ceci Ny, Love at First Invite, Paper Zest

Shopfriend: Bloomingdale's Registry

Here are pics from the fun event at the SF Bloomingdales where we were invited to present our invitations to couples. The registry and service at Bloomies is top notch...on this particular day, attendees were treated to mimosas and brunch, yum!

Alternative Wedding Invitations

Are you looking for edgy Save the Dates or Wedding Invitations that are truly unique and different? These funky "poster" style invitations by Unless Someone Like You are designed to give your guests one of a kind renditions of you and your loved one...so very cool! Just one question...can anyone tell me what that couple below is tugging on?

Father's Day Dare

Don't you love these photos of our beaming, proud "new dad" customers? While our boutique and studio still attest to having the best and brightest customers around (er...no bias here!), I wanted to post these up since Father's Day is fast approaching. Here's a reminder that our dear ol' dads were smiling ear to ear right from the day we were born. Always there to help with homework, the one to silently pack up strollers, lug suitcases on vacations and give advice on worldly matters, it's always nice to commemorate their efforts and give them some superhero status. Which leads me to this week's dare...

above: With his very awesome design background, this Dad lent his expertise in designing the baby announcements!


above: I wish I could zoom in on the photo of their beyond adorable daughter who was born with rock star hair (little layered tips that were naturally highlighted!).

Father's Day Dare: I know you probably have a great golf video already picked out, but how about accompanying it with a card or letter with a list of reasons why Pop is your superhero? I don't know about you, but my dad lives to retell old, embarrassing memories of when we were his wild monkey children. Even if it's a phone call to go down memory lane, a little bit of that will go a long way!

Shop Friend: Minted

We are so excited to be a part of a newly launched online company called Minted! It offers exquisite stationery and invitations from sixteen independent brands...many of whom are our lovely paper and uber talented paper friends and colleagues.

above: (top left) our "Buttercup" is an exclusive design we created for Minted. (bottom) "Lovely" can be ordered in many different colors. We just finished one in olive and we were so impressed with the bride's color selections!

above: Chic and classic, our "Chandelier" invitation suite in black and white.

Belated Show Coverage...

This is very belated indeed... but here are some show pics from New York. It was so wonderful to meet up with old and new faces of fellow companies, paper friends, retailers and bloggers!

Some highlights included meeting celebrity wedding planner, Mindy Weiss who will be carrying our "Ladies Who Lunchbox" collection. Mindy could not have been nicer and is the master mind behind weddings for Eva Longoria, Heidi Klum, Shaq O'neal, Christina Aguillera and Gwen Stefani, just to name a few!
above: Mindy poses with one of our "Ladies Who Lunchboxes". Her new book "The Wedding Book" is a bible for all things wedding and available in both paper and hard cover.

above: one of my favorite highlights is meeting new companies and retailers. on the last day I snuck away to visit some companies and found myself admiring the work of husband/wife team Press New York. Jennifer put me to task of finding some amazing letterpress albums for our Paper Studio here in SF and their collection will be available soon!


above: thanks to Grace's coverage of NSS on Design Sponge, I had to meet the designer behind Alee and Press. Amanda could not have been nicer and her talent knows no bounds. I was drooling at the quality of her letterpress and how many aspects of her designs can be customizable.

ShopFriends: Customer Appreciation

I thought it'd be fun to start featuring some of the pretty outfits that our customers put together from the boutique! This is Helen, who stopped in on her way to a cocktail party wearing one of our favorite silhouette blouses. We love Helen because she is always so warm and adorably polished!
Above: I love silhouettes. Our Cat Seto Egyptian Chamomile custom invitation (top right) is perfect as personal stationery or for a chic shower. Valentino clutch, blouse from Anthropologie, Kate Spade "Katie" pump, 7 for Mankind wide-legged jeans. Strawberry sorbet earrings. Black crochet hat.

Farewell Dinner

Valentine's Day is around the corner so I thought this might be appropriate. The hosts were gracious enough to allow me to post this very special dinner here on ShopFriends. The event? A farewell dinner for Madelene Grynsztejn, senior curator of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA). Many consider Madeleine one of the great living curators today and so when she decided to leave for the Chiago Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA Chicago) a farewell dinner was in the works.

One of Madeleine's favorite restaurants is Da Flora in North Beach and her hosts made sure to rent it out for the evening. It is such a cozy, romantic space with mismatched vintage chairs and deep ruby red walls. The perfect place to go and steal a kiss on Valentine's Day! Above: we created a menu that would match its ruby walls.

above: I am always so impressed with the hosts and the care and detail they put into making each event so memorable and special for the guest of honor. Guests of the dinner received Recchuiti burnt caramel almonds which we created personal labels for.

Above: the event inspired a little studio sketch.
I still need to grab the photo for the invitation to this event and will post it up later today!

In Bloom

Peonies are one of my favorite flowers partly for their dramatic but poised blooms. I couldn't help but put together some coveted peony items to surround our custom invitation.
Above: Amy Draper peony ring. Cat Seto custom vintage chic invitation. Phillip Lim dress.
Peony pillow

Cat Seto custom: Napa Wedding Suite

Our Cat Seto "Napa" Wedding Suite is another design that hails from our Town & Country wedding book. Yellow and pewter tones are one of my favorite combinations and a perfect way to combine a cheerful outdoor setting with elegance and a hint of glamour.

Giveaway and Wedding Fair

We're continuing with our Wedding Week!
Just some reminders:
This Sunday, January 13: Our invitations and Paper Studio will be a part of the Four Seasons Wedding Fair "A Five Star Afternoon." If you are in the San Francisco area, please attend and come visit us!

above: from our vintage chic collection. enter to win!

Giveaway: If you haven't already, check out our giveaway on Weddingbee. We are giving away 50 custom invitations from our Vintage Chic collection that would be perfect for showers, rehearsal dinner and save the dates. The contest ends tonight at 8pm est so you still have time to enter! **And if you don't happen to win, we will be holding another drawing for invites/thankyous at the Wedding Fair. If you'd like to be added to that drawing please add your name to the comments window below!

Paper Studio Designer: Cheree Berry

If this design looks familiar, say in a Kate Spade'ish sort of manner, then you're on the right path. This is Cheree Berry, and she was the graphic designer behind Kate Spade's custom wedding line. We are so lucky to have Cheree at the Paper Studio not only because of her truly outstanding, beautiful invitations but also because she is superb to work with. I hear actual "cooing" noises whenever a bride looks at her work!


LUXE
The green in Cheree's invite and her play on a striped envelope liner inspired this all out modern, city wedding theme.
Below clockwise: If you want a posh, intimate wedding, hold it at The Soho Hotel in London in one of their private event rooms. The tea length hem of Ulla-Maija's lace gown is perfect for traipsing down the city streets and stealing a kiss before rejoining your guests. Leave it to Jill Sanders for a modern, minimalist dress for your bridesmaids.




LUXE FOR LESS

So most of us probably can't make it to London (let alone fly out 75 friends and family). But that doesn't mean you can't create a reception that reflects something truly modern and unique for less. For this theme, I would recommend sticking to 3-4 colors...Cheree's invite evokes emerald, black and a deep, chestnut brown. Her liner inspires playing with fun prints and to keep them from spilling over, I'd refrain to just black and white for the prints and experiment with toile, damask or polka dots.


Below: 1. Wall hangings at your reception (especially behind you at the head table) can instantly inform the theme of your space. This modern palette is especially stunning if your reception space has walnut or deep oak walls! The green geometric print seen at The Soho Hotel is simple enough to recreate a version by hand or on the computer. Black and white photographs are also easy ways to modernize any setting. 2. I've seen this done many times, and it really LOOKS luxe even when the framed print is matte gift wrap. This one is by Snow and Graham. 3 & 4. Stick with simple, clean frames and white or black candlestick holders if you want to go modern. 5. Black and white toile and striped tablecloths.
6. I found these fun paisley bandanas for $3 that could serve as napkins or settings beneath the centerpieces.